Behavioral Game Theory

I have finally got around to reading Richard Thaler's fantastically wonderful book on Misbehaving . One thing that surprised me in the early chapters is how Thaler backs expected utility theory as the right way to think . Deviations from expected utility are then interpreted as humans not behaving 'as they should'. While I am familiar with this basic argument it still came as a surprise to me how firmly Thaler backed expected utility theory. And I'm not sure I buy this argument.  To appreciate the issue consider some thought experiments. Thaler gives the following example: Stanley mows his lawn every weekend and it gives him terrible hay fever. I ask Stan why he doesn't hire a kid to mow his lawn. Stan says he doesn't want to pay the $10. I ask Stan whether he would mow his neighbor's lawn for $20 and Stan says no, of course not. From the point of view of expected utility theory Stan's behavior makes no sense. What we should do is calculate t...