Tali Sharot

Harvard Book Store welcomes cognitive neuroscientist TALI SHAROT—founder and director of the Affective Brain Lab at University College London—and Harvard Law School's CASS R. SUNSTEIN for a discussion of Sharot's latest book, The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others.

About The Influential Mind

In The Influential Mind, neuroscientist Tali Sharot takes us on a thrilling exploration of the nature of influence. We all have a duty to affect others―from the classroom to the boardroom to social media. But how skilled are we at this role, and can we become better? It turns out that many of our instincts―from relying on facts and figures to shape opinions, to insisting others are wrong or attempting to exert control―are ineffective, because they are incompatible with how people’s minds operate. Sharot shows us how to avoid these pitfalls, and how an attempt to change beliefs and actions is successful when it is well-matched with the core elements that govern the human brain.

Sharot reveals the critical role of emotion in influence, the weakness of data and the power of curiosity. Relying on the latest research in neuroscience, behavioral economics and psychology, the book provides fascinating insight into the complex power of influence, good and bad.

Praise

"The Influential Mind will make you gasp with surprise—and laugh with recognition. Many of our most cherished beliefs about how to influence others turn out to be wrong; Sharot sets them right. Packed with practical insights, this profound book will change your life. An instant classic." —Cass R. Sunstein, Harvard University; former Administrator for the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and bestselling co-author of Nudge

"Take it from a leading neuroscientist: every day, we all miss opportunities to influence others. This timely, intriguing book explains why it's so difficult to shift the attitudes and actions of others—and what we can do about it." —Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take

"In the arena of behavioral science, little has held more potential than the striking advances in behavioral neuroscience and little has stood to gain as much from those advances as the study of social influence. With The Influential Mind, Tali Sharot has offered an account that makes the connection in a way that is both instructive and engaging." —Robert B. Cialdini, author of Influence and Pre-Suasion