You 2.0: Trusting Your Doubt

Hidden Brain

Hidden Brain Media

Social Sciences, Performing Arts, Science, Arts

4.6 • 42.5K Ratings

🗓️ 26 January 2026

⏱️ 97 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We conclude our month-long You 2.0 series with a look at the hidden power of doubt — not as weakness or indecision, but as a tool that helps us make better choices and navigate an uncertain world. Researcher Bobby Parmar explores how doubt can sharpen judgment, and makes a case for why the ability to sit with uncertainty may be one of the most important skills of all. Then, in our latest installment of "Your Questions Answered," Emily Falk answers listeners' questions about defensiveness, and offers insights into how we can strengthen our ability to give and receive feedback.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedantam.
0:03.0	June 5th, 1944, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied forces,
0:10.0	had driven unannounced to the Greenham Common Air Force Base in the United Kingdom.
0:16.0	Paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division were preparing for a historic jump.
0:23.1	General Eisenhower wanted to boost morale.
0:26.2	The soldiers knew they were on a mission, but they didn't yet know the scale.
0:30.7	The general eased their fears with a confident demeanor and friendly small talk.
0:35.2	Where are you from? he asked one lieutenant.
0:38.1	Michigan?
0:39.3	Spectacular fishing there, Eisenhower said.
0:42.8	He was about to release a short and blunt one-page memo,
0:47.0	telling troops that they were on a great crusade to liberate Europe.
0:51.1	He ordered them to accept nothing less than full victory. By that evening, as he made
0:57.6	his way back home, the general confided in his driver, I hope to God I'm right. The weather
1:06.0	forecasts were uncertain and a slight change could lead to failure.
1:17.1	Eisenhower returned to his cottage and wrote a message that no one was supposed to see,
1:20.9	a statement taking full responsibility if D-Day failed.
1:26.8	Our landings have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold, and I have withdrawn the troops,
1:27.4	he wrote. If any blame or fault
1:29.4	attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone. He underlined those final words for emphasis,
1:35.9	and tucked the note into his wallet. He never needed it. Under the command of General Eisenhower,
1:50.0	Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of French.
	...

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