Final Blog Entry for AHRMM11

My last Learning Lab before heading to the airport for my trip back to the sunny South was very good.

"How Irrational?!The Illogical Reasons Behind the Choices we Make" with speaker Timothy Glennon.

Humans are all bundles of habits. Most thoughts are negative - replacing a negative with a positive thought can wipe away all traces in your memory within 48-72 hours. We do what we think about. To change the nature of thought change first what YOU do.

Timothy explained we have two parts of our brain - rational and emotional. We don't look at things separately but as a whole. The notion of "decoy" is important for making decisions. When we are infants we learn that warmth means safety and comfort - this feeling remains even to adulthood. Our first choices can impact our future choices.

We don't like to delay gratification - we are wired for immediate gratification. We compare what we have to others; once we own something, we think it is worth more money than it really is. This is called the Endowment Effect. The speaker ended this learning lab by reminding attendees that your emotional brain has a lot to do with decisions you make each day of your life.

Thanks to AHRMM for allowing me to Blog during this conference. I have enjoyed it a lot and look forward to next year in San Antonio!!!!

Nancy J Webber, MPH, CMRP