GOOD DECISIONS

'The first step to making better decisions is to see ourselves as we really are, to look inside the black box of the human brain. We need to honestly assess our flaws and talents, our strengths and shortcomings.'

Jonah Lehrer, The Decisive Moment, p.247.

GOOD DECISIONS

'...once you've developed expertise in a particular area - once you've made the requisite mistakes - it's important to trust your emotions when making decisions in that domain. It is feelings, after all, and not the prefrontal cortex, that capture the wisdom of experience.'

Jonah Lehrer, The Decisive Moment, p.237.

GOOD DECISIONS

'The same lesson can be applied to the brain: when making decisions, actively resist the urge to supress the argument. Instead, take the time to listen to what all the different brain areas have to say. Godd decisions rarely emerge from a false consensus. Alfred P. Sloan, the chairman of General Motors during its heyday, once adjourned a board meeting soon after it began. "Gentlemen," Sloan said, "I take it we are all in complete agreement on the decision here...Then I propose we postpone further discussion of this matter until our next meeting to give ourselves time to develop disagreement and perhaps gain some understanding of what the decision is all about."'

Jonah Lehrer, The Decisive Moment, p.209.

EDUCATION

'...one of the crucial ingredients of successful education is the ability to learn from mistakes.'

Jonah Lehrer, The Decisive Moment, p.55.

FEELINGS

'The process of thinking requires feeling, for our feelings are what let us understand all the information that we can't directly comprehend. Reason without emotion is impotent.'

Jonah Lehrer, The Decisive Moment: How the Brain Makes Up Its Mind, p.31.