By Paulo Coelho
Love is an untamed force.
When we try to control it, it destroys us.
When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us.
When we try to understand it, it leaves us lost and confused.
(The Zahir)
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By Paulo Coelho
Recently I read in an article by David Mehegan in The Boston Globe about the release of the book “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions.” by Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist at MIT.
This book seemed very appealing to me because the author proves, by a series of behavioural experiments, that humans tend to act much more irrationally than rationally.
Indeed, as the journalist puts it:
“Ariely’s book explores the varieties of nonsensical economic thinking, such as:
We value things more when we pay a higher price for them. The Bayer aspirin and the Rolex watch
seem valuable because of how much they cost, not because they’re better in practical terms than a generic aspirin or a Timex.
Relativity distorts reality. We might be earning 10 times more money than we earned for the same work a decade ago, but we’re convinced that we’re underpaid if the people around us are earning more.
Easy choices make decisions difficult. The more nearly equal two alternative products, jobs, or presidential candidates are, the more agonizing the choice between them.
We’re hopeless suckers for the word “free” on an item for sale, even if there’s a hidden cost and the product is something we don’t need or even like.”
Indeed, how many times the power of the word “free” plunges us into an unnecessary buying spree of things that as soon as we leave the store we already regret?
Why do we keep on postponing decisions and most importantly let ourselves be guided by this illusion of abundance?
If the reasons of this irrationality are impossible for us to see, at least, Ariely’s book seem to give some sort of comfort.
We can learn from our mistakes and refrain from making the same irrational gestures that we afterwards we feel bad about.
The solution then lies in our ability to bypass our “wired-in tendencies”.
Ariely’s book is interesting in the realm of economics. It not only reveals that much of our “rational” decisions are actually irrational, but also that our rationality can guide us to step away from a vicious circle.
I believe nevertheless that when one gets away from this economic perspective - this tendency is reversed.
Sometimes it is by letting our irrationality take over that we actually manage to see our true path.
What’s your take on that?
Love
Paulo
Welcome to Share with Friends - Free Texts for a Free Internet
By Paulo Coelho
In issue nr. 106 of Jornalinho, (Portugal), I find a story which teaches us much about that which we choose without thinking:
One day, a calf needed to cross a virgin forest in order to return to its pasture. Being an irrational animal, it forged out a tortuous path full of bends, up and down hills.
The next day, a dog came by and used the same path to cross the forest. Next it was a sheep’s turn, the head of a flock which, upon finding the opening, led its companions through it.
Later, men began using the path: they entered and left, turned to the right, to the left, bent down, deviating obstacles, complaining and cursing - and quite rightly so. But they did nothing to create a different alternative.
After so much use, in the end, the path became a trail along which poor animals toiled under heavy loads, being forced to go three hours to cover a distance which would normally take thirty minutes, had no one chosen to follow the route opened up by the calf.
Many years passed and the trail became the main road of a village, and later the main avenue of a town. Everyone complained about the traffic, because the route it took was the worst possible one.
Meanwhile, the old and wise forest laughed, at seeing how men tend to blindly follow the way already open, without ever asking whether it really is the best choice.
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Where did you get the idea of Veronika decides to die? You seem to know everything about the female depression and woman’s soul. How did you manage it?
In Veronika decides to die, I stress the fact that trying to find models to life is a step towards destruction. For example, there is a masturbation scene in Veronika that she opens herself to her fantasies, and then she thinks she is sick. Why? Because people are always trying to find the ideal portrait of a man or a woman. We are different, and this is the magic and mystery of life.
