Defensive Pessimism and Confidence Dynamics

What confidence does to your brain, why it helps with anxiety, and how to get it if you don't already have it. Plus, the problem with overconfidence.

Ian Robertson is a Professor Emeritus in Psychology at Trinity College and was the founding director of Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. He has written five books, the latest of which is called, How Confidence Works.

In this episode we talk about:

• What confidence actually is
• How to boost confidence 
• The dangers of overconfidence, and how to guard against it
• The role of anxiety and failure
• The "Oscar effect”, and why winners tend to live longer
• How to reframe anxiety as excitement 
• The role of gender, race, and class on confidence levels
• The importance of distancing yourself from confidence saboteurs 
• And much more

Related Episodes:

• A Buddhist Recipe For Confidence | Ethan Nichtern
• Do You Feel Like an Imposter? | Dr. Valerie Young (Co-Interviewed by Dan’s Wife, Bianca!)

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