How We Decide

Life, whether personal or professional, is an endless round of decision-making. In How We Decide, Jonah Lehrer explores the process, drawing on decades of research and experiments, and on the stunning revelations of MRI technology. For centuries, thinkers have assumed that humans are rational animals, that reason is vastly superior to emotion, and most recently, that the brain is itself a computer. As Lehrer shows, such thinkers have been wrong. It is true that some areas of the brain generate emotions, and others control rational thought, however their functions are complementary. While some decisions are best made rationally and consciously, others must be made by the subconscious or emotional brain. The very best deciders, whether quarterbacks, airline pilots, poker players, or CEOs, are those who weigh both reason and emotion.