About this item
From one of the most innovative neuroscientists at work today, an investigation into the bias toward optimism that exists on a neural level in our brains and plays a major part in determining how we live our lives. Psychologists have long been aware that most people maintain an often irrationally positive outlook on life. In fact, optimism may be crucial to our existence. Tali Sharots experiments, research, and findings in cognitive science have contributed to an increased understanding of the biological basis of optimism. In this fascinating exploration, she takes an in-depth, clarifying look at how the brain generates hope and what happens when it fails how the brains of optimists and pessimists differ why we are terrible at predicting what will make us happy how emotions strengthen our ability to recollect how anticipation and dread affect us and how our optimistic illusions affect our financial, professional, and emotional decisions.
About the Author
Tali Sharot is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience with degrees in economics and psychology. She is the founder and director of the Affective Brain Lab at University College London. Her papers on decision-making, emotion, and influence have been published in Nature, Science, Nature Neuroscience, Psychological Science, and many others. She has been featured in numerous outlets and written for The New York Times, Time magazine, The Washington Post, CNN, the BBC and more. Before becoming a neuroscientist Sharot worked in the financial industry for a few years and completed her national mandatory service in the Israeli airforce. She is the author of The Optimism Bias and of The Influential Mind. She lives in Boston and London with her husband and children.
