The Counterintuitive Truth About Our Beliefs
18 Feb 2026 · 0 min
0:24
Tamsen Webster explains why people change their beliefs to match their behavior instead of the other way around. We rationalize decisions after we make them, not before.
Tamsen Webster explains why people change their beliefs to match their behavior instead of the other way around. We rationalize decisions after we make them, not before.
It's one of the most fascinating and counterintuitive things about the human brain is that we think we would change our behavior to match our beliefs, but in fact, the opposite is true, that we will change our beliefs to match our behavior. It's that whole idea that we are not rational decision makers. We're rationalizing decision makers, and we tell ourselves a story to make it all okay.
