Are Our Decisions Really Our Own?

I discovered TEDTalks and have really enjoyed it.  TED stands for a non-profit called "Technology, Entertainment, and Design" that puts on conferences devoted to putting speakers in front of audiences with "ideas worth spreading."

One of my favorite talks is one in which Dan Ariely asks, Are we in control of our own decisions? (see also iTunes)  Dan is a behavioral economist and the author of Predictably Irrational.  He uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we're not as rational as we think when we make decisions.  One of my favorite examples is comparing the percentage of drivers in Germany who agree to donate their organs in the event of their death to the percentage of drivers who do the same in Austria.  These two countries share the same language and have similar cultures.  Why does one country have a much higher percentage of organ donation than the other?  The answer, it is the paper form.  In one country the form says if you check nothing, they assume you do not want to participate and in the other country the form says if you check nothing, they assume you DO want to participate.  What does this have to say about how rational we are when we make decisions.  Its thought-provoking listening and challenges you about how you really make your decisions. 

Here's Dan's book if your interested.