1067: Better Decisions through Neuroscience with Emily Falk

We often focus so much on distant outcomes and on doing the thing that we think is going to be the best for us that we disregard or downweight the thing that actually is going to make the process joyful. We imagine that we're making decisions independent of lots of other factors, but the data really bear out the idea that our brain's value systems are deeply influenced by what other people are thinking and feeling and doing. That's Emily Falk. She's an award-winning researcher who serves as the director of the Communication Neuroscience Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. And she shares a lot of wisdom from her research in her book, What We Value, the Neuroscience of Choice and Change.

So you'll learn one, how to make doing hard things easier, two, the one belief that's limiting your possibilities, and three, how to disarm resistance to change. I'm Pete McKitis. This is how to be awesome at your job. And now, here's Emily. Emily, welcome.

Thanks so much for having me, Pete. Oh, thank you. I'm excited to hear some of your goods. So then tell us with your book, What We Value, what's the big idea or core message here? Well, the big idea in what we value is that our brains shape what we value.

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