Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
Published 2008 · 384 pages · 85,000 words · about 6 hours at an average pace · Nonfiction, Politics & Society, Psychology
How hard is Predictably Irrational to read?
Predictably Irrational scores 18 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it relatively accessible. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 25 out of 100
- Accessible popular science. Technical concepts explained simply.
- Sentence structure: 25 out of 100
- Abstraction: 30 out of 100
- Behavioral economics grounded in vivid experiments.
- Information density: 42 out of 100
- Rich with experimental results and everyday examples.
- Narrative indirection: 100 out of 100
- Direct, chapter-by-chapter presentation.
- Symbolic density: 100 out of 100
- Analytical rather than symbolic.
- Ironic distance: 20 out of 100
- Self-deprecating humor. Ariely enjoys human irrationality.
- Resolution withholding: 50 out of 100
- Each chapter clearly presents its findings.
- Structural complexity: 15 out of 100
- Thirteen self-contained chapters. Simple, effective structure.
How Predictably Irrational is regarded
Predictably Irrational holds a literary regard score of 39 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.