In this series of lectures, Professor Baruch Fischhoff will explore how the studied myopia of our academic disciplines both provides unique insights and impedes our wisdom, usefulness, and social acceptability.

Focusing on the disciplines of psychology and management science, Professor Fischhoff will examine how decisions might be analyzed by informed observers, how people intuitively approach those decisions, and what can be done to help them along – by improving either their understanding or their options. In this case, the “people” are not the public, whom we normally study, but ourselves, as we choose problems, formulate studies, and interpret results.

The lectures will conclude by proposing strategies for a shared future, in which disciplines collaborate with one another and the society that they hope to serve.

Tuesday 18 April, 18.00 – 19.00 BST
Lecture 1: Bounding Rationality: The Wisdom of Conscious Blinders
What does disciplinary training reveal and obscure?

Wednesday 19 April, 18.00 – 19.00 BST
Lecture 2: Unbounded Respect: Fair Assessment of Decision Makers’ Competence
How do we render fair judgment of others’ abilities and performance, given the foci and focal lengths of our disciplinary lenses?

Thursday 20 April, 18.00 – 19.00 BST
Lecture 3: Bonding Communities: An Empowering Future for Satisficing Science
How can greater self-awareness enable disciplinary scientists to collaborate with one another and those they hope to serve, in ways that respect and enrich their unique perspectives?