On Wednesday the 1st of August Peace Now hosted Professor Dan Ariely, a behavioral specialist in International Economics, for a gathering in Tel Aviv.
Professor Ariely offered to talk to activists and supporters of Peace Now.
Public interest in hearing Professor Ariely far exceeded our expectations, so we added an additional session and held the two sessions in succession, one at 19:00 and the second at 21:00. Over 750 people attended.
Professor Ariely spoke about our behavior and how our choices reflect irrationality. Among other things, he explained how the fear of regret negatively affects us and prevents us from making wise decisions, and our irrational preference of the status quo.
During the meeting Professor Ariely connected these contradictions in personal decision making to the obstacles facing forward movement on the peace process and the difficulty of mobilizing people to do something about it.
Throughout the session Professor Ariely facilitated discussions on how to utilize this knowledge to influence people and mobilize them on behalf of an important issue.
The crowd was very receptive to Professor Ariely’s message and were clearly moved by what he said. Despite the long Q&A at the end of the session, after the lecture many of the participants approached Professor Ariely to continue the discussion.
Peace Now’s next event will be a special tour of the Occupied Territories. It is open to all members of the public.
