Human Behavior flows from three main sources : desire, emotion and knowledge.

~ Plato

It isn’t quite irrational to wonder if psychologists have conditioned us to believe that there is no greater virtue than the wisdom we so often entail within ourselves. That inside our own beings, we define what we believe is good for us. And following the theory of rational choice, the economic tantrapropels us towards decisions that maximize individual benefits. And Richard Thalergoes on to prove how wrong decisions humans, can take in the course of life.

  In the defense of the rational theory and perhaps every other consumer theory, here is my proposition. How did we begin to define what is best for an individual? The inherent tendency to dwell on irrelevant information and the constant need to justify bad decisions dominate the books that study human behavior. But as I come to think of it, aren’t all these adjectives subjective? Isn’t every individual, given the access to information, looking out to best his self interest, making decisions on what he believes is best for “himself”? 

  Thaler, however, argues for what Aristotle and Socrates refer to as Akrasia, that is, the simple tendency to act against ones own good will: that humans don't follow through. Guided by time inconsistency, as humans (maybe irrational?) gratification now is preferred over gratification later. Vive el momentoor live in the moment, pilots our libido. So dwelling on past a night before the big test, acts against our best interests, yet, countless hours have been lost on chronic overthinking. But isn’t utility achieved now, no matter how mundane, also a composition of utility leading to an augmentation of self benefit? And in that essence, what we “perceive” as best for ourselves to some effect an imposition of what the society holds as best for us? And in that case maybe, my best interest does lie in the act of overthinking one night before the big test.