Making decisions under uncertainty emotions, risk and biases

Abstract

The difficulty in deciding and facing up to uncertainty is not only linked to the inadequacy of the architecture of our minds but also to an ‘external’ model of uncertainty which does not correspond to the way in which our mind naturally functions. New conceptual paradigms and new programmes for experimental research are called for in order to redefine the role of internal and external restrictions on human action (resources and available information, limitations on calculation ability, on the capacity of memory, cognitive styles, gender differences and so on). All this should be contemplated in a more general theoretical framework – natural logic – based not on metaphysical assumptions but on the concrete evidence provided by cognitive neurosciences.