Robert Burton

In this episode, we sit down with neurologist Robert Burton, author of On Being Certain, a book that fundamentally changed the way I think about what a belief actually is. That’s because the book posits conclusions are not conscious choices, and certainty is not even a thought process. Certainty and similar states of “knowing,” as he puts it, are "sensations that feel like thoughts, but arise out of involuntary brain mechanisms that function independently of reason."Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

Robert Burton, a neurologist and author of "On Being Certain," dives into the neuroscience behind our quest for certainty. He reveals how the brain’s competition among unconscious processes influences our 'feeling of knowing.' Burton discusses the fallibility of memory, illustrated through the Challenger disaster, and critiques the simplistic views of mental illness and intelligence. He also explores transcendence's personal meaning and champions embracing uncertainty, demonstrating how subjective experiences shape our understanding of the world.