On this episode of the Curiosity Podcast, "What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite" author David DiSalvo presents evidence from evolutionary and social psychology, cognitive science, neurology, and even marketing and economics, to discuss:

• Why our brains allow us to make poor decisions even when we know there will be a negative outcome.
• The role of technology and social media in fueling our biases, which creates a greater need to understand and control them.
• How to be aware of our brain's biases — such as confirmation bias, recency bias, intensity bias, and availability bias — so that we can better overcome them.
• Metacognition and how to think about our thinking.
• How to overcome the challenges of accomplishing a goal like losing weight while avoiding the "yo-yo effect" of doing something to negate the benefits of reaching that goal.

Click here to follow along with a written transcript of this episode (and share clips with your friends).

More reading from Curiosity:

• Confirmation Bias Makes You Ignore What You Don't Agree With
• The Backfire Effect Says When You Hear Contradictory Evidence, Your Beliefs Get Stronger
• The Framing Effect Shows How Simple Word Swaps Can Secretly Trick Your Brain
• Bad News Isn't Everywhere—That's Just Your Negativity Bias At Work
• Survivorship Bias Makes You Focus On Successes When You Should Remember Why Others Failed
• Motivated Reasoning Is Why You Can't Win An Argument Using Facts
• Trash Talk Makes You Work Harder — but There's a Cost

Additional resources from David DiSalvo:

• "What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite"
• "Brain Changer: How Harnessing Your Brain's Power to Adapt Can Change Your Life"
• "The Brain in Your Kitchen: A Collection of Essays on How What We Buy, Eat, and Experience Affects Our Brains"
• David DiSalvo's website
• David DiSalvo on Twitter @Neuronarrative

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About the Curiosity Podcast: Curiosity makes you smarter – and so will this podcast. Each week, we talk to experts who can help you get smart about the world around you, with a timely blend of cultural trends, life hacks, and developments in science and technology. You'll learn about your mind and your body, outer space and the depths of the sea, how history shaped the world into what it is today, and more. From the largest galaxies to your smallest brain cells, our curiosity will help you understand the world better.