[beaconstudios]

> You're pretending people are rational automata who make decisions in their own self interest, which is rarely true in life.

why do you think this? I would wager that most people are acting in the way they think is best, either for themselves or the people around them, either of which is a form of self-interest. Often in my experience what seems to me to be irrational from the outside is in fact very rational, and I just didn't have all the pertinent information.

[HugeTom]

I don't know, he seems to be right. Most people would ignore what they know to be good for them most of the times when it counts.

Some of the examples that I can think of are

  Exercise good for health is known fact.
  Eating healthy food.
  Global warming consideration in day today work.
  Cigarette smoking.
  Continuous study vs last minute study for exams.

[beaconstudios]

> Some of the examples that I can think of are

You are assuming other people's goals - "good for you" is not always a clear objective measure. For some example counters:

> Exercise good for health is known fact.

> Eating healthy food.

It also takes more time and most people find exercise and health food somewhat unpleasant compared to not taking these choices. If you're not optimising for longevity (which most people aren't, and it's not immediately obvious that they should given you're arguably subtracting usable time now to add time later on) then these aren't inherently rational choices.

> Global warming consideration in day today work.

This is a classic externality. It's perfectly logical to not shoulder the burden of trying to save the planet, especially if you don't think your efforts will make a difference. It's more of a moral responsibility, which while perfectly valid, it's not inherently rational to accept said responsibilities.

> Cigarette smoking.

There are many reasons people smoke, even though they know they're bad for you (though arguably lung cancer falls under the "won't happen to me" and "it's a problem for future me" logic fallacies, though then again people tend to positively weight benefits in youth vs costs in old age which seems sensible-ish). Social status. Being able to remain in the "in-group" if friends smoke. A feeling of danger or risk of being caught. All of these are reasons someone might start smoking as a teenager. which AFAIK is when most smokers start.

> Continuous study vs last minute study for exams.

That's genuinely irrational, and obviously ties into the way our brains work. My point wasn't that people are never irrational; it was that often behaviours that seem irrational from the outside make some kind of sense from the perspective of the participant/s. People don't generally just do things for no reason and rationality is inseparable from context.

[max76]

I will agree that people do not typically act rationally, the entire field of economics learned this lesson the hard way.

I think people act very strategically with their political careers, and while they may make blunders they are caused by bad luck and incompetence more than a lack of rational thought, especially at the national level.