David Frum: A lot of people are guilty of what's called confirmation bias. We believe cherry pick and take as true things that confirm our ideology or politics, he says. "We have a deep desire, I think, to have answers to those questions that can't be answered" He argues economics is more like history than physics; economists hate to hear.
Neurologist and author Robert Burton talks about his book, On Being Certain, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Burton explores our need for certainty and the challenge of being skeptical about what our brain tells us must be true. Where does what Burton calls "the feeling of knowing" come from? Why can memory lead us astray? Burton claims that our reaction to events emerges from competition among different parts of the brain operating below our level of awareness. The conversation includes a discussion of the experience of transcendence and the different ways humans come to that experience.