Finding inspiration in irrationality

By Jeff Arnold, Chairman and CEO

February 21, 2018

We had a meeting of the minds at Sharecare’s Atlanta headquarters yesterday, with renowned author and behavioral economist, Dan Ariely, addressing our employees who work every day to improve health across many different populations. During his remarks, Dan highlighted findings from his work over the years and underscored a few truths that both inspire and challenge many of us in healthcare:

• Preference and choice stand apart. We make choices that often contradict what we truly prefer, giving way to influencing factors like social norms.
• The path of least resistance has infinite appeal. We tend to convince ourselves that the easiest choice is the right choice – whether or not it aligns with our goals and aspirations.
• The devil is in the details of the environment. The forces that surround us, from people to perceptions to our knowns and unknowns, have significant bearings on how we make decisions.

For these reasons and many others, we are continuously studying what drives people to make healthier choices, as well as the realities of what may stand in your way. At Sharecare, we embrace these realities and are responding by putting tools and, ultimately, inspiration at your fingertips to make healthy living as simple as possible. With Sharecare as your partner in health, we hope you’ll be motivated to make healthy choices, just as you inspire us to think differently about how we design and build our products and services.