Dominic Johnson/ Ryan McKay/ Tali Sharot

Tuesday 5 May, 6.30 – 8pm
Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building, LSE

Dominic Johnson, Alastair Buchan Professor of International Relations, University of Oxford

Ryan McKay, Reader in Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London

Chair: Tali Sharot, Director of the Affective Brain Lab and Reader in the Department of Experimental Psychology, UCL and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow

The human mind produces countless biases, illusions, and predictable errors. Are such false beliefs adaptive? Had they evolved for a reason? From overconfidence to the illusion of control, the speakers will argue that false beliefs can provide the individual with an advantage in domains ranging from war and politics to health and finance. But how do such beliefs affect us as a society?