Optimal Decision Making in Everyday Life

Optimal Decision Making in Everyday Life–A (Bar) talk by Dr. Lawrence Ian Reed

Decisions, decisions… Every day we are mired in them. Some have enormous consequences and can be paralyzing. Others are small and made without any reflection at all. Take these examples. You’ve just seen your first apartment in the city, and it was amazing. Should you take it on the spot or hold out for something better? You’ve got a 10-page paper that’ll take several hours and a problem set that’ll take 30 minutes. Which should you tackle first? You’ve been with your boyfriend for two months. Should you add him as your “plus 1” for a gathering three months from now? It turns out there is not just a good answer to each one of these questions, but an optimal answer. Here, we discuss how and why so that you can live your life as optimally as possible.

Lawrence Ian Reed (www.lawrenceianreed.net) is a clinical assistant professor in NYU. He studies facial expression of emotion, focusing on why we so visibly express our private motivational and emotional states. He is also a clinically trained psychologist with a specialization in treating adolescents and adults with mood and emotional disorders.

Doors – 7:30 pm
Lecture- 8:00 pm