Why do most Americans wear seatbelts but continue to speed even though speeding fines are higher? Why could park rangers reduce theft by removing "no stealing" signs? Why was a man who stole three golf clubs sentenced to 25 years in prison?
Some laws radically change behavior whereas others are consistently ignored and routinely broken. And yet we keep relying on harsh punishment against crime despite its continued failure.
Professors Benjamin van Rooij and Adam Fine draw on decades of research to uncover the behavioral code: the root causes and hidden forces that drive human behavior and our responses to society's laws. In doing so, they present the first accessible analysis of behavioral jurisprudence, which will fundamentally alter how we understand the connection between law and human behavior.
The Behavioral Code offers a necessary and different approach to battling crime and injustice that is based in understanding the science of human misconduct--rather than relying on our instinctual drive to punish as a way to shape behavior. The book reveals the behavioral code's hidden role through illustrative examples like:
-The illusion of the US's beloved tax refund
-Germany's walls that "pee back" at public urinators
-The $1,000 monthly "good behavior" reward that reduced gun violence
-Uber's backdoor "Greyball" app that helped the company evade Seattle's taxi regulators
-A $2.3 billion legal settlement against Pfizer that revealed how whistleblower protections fail to reduce corporate malfeasance
-A toxic organizational culture playing a core role in Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal
-How Peter Thiel helped Hulk Hogan sue Gawker into oblivion
Revelatory and counterintuitive, The Behavioral Code catalyzes the conversation about how the law can effectively improve human conduct and respond to some of our most pressing issues today, from police misconduct to corporate malfeasance.
（文字整理/文謙益）
為什麼大多數美國人會繫好安全帶卻不斷地超速行駛，即使超速罰款貴森森？為什麼公園管理員可以通過拿掉“禁止偷竊”的標誌來減少竊案？為什麼一個偷了三支高爾夫球桿的人要被判處二十五年的徒刑？
有些法律從根本上改變了行為，而另一些法律則一直受到忽視並經常被違反。然而，儘管這些罰則不斷失效，我們仍然藉著重罰來打擊犯罪。
班哲明•凡魯吉和亞當•范恩兩位教授援引數十年的研究來揭露行為準則：驅動人類行為的根本原因和隱藏力量以及我們對社會法律所做出的反應。通過這樣做，他們提出了第一個易於理解的行為法學分析，它從根本上改變了我們理解法律與人類行為之間的關連。
《行為失控》提供了一種必要且不同的方法來打擊犯罪和不公不義，這種方法基於對人類不當行為的科學性理解--而不是依靠我們天生畏懼懲罰的驅策力去規範行為。該書通過以下的例子說明了行為法則的潛在角色：
-美國人最喜歡的退稅迷思。
-德國使用超疏水塗層的防尿牆能“將尿彈回”給在公共場所小便的人。
-為了減少槍支暴力，每月提供一千美金的“行為良好”獎勵。
-Uber後門內建的應用軟體“Greyball”幫助該公司規避西雅圖對出租車的監管。
-一項針對輝瑞公司的二十三億美元法律和解協議揭示了「吹哨者保護方案」並無法減少公司內部的瀆職。
-有害的組織文化在福斯汽車排放弊案醜聞中扮演了核心角色。
-彼得••提爾如何幫助霍克•霍肯起訴高克傳媒(Gawker)讓它垮台。
《行為失控》具有啟發性並違反我們的直覺，它促進了關於法律能有效改善人類行為及回應當今我們迫切議題的對話（包括從警察的不當行為到企業瀆職）。