WHAT WE VALUE: A Neuroscientist's Guide to Making Better Choices

The Next Big Idea

Next Big Idea Club

Self-improvement, Arts, Books, Society & Culture, Education

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

All day long, your brain makes subconscious value calculations. It looks at every decision and asks, "What is going to be most rewarding for me right this very minute?" That creates a gap, doesn't it? A gap between the person you want to be and the choices you actually make. Today on the show, neuroscientist Emily Falk explains the science behind that gap. She shows us how understanding our brain's hidden valuation system can give us more compassion for ourselves, and help us gently nudge our daily actions to align with our deepest values. Her new book is What We Value. 🎧 Sign up for Next Big Idea Club+ 📩 Want insights from the best new nonfiction delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for our Book of the Day newsletter

Transcript

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0:00.0	Do you ever get that feeling that something cool is happening somewhere that you don't know about, but you should?
0:06.4	If you're feeling that right now, it might be because we just launched the Next Big Idea Club Plus on Apple Podcasts.
0:14.9	This premium channel, the Next Big Idea, delivers ad-free versions of this show, bonus episodes, and access to subscriber-only
0:23.7	shows, including pod classes with the best and brightest. People like Stephen Johnson, Susan
0:29.7	Kane, and Cal Newport. A mere five smackers a month will get you all this, and the bounce in your
0:37.2	step that comes from supporting a
0:39.1	podcast you love. If you sign up, email me at rufus at next big idea club.com. I would love to hear
0:48.0	what you think of the show, what kinds of episodes you enjoy, and how we can surprise and delight
0:54.0	you with Next Big Idea Club Plus.
0:58.4	I'm Rufus Griskem, and this is The Next Big Idea. Today, the neuroscience of decision making.
1:06.3	Thank you. The other morning, my son asked me to play a game with him. The other morning, my son asked me to play a game with him.
1:31.1	I was silent for one Mississippi, two Mississippi.
1:34.8	Of course I wanted to, but I also had to prepare for a podcast interview.
1:39.3	And in that moment, as I stared blankly at the ceiling, two stories I tell myself about myself
1:46.4	were at war.
1:48.1	The first is that I'm a loving, playful, spontaneous father, and the second is that I'm a dedicated,
1:54.5	disciplined, loyal worker.
1:57.2	A symphony of internal conflict over a single, simple choice.
2:03.1	It's a feeling we all know.
2:05.5	It's the choice between the chocolate cake and the salad,
2:08.4	between saving for retirement and splurging on a spur-of-the-moment vacation.
2:13.3	We face these tiny but crucial forks in the road all day long.
	...

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