Protecting yourself from your own irrationalitySep 14 2009

Using examples from Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational, Jeff Atwood shows us how to keep our guard up against people trying to sell you things and, ultimately, ourselves.

Realize that some premium options exist as decoys -- that is, they are there only to make the less expensive options look more appealing, because they're easy to compare. Don't make binding decisions solely based on how easy it is to compare two side-by-side options from the same vendor. Try comparing all the alternatives, even those from other vendors.