The methodology of economics has been applied with increasing frequency to nonmarket behavior and interactions. Peter Leeson's book WTF?!: An Economic Tour of the Weird illustrates both the promise and the perils of this practice. When applied judiciously to environments in which the strategic obfuscation of true motives is widespread, the economic approach can yield valuable insights. But when applied without proper attention to prevailing norms and values, the attempt to rationalize behavior can fall flat and invite ridicule. Economists seeking to understand cultural practices would do well to import insights from other disciplines, and temper their eagerness to export narrow conceptions of rationality.

中文翻译：

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合理化选择：关于彼得·李森（Peter Leeson）的WTF的评论文章？！：怪诞的经济之旅

经济学方法已越来越多地应用于非市场行为和互动。彼得·李森（Peter Leeson）的著作《 WTF？！：怪异的经济之旅》既说明了这种做法的前景，也说明了这种做法的危险。如果明智地将其用于对真正动机进行战略混淆的环境中，那么经济方法可以产生有价值的见解。但是，如果在没有适当注意现行规范和价值观的情况下应用，则使行为合理化的尝试可能会陷入僵局并引起嘲笑。寻求了解文化习俗的经济学家将很容易从其他学科中获得见识，并缓和他们渴望输出狭义理性的渴望。