1. We often make bad decisions that are not in our own best interest
1.1. e.g. the decision to smoke
1.1.1. We give up money and health with litte in return
1.1.2. Why?
1.1.2.1. Started with revolution
1.1.2.1.1. Companies figured out how to effectively sway opinions by propaganda
1.1.3. Reasons why it's easy to manipulate our opinions
1.1.3.1. We're good at associations
1.1.3.2. We learn by observation
2. I am my brain, my brain is me.
2.1. Hard to accept, but true
2.2. We're not inherently good at voting or making health decisions or mental arithmetic.
2.3. Accepting this will help us address society's problems.
3. Speaker
3.1. DEAN BUONOMANO
3.1.1. Neuroscientist | USA
3.1.2. Dean Buono (@DeanBuono) | Twitter
4. Neuroscience
4.1. =Unique field
4.1.1. The thing that's being studied is the thing that's doing the studying
4.2. Brains are amazing
4.2.1. They can do a lot of things such as pattern recognition or associations, but they're bad at mental arithmatic
4.2.1.1. Neurons
4.2.1.1.1. Can connect, can make associations
4.2.2. Brain = computational device
4.2.2.1. But it's not like a digital computer
4.2.3. We need to understand how brains are built to understand why they're good at certain things and bad at others
5. Brain Bugs
5.1. Societal problems reflect how our brains work
5.2. We have many glitches, flaws, biases
5.3. Automatic systems
5.3.1. Good at certain things, but also biased and shortsighted