--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What this tells us is that the brain…" description: "\"“What this tells us is that the brain doesn't merely prefer certainty over ambiguity—it craves it. Our need to be right is actually a need to “feel” ri..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff1/david-disalvo-3662_feel-right_what-this-tells-us-is-that-the-brain-doe_2335151.jpg" --- # What this tells us is that the brain doesn't merely prefer… ![“What this tells us is that the brain doesn't merely prefer certainty over ambiguity—it craves it. Our need to be right is actually a need to “feel” right.” quote by David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff1/david-disalvo-3662_feel-right_what-this-tells-us-is-that-the-brain-doe_2335151.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff1/david-disalvo-3662_feel-right_what-this-tells-us-is-that-the-brain-doe_2335151.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff1/david-disalvo-3662_feel-right_what-this-tells-us-is-that-the-brain-doe_2335151.jpg) > ““What this tells us is that the brain doesn't merely prefer certainty over ambiguity—it craves it. Our need to be right is actually a need to “feel” right.”” [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The brain seeks certainty because it feels comfortable, turning the desire to be right into a need for emotional reassurance. **In simple terms:** People crave certainty for emotional comfort. Key Takeaway Recognize when you’re seeking comfort over truth. Themes psychology comfort decisionmaking Mood anxious reflective Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - workplace decisions - personal relationships - risk assessment - learning environments Key Concepts cognitive bias emotional regulation Questions to Reflect On - Do you prefer certainty even when it limits growth? - How does feeling right influence your choices? A Different Perspective Seeking certainty can blind you to nuance and lead to overconfidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambiguity Craves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguity-craves-5631819/) [Certainty Ambiguity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty-ambiguity-5631818/) [Feel Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-right/) [Prefer Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prefer-certainty-5631820/) [Tells Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tells-brain-1843616/) ## Related quotes > [People prefer the certainty of misery to the misery of uncertainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-satir/people-prefer-the-certainty-of-misery-to-the-misery-of-uncertainty/) [Virginia Satir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-satir/) > [“Whatever you say to yourself, silently or aloud, tells your brain what to focus on. Simple!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-owen/whatever-you-say-to-yourself-silently-or-aloud-tells-your-brain-what/) [Sam Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-owen/) > [It's a constant battle between what your heart tells you, and what your brain tells you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dat-phan/it-s-a-constant-battle-between-what-your-heart-tells-you-and-what/) [Dat Phan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dat-phan/) > [“The truth for us all is that when we feel right about a decision or a belief—whether big or small—our brains are happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/the-truth-for-us-all-is-that-when-we-feel-right-about-a-decision-or-a/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [Have you ever felt so alone and nothing makes sense? Well thats how I feel right nowI feel like Im facing everything myself, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/have-you-ever-felt-so-alone-and-nothing-makes-sense-well-thats-how-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I never let whatever - people or ideas or opinions - get in the way of something that is in your head, or is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-cavalera/i-never-let-whatever-people-or-ideas-or-opinions-get-in-the-way-of/) [Max Cavalera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-cavalera/) > [If you love me, if you hate me, I mean, I can only do what I feel is right and that's something that I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liv-morgan/if-you-love-me-if-you-hate-me-i-mean-i-can-only-do-what-i-feel-is/) [Liv Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liv-morgan/) > [Take everything that you gave. When things were nice. Fake everything. If it makes you feel all right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruthie-foster/take-everything-that-you-gave-when-things-were-nice-fake-everything/) [Ruthie Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruthie-foster/) > [I've just tried to grow up in the most natural and gradual process that I possibly can and make choices I feel are right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-ve-just-tried-to-grow-up-in-the-most-natural-and-gradual-process/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [If you get something right, you really feel it, right in your chest, on stage. I think it's an incomparable experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-seinfeld/if-you-get-something-right-you-really-feel-it-right-in-your-chest-on/) [Jerry Seinfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-seinfeld/) > [I was raised to stand up for myself, if I feel I'm in the right. Maybe it would have been best if I'd just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannen-doherty/i-was-raised-to-stand-up-for-myself-if-i-feel-i-m-in-the-right-maybe/) [Shannen Doherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannen-doherty/) > [Never be ashamed of what you feel. You have the right to feel any emotion that you want, and to do what makes you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demi-lovato/never-be-ashamed-of-what-you-feel-you-have-the-right-to-feel-any/) [Demi Lovato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demi-lovato/) > [I dont feel right when youre gone away. We must have had something real strong, Im tossing and turning all night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-dont-feel-right-when-youre-gone-away-we-must-have-had-something/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think yours is the only path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-s-one-thing-to-feel-that-you-are-on-the-right-path-but-it-s/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Just for the record, how I feel right now is very terrific.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/just-for-the-record-how-i-feel-right-now-is-very-terrific/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) ## More by David DiSalvo > [“The flip side of this reality is that our big brains, advanced as they are, come with an array of complex shortcomings and are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/the-flip-side-of-this-reality-is-that-our-big-brains-advanced-as-they/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“Participants who anticipated more rapid feedback scored the highest on the test.