On being certain: believing you are right even when you're not

Description

Neurologist Robert Burton challenges common notions about how people think about what they know, demonstrating how the feeling of certainty comes from a place beyond knowledge and control and is a mental sensation, not evidence of fact. Abstract: Neurologist Robert Burton challenges common notions about how people think about what they know, demonstrating how the feeling of certainty comes from a place beyond knowledge and control and is a mental sensation, not evidence of fact Content: The feeling of knowing -- How do we know what we know? -- Conviction isn't a choice -- The classification of mental states -- Neural networks -- Modularity and emergence -- When does a thought begin? -- Perceptual thoughts: a further clarification -- The pleasure of your thoughts -- Genes and thought -- Sensational thoughts -- The twin pillars of certainty: reason and objectivity -- Faith -- Mind speculations -- Final thoughts.