How To Do Precisely the Right Thing at All Possible Times

WCC - 2036 Milstein East C
Thu., Feb. 16, 2012, 4 – 6 p.m.

Most experts tell us what to decide but they don’t tell us how. So the moment we face a novel decision—should I move to Cleveland or Anchorage? Marry Jennifer or Joanne? Become an architect or a pastry chef?—we’re lost. Is it possible to do the right thing at all possible times? In fact, there is a simple method for making decisions that most people find easy to understand but impossible to follow. New research in psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics explains why.

Gazette Classification: Humanities, Lecture, Science, Social Sciences
Speaker(s): Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology at Harvard University, author of "Stumbling on Happiness," and host of the PBS television series "This Emotional Life", Most experts tell us what to decide but they don’t tell us how. So the moment we face a novel decision—should I move to Cleveland or Anchorage? Marry Jennifer or Joanne? Become an architect or a pastry chef?—we’re lost. Is it possible to do the right thing at all possible times? In fact, there is a simple method for making decisions that most people find easy to understand but impossible to follow. New research in psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics explains why.
Contact Info: dos@law.harvard.edu