Wednesday, December 5, 2012

(Dis)honesty, Morality and Lessons from Financial Crisis

This is definitely one of the most insightful RSA videos I've ever watched which covers our self-justifications, our capacity and inclinations to seek our own selfish interests while fully engaged in rationalization of those choices (sins!), and the inherent problems of the distancing from people that working in finance exacerbates terribly, which I'd noted when I worked in investment banking industry earlier in my career. In my experience and understanding as a Christian, Dr. Dan Ariely makes significant inroads into nailing reality as it truly is:

The Truth about Dishonesty

That video is approximately 11 minutes, long. There's a longer version of 28+ minutes, here. At the second link, there is another link which leads to a Q & A session.  Dan Ariely also has a series of TED talks which we can listen to, and his book develops his insights and studies, further: Predictably Irrational.

The healthiest aspect of Dan Ariely's insights is that he seeks out what can mitigate and temper these selfish interests to which we are all naturally subject. Ariely is a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University.