
What We Value
What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice and Change by Emily Falk is now available everywhere books are sold! learn morE

Amid the many competing priorities of our busy lives, it can feel difficult to make the right decisions--ones that feel aligned with the things we care about. Change can feel almost impossible. In this book, award-winning researcher Emily Falk reveals how we can transform our relationship with the daily choices that define our lives by thinking like a neuroscientist about what we value.
Introducing us to three brain systems responsible for computing our everyday decisions in a process known as the value calculation, Falk shows how we can work more strategically with our brains to make more fulfilling choices. Whether deciding on lunch or a career, changing our routines or other people's minds, we learn how changing what we think about can change what we think, connecting with our core values can make us less defensive, and broadening our curiosity about different perspectives can seed innovation. Based on cutting-edge research, What We Value is a groundbreaking guide to finding new possibilities in our choices--and the lives we ultimately make with them.
Reviews and Endorsements
“In What We Value, Emily Falk—one of my favorite neuroscientists—explains in beautiful, personal, first-person prose how our brains make choices for us, what we can do to change those choices, and how we can tune our connections to other people. Falk meets ancient questions with modern neuroscience—and in her honest, humble, authoritative voice, engages us in a conversation that may well change the choices we make and, in turn, the people we are.” |
“Emily Falk has given us an intellectually penetrating and beautifully written account of how what we value at any one moment influences our choices, which influence the choices of those around us, which redound to influence us in turn. Even better, she specifies practices we can employ to affect the brain processes responsible for these influences. It is the best blending I have seen of important behavioral and neuroscience evidence.” |
“An illuminating journey inside the human brain. If you’ve ever wondered what happens in your head when you make decisions and change habits, Emily Falk offers a wealth of insight." |
“‘Values’ can feel fuzzy, a fit for philosophers and theologians, not science. But researchers are now exploring how value works in the brain; their fascinating insights make clear that we can not just understand what drives us, but also shape it. Emily Falk is a world leader in this space, and in this book, she provides a tour of motivation, thinking, and action. Filled with cutting-edge science and riveting stories, What We Value will help you better understand how you make decisions, and equip you to make them more wisely.” —Jamil Zaki, author of Hope for Cynics; |
“Rich, riveting, and packed with practical insights drawn from cutting-edge research, What We Value will help you approach choices and change more effectively. A brilliant neuroscientist and masterful storyteller, Falk has produced a captivating must-read for anyone who aspires to learn and grow.” |
"A rare glimpse into the mechanics of how our brains make decisions. . . . Essential reading for anyone who wants to effect real change in their life, business, or community." |
“Through understanding individual motivations behind decision-making and the many variables that can ultimately align toward bigger-picture goals and values, Falk empowers readers to make more consciously attuned choices." |
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What We Value in the Media
- Scientific American - Good Conversations Don’t Require Everybody to Agree, Neuroscience Shows (opinion, September 25, 2025)
- Hidden Brain - It’s Not My Fault! (radio & podcast, September 15, 2025)
- WHYY’s The Connection with Marty Moss-Coane - The Neuroscience of Decision Making (radio & podcast, September 12, 2025)
- Hidden Brain - Winning the Battle Against Yourself (radio & podcast, September 8, 2025)
- KWMR’s Airwaves - Valuable Brains (radio, August 12, 2025)
- Nature - Swift bricks, ancient tattoos and more: Books in brief (book review, August 8, 2025)
- The Next Big Idea - WHAT WE VALUE: A Neuroscientist's Guide to Making Better Choice (podcast, July 31, 2025)
- WGBH’s The Culture Show Podcast - The legacy of Jonathan Demme, Neuroscientist Emily Falk, and public art in Zone 3 (radio & podcast, July 31, 2025)
- Think Fast, Talk Smart - Wired for Words: A Neuroscientist’s Guide to Influence (podcast, July 15, 2025)
- New York Times - The Science of Making Better Decisions (opinion, July 6, 2025)
- Scientific American - To Make Better Choices, Understand How Your Brain Processes Values (print, June 24, 2025)
- Remarkable People - The Neuroscience Behind Every Decision You Make (podcast, June 18, 2025)
- How to be Awesome at Your Job - Better Decisions through Neuroscience with Emily Falk (podcast, June 16, 2025)
- MPR News’ Big Books and Bold Ideas - Neuroscientist Emily Falk links choice to change in “What We Value” (radio & podcast, June 13, 2025)
- LAist’s Airtalk - First Amendment Rights of Protesters, FIFA Club World Cup Explainer, a Neuroscientist on Decision-Making, and more! (podcast, June 12, 2025)
- Next Big Idea Club - The Neuroscience of Choice: Train Your Brain to Accomplish What Matters Most (book of the day, May 27, 2025)
- Behavioral Grooves - The Top Reason You Make Bad Decisions - And How to Stop | Emily Falk (podcast, May 26, 2025)
- The Sunday Telegraph - The secret to making the third chapter of your life as exciting as the first (print, May 11, 2025)
- WAMC’s The Roundtable - "What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice and Change" by Emily Falk (radio & podcast, May 5, 2025)
- Groks Science Radio Show and Podcast - Value Choice (podcast, April 23, 2025)
- Psychology Today - How to Train Our Brains’ Value Systems (book review, April 22, 2025)
- Daily Mail - What We Value by Emily Falk: How to rob a bank - be a woman and make a fuss (book review, April 17, 2025)
- Instant Genius - How to hack your brain to make better decisions (podcast, April 17, 2025)
- KERA’s Think - How your brain makes up its mind (podcast, April 17, 2025)
- TechNation Radio Podcast - The Neuroscience of Choice (podcast, April 16, 2025).
- Family Action Network - Emily Falk, Ph.D. and Ethan Kross, Ph.D. - What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice & Change (live event, April 16, 2025)
- Passion Struck - Dr. Emily Falk on How to Rewire Your Brain for Better Choices (podcast, April 10, 2025)
- The Brainy Business - What We Value (podcast, April 9, 2025)
- Converging Dialogues - The Neuroscience of Choice and Change: A Dialogue with Emily Falk (podcast, April 6, 2025)
- UCLA Livewell - Part 2 - Change how you think: Why we think how we do and our value system with Emily Falk (podcast, March 27, 2025)
- Sirius XM’s The Michael Smerconish Program - A Signal of Bad Judgment (radio & podcast, March 25, 2025)
- UCLA Livewell - Part 1 - Change how you think: Why we think how we do and our value system with Emily Falk (podcast, March 17, 2025)
- Shelf Awareness - Review for What We Value by Emily Falk (book review, March 17, 2025)