Meet the Author: Carol Tavris
The NYC Skeptics Meet the Author Series presents CSI Fellow Carol Tavris, co-author of Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts.
Why is it often so hard to admit mistakes, change our minds, or give up
a wrong belief? What blocks us from even being aware that we are wrong
and might need to change? Our cognitive biases and blind spots help us
sleep at night, but they can also have disastrous consequences: for
professionals clinging to outdated methods, for scientists unable to
discard faulty hypotheses, for politicians determined to "stay the
course" even as it leads into quicksand, for those who weave
self-justifying narratives to explain their cruelties, for any of us who
defend our way as the only right way . . . in short, for all of us on this
shrinking planet.
CAROL TAVRIS is a social psychologist, lecturer, and writer. Her books
include Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion and The Mismeasure of Woman,
and she has written articles and book reviews for many publications.
She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the
Association for Psychological Science, a member of the editorial board
of Psychological Science in the Public Interest, and a fellow of the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
