Quotes from Leonard Mlodinow

Of course our feelings matter. But emotional decisions are usually not the best ones. On the other hand, your emotions can affect your decisions whether you like it or not because the effects can occur on the unconscious level.

People spend a lot of time talking and thinking about how members of the opposite sex look, but very little time paying attention to how they sound. To our unconscious minds, however, voice is very important.

Language is handy, but we humans have social and emotional connections that transcend words and are communicated - and understood - without conscious thought.

People intuitively realize that there is strength in numbers and take comfort in the company of others, especially in times of anxiety or need.

I think the fun of following the movie box office and stocks is very similar to the fun of sports - all three combine passion and unpredictability.

The first step in battling the illusion of control is to be aware of if. But even then it is difficult, once we think we see a pattern, we do not easily let go of our perception.

We all understand that genius doesn't guarantee success, but it's seductive to assume that success must come from genius.

Research suggests when it comes to understanding our feelings, we humans have an odd mix of low ability and high confidence.

Science has revealed a universe that is vast, ancient, violent, strange, and beautiful, a universe of almost infinite variety and possibility one in which time can end in a black hole, and conscious beings can evolve from a soup of minerals.

We unfortunately seem to be unconsciously biased against those in the society who come out on the bottom.

People have a basic desire to feel good about themselves, and we therefore have a tendency to be unconsciously biased in favor of traits similiar to our won, even such seemingly meaningless traits as our names. Scientists have even identified a discrete area of the brain, called the dorsal striatum, as the structure that mediates much of this bias.

We judge people and initiatives by their results, and we expect events to happen for good, understandable reason. But our clear visions of inevitability are often only illusions.

As the psychologist Jonathan Haidt put it, there are two ways to get at the truth: the way of the scientist and the way of the lawyer.

Says Bargh: "We all hold dear idea that we´re the captain of our own sould, and we´re in charge, and it´s a very scary feeling when we are not. In fact, that´s what psychosis is – the feeling of detachment from reality and that you are not in control, and that´s a very frightening feeling for anyone.

We believe that when we choose anything, judge a stranger and even fall in love, we understand the principal factors that influenced us. Very often nothing could be further from the truth. As a result, many of our most basic assumptions about ourselves, and society, are false.

The eye that sees is not a mere physical organ but a means of perception conditioned by the tradition in which its possessor has been reared.    ââ'¬â€RUTH BENEDICT

You're wasting your time," he said. "You don't learn how to discover things by reading books on it. And psychology is a bunch of bullshit.

When we are in the grasp of illusion – or, for that matter, whenever we have a new idea – instead of searching for ways to prove our ideas wrong, we usually attempt to prove them correct. Psychologists call this the confirmation bias, and it presents a major impediment of our ability to break free from the misinterpretation of randomness.

probability is the very guide of life

there are two ways to get at the truth: the way of the scientist and the way of the lawyer. Scientists gather evidence, look for regularities, form theories explaining their observations, and test them. Attorneys begin with a conclusion they want to convince others of and then seek evidence that supports it, while also attempting to discredit evidence that doesn't.

Kant said, there is Das Ding an sich , a thing as it is, and there is Das Ding für uns , a thing as we know it.

Dershowitz may have felt justified in misleading the jury because, in his words, "the courtroom oath—'to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth'—is applicable only to witnesses. Defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges don't take this oath…indeed, it is fair to say the American justice system is built on a foundation of not telling the whole truth.

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than a giant himself