Tag Archives: Dan Ariely

Valentine, Schmalentine

In October, I posted about my Halloween Humbugness. Now, it’s almost time for my other contender for least favorite holiday of the year – Valentine’s Day. Also called restaurant amateur hour. The day in which people who never darken the door of a restaurant other days of the year crowd every table in town with protestations of love and devotion.

Now hey, there’s nothing wrong with some protestations of love. But why now? Why does this day matter over others? If your loved one tells you and shows you that he or she loves you often and with gusto, then who gives a damn about February 14th?

Apparently, a lot of people and a lot of wallets.

According to the Greeting Card Association: Today, Valentine’s Day is the second most-popular card-sending occasion in the U.S. An estimated 160 million greeting cards will be bought for Valentine’s Day this year. That number doesn’t even include children’s packaged valentines – which add many millions more to the number of valentines purchased.

And then there’s this:
The Economics of Valentines Day
Via: Online MBA Blog

As I was writing this, my husband weighed in:
“Honey it’s not what we care about, it’s other people caring about if I care about you on Valentine’s Day. But, I’m sorry to tell you this, but I refuse to to only care about you on Valentine’s Day. So anyways, do I need to send flowers to your office or what?”

However, if you insist on a gift, here a some tips to make it meaningful from a Valentine’s Day interview with my favorite behavioral economist, Dan Ariely.

And finally, here’s the always awesome, always snarky The Oatmeal, telling you why Valentine’s Day haters like me are full of it.

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Thou Shalt Not

Penn Jillette, of the zany magical and skeptical duo Penn & Teller, has recently released his 10 Commandment for Atheists in response to a challenge from the world’s greatest jackass, Glenn Beck.

Here are Jillette’s 10 Commandments:

But wait, QUICK, before you keep reading. write down as many of the traditional 10 Commandments as you remember off the top of your head. No wiki-ing, you cheaters. Here’s a hint: one of them includes a manservant, a maidservant, an ox AND an ass.

Interestingly, even if you don’t remember any of the 10 commandments, an experiment conducted by my favorite behavioral economist, Dan Ariely, showed that repeating the 10 Commandments before a test will reduce cheating significantly, REALLY significantly. Ariely states that it’s not actually the specifics in Commandments that change behavior, instead it’s that repeating them remind people of their internal moral compass. I wonder if Jillette’s commandments would be as effective?

Sorry to keep you waiting, here are Jillette’s Commandments.

1. The highest ideals are human intelligence, creativity and love. Respect these above all.

2. Do not put things or even ideas above other human beings. (Let’s scream at each other about Kindle versus iPad, solar versus nuclear, Republican versus Libertarian, Garth Brooks versus Sun Ra— but when your house is on fire, I’ll be there to help.)

3. Say what you mean, even when talking to yourself. (What used to be an oath to (G)od is now quite simply respecting yourself.)

4. Put aside some time to rest and think. (If you’re religious, that might be the Sabbath; if you’re a Vegas magician, that’ll be the day with the lowest grosses.)

5. Be there for your family. Love your parents, your partner, and your children. (Love is deeper than honor, and parents matter, but so do spouse and children.)

6. Respect and protect all human life. (Many believe that “Thou shalt not kill” only refers to people in the same tribe. I say it’s all human life.)

7. Keep your promises. (If you can’t be sexually exclusive to your spouse, don’t make that deal.)

8. Don’t steal. (This includes magic tricks and jokes — you know who you are!)

9. Don’t lie. (You know, unless you’re doing magic tricks and it’s part of your job. Does that make it OK for politicians, too?)

10. Don’t waste too much time wishing, hoping, and being envious; it’ll make you bugnutty.

Here are the actual 10 Commandments. It’s a little hard to make it through the Wikipedia listing, but I’d check out the Augustinian division, it will look the most familiar.

Or, you can just watch this.

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