“Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius In The Upside of Irrationality, Dan Ariely talks about a concept called self herding. Herding refers to the tendency to act based on the behavior of other people whom we don’t know well. Self herding is when rather than doing what a bunch of other people in a public place are doing, we refer to our actions in the past for subconscious guidance. In a chapter titled, The Long Term Effects of Short Term Emotions, Ariely provides the following example: “Imagine that something happens that makes you feel happy and generous – say, your favorite team wins the World Series. That night you are having dinner at your mother-in-law’s and, while in this great mood, impulsively decide to buy her flowers. A month later, the emotion of the big… read more »
