Certainty vs. doubt

Finding the right balance can mean everything.

Additional Resources

“The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others,” by Tali Sharot

The Optimism Bias: Why We're Wired to Look on the Bright Side, by Tali Sharot

Our Experts

IAN ROBERTSON, MPHIL, PHD, FTCD

Ian Robertson, Co-Director of the Global Brain Health Institute and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin, is a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist with a unique ability to apply his research to real world problems. His latest book is How Confidence Works: The New Science of Self-Belief.

TALI SHAROT, PHD

Tali Sharot is an Israeli/British/American neuroscientist and professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London and MIT. Sharot began studying at Tel Aviv University, receiving a B.A. in economics in 1999, and an M.A. in psychology from New York University in 2002. She received her Ph.D in psychology and neuroscience from New York University. Sharot is known for her research on the neural basis of emotion, decision making and optimism. Sharot hopes to better understand these processes to enhance overall well-being.

TANIA LOMBROZO, phd

Tania Lombrozo is an American psychologist who is the Arthur W. Marks Professor of Psychology at Princeton University. She oversees the Concepts and Cognition Laboratory, which looks to understand the science that underpins cognition. Her research aims to address basic questions about learning, reasoning, and decision-making using the empirical tools of experimental psychology and the conceptual tools of analytic philosophy.