Understanding Human Fallibility and Decision-Making

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Human beings are inherently unreliable due to a combination of factors, including inaccurate information, poor self-observation, and Mother Nature's design for survival and gene propagation. Despite our prefrontal cortex being uniquely large compared to other species, we often make mistakes repeatedly. Mother Nature prioritizes survival and gene propagation over happiness, making it crucial for individuals to make decisions that go beyond primal instincts and align with deeply human values.

We spend — on average — 90,000 hours of our life working. So it’s no wonder we want our jobs to bring us happiness. Yet, all too often, work doesn’t make us happy. Why is that? And is there anything we can do about it?

In this episode, we discuss just that.

You’ll hear from social scientist and New York Times bestselling author, Arthur Brooks (Harvard). Arthur talks with Dean of Harvard Medical School, Bernard S. Chang, about happiness, vocation, faith, and physician burnout. They discuss Arthur’s empirical research on happiness, explore the role of transcendence in a happier life, and how to best set expectations about the role of work in our lives.

This Forum was held at Harvard Medical School in February of 2024. Thank you to the Forum planning team at Harvard Medical School for making this event possible.

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