When it comes to the mental world, when we design things like health care and retirement and stock markets, we somehow forget the idea that we are limited. I think that if we understood our cognitive limitations in the same way that we understand our physical limitations … we could design a better world.

Source: "Are We in Control of Our Own Decisions?" EG 2008. Dec. 2008. Conference Presentation. Additional Information: This quote is from behavioral economist Dan Ariely's 2008 TED Talk about how people are not as rational in their decision-making as they think they are. The quote means that we understand our physical limitations better than we understand our mental limitations. Says Ariely, people who create complex systems, such as financial systems, believe that they can design them to function perfectly, but this is not true because even very intelligent people have cognitive limitations that skew their decision-making abilities. However, if we can take into account these limitations, we can work around them to make better decisions. Watch the full TED Talk here: Dan Ariely - Are We in Control of Our Own Decisions?

“Are We in Control of Our Own Decisions?” EG 2008. Dec. 2008. Conference Presentation.