Jonah Lehrer Headshot
Report a problem with this profile
[email protected]

Jonah Lehrer      

Neuroscientist, New York Times bestselling author of "Imagine: How Creativity Works"

Jonah Lehrer -- hailed as "an important new thinker" by The Los Angeles Times -- is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Imagine: How Creativity Works, Proust Was a Neuroscientist and How We Decide. Captivating, accessible, and never dull, he talks about how we make decisions -- and how we can make better decisions. "Lehrer ingeniously weaves neuroscience, sports, war, psychology, and politics into a fascinating tale of human decision making," says Dan Ariely (Predictably Irrational). "He makes us much wiser."

Lehrer has been called "something of a popular science prodigy," by The New York Times, a man of "considerable talents." A graduate of Columbia University with a degree in neuroscience, Jonah Lehrer studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar where he received his Masters Degree in 20th century literature and philosophy. He is the author of Proust was a Neuroscientist and How We Decide. Lehrer is a contributing editor at Wired Magazine and National Public Radio's Radio Lab. He has also written for The New Yorker, Nature, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Speech Topics


How You Decide: The Science Behind the Voting Booth

Is ignorance democracy's bliss? Can we be rational in our election decisions? Probably not, says Jonah Lehrer. Whether this is our first time voting or our tenth, we each want to believe that we are making rational, well-informed decisions. But how can we? We are bombarded by 30-second emotional ads that direct our attention but in many cases have nothing to do with the issues. We all bring emotional bias to the voting booth, but how do we put that aside and look to vote based on the facts? In this talk, Jonah Lehrer, author of the bestseller How We Decide, outlines the many factors that go into the important decision of who we vote for this November. The more rational we try to be, says Lehrer, the farther we stray from rational decision making. How do we side-step the manipulation of political ad directors and vote our future? And what do first-time voters need to know before beginning their careers as informed citizens? Equal parts science, politics, and psychology, Lehrer helps students understand what makes voters tick, and helps make new voters savvy, informed, and entertained.

How We Decide: The New Science of Decision Making

In this engaging talk, Jonah Lehrer shows you how leaders in various fields are taking advantage of new discoveries in neuroscience to make better television shows, win more football games, improve military intelligence -- the list is endless. (On the flip side: how did defects in our decision-making apparatus lead to, among other things, the current financial crisis, costly wars, and how can we overcome these inherent flaws in our brain?) With verve and warmth, and the ability to clearly explain important and complex concepts, Lehrer brilliantly answers two questions that are of interest to just about anyone: How does the human mind make decisions? And how can you make those decisions better?

News


Jonah Lehrer has deal for new book - Yahoo News
From Yahoo News: NEW YORK (AP) — Jonah Lehrer, the best-selling author who has acknowledged using fake quotes and had two books pulled, has reached ...

Related Speakers View all


More like Jonah