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/participants-who-anticipated-more-rapid-feedback-scored-the-highest/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“The best way to think of how our brains frame information is to imagine a picture frame, except unlike a normal frame, this one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/the-best-way-to-think-of-how-our-brains-frame-information-is-to/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“the amPFC and PCC were shown to play a large role in self-referential thinking and autobiographical memory (essentially, the “me” part of your brain).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/the-ampfc-and-pcc-were-shown-to-play-a-large-role-in-self-referential/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“those who ask themselves whether they will perform a task generally do better than those who tell themselves that they will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/those-who-ask-themselves-whether-they-will-perform-a-task-generally/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“words, for our brains, reality equals relevance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/words-for-our-brains-reality-equals-relevance/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“In German, bridge (die brucke) is a feminine noun; in Spanish, bridge (el puente) is a masculine noun. Boroditsky found that when asked to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/in-german-bridge-die-brucke-is-a-feminine-noun-in-spanish-bridge-el/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“selective attention,” also called “selectivity bias”—the tendency to orient oneself toward and process information from only one part of our environment to the exclusion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/selective-attention-also-called-selectivity-bias-the-tendency-to/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“great deal of “green” marketing is predicated on the assumption that people will buy a green product to make themselves feel better about moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/great-deal-of-green-marketing-is-predicated-on-the-assumption-that/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“appears that our first instinct is for idleness, but when given an excuse to be busy (even a meaningless one), we're liable to act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/appears-that-our-first-instinct-is-for-idleness-but-when-given-an/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“The reason that persuasive messages are short, pithy, and digestible in seconds is that we process them so quickly that they become familiar without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/the-reason-that-persuasive-messages-are-short-pithy-and-digestible-in/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“schema (singular form of schemata) is like a mental map of concepts that hangs together by association.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/schema-singular-form-of-schemata-is-like-a-mental-map-of-concepts/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“Specifically, a web of neurons—dubbed the “default network”—spanning three brain regions (the medial prefrontal cortex, the posterior cingulate cortex, and the parietal cortex) are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/specifically-a-web-of-neurons-dubbed-the-default-network-spanning/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“it's always on in the background but only takes first chair in our brains when we're not focused on anything in particular.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/it-s-always-on-in-the-background-but-only-takes-first-chair-in-our/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [“Our expectations for what we should be able to recall are hardly in line with what our brains are capable of processing—which, by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/our-expectations-for-what-we-should-be-able-to-recall-are-hardly-in/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) [Explore all 125 David DiSalvo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) ## More Feel Right quotes > [Just for the record, how I feel right now is very terrific.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/just-for-the-record-how-i-feel-right-now-is-very-terrific/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think yours is the only path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-s-one-thing-to-feel-that-you-are-on-the-right-path-but-it-s/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I dont feel right when youre gone away. We must have had something real strong, Im tossing and turning all night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-dont-feel-right-when-youre-gone-away-we-must-have-had-something/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Never be ashamed of what you feel. You have the right to feel any emotion that you want, and to do what makes you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demi-lovato/never-be-ashamed-of-what-you-feel-you-have-the-right-to-feel-any/) [Demi Lovato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demi-lovato/) > [I was raised to stand up for myself, if I feel I'm in the right. Maybe it would have been best if I'd just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannen-doherty/i-was-raised-to-stand-up-for-myself-if-i-feel-i-m-in-the-right-maybe/) [Shannen Doherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannen-doherty/) > [If you get something right, you really feel it, right in your chest, on stage. I think it's an incomparable experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-seinfeld/if-you-get-something-right-you-really-feel-it-right-in-your-chest-on/) [Jerry Seinfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-seinfeld/) > [I've just tried to grow up in the most natural and gradual process that I possibly can and make choices I feel are right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-ve-just-tried-to-grow-up-in-the-most-natural-and-gradual-process/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [Take everything that you gave. When things were nice. Fake everything. If it makes you feel all right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruthie-foster/take-everything-that-you-gave-when-things-were-nice-fake-everything/) [Ruthie Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruthie-foster/) > [If you love me, if you hate me, I mean, I can only do what I feel is right and that's something that I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liv-morgan/if-you-love-me-if-you-hate-me-i-mean-i-can-only-do-what-i-feel-is/) [Liv Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liv-morgan/) > [I never let whatever - people or ideas or opinions - get in the way of something that is in your head, or is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-cavalera/i-never-let-whatever-people-or-ideas-or-opinions-get-in-the-way-of/) [Max Cavalera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-cavalera/) > [Have you ever felt so alone and nothing makes sense? Well thats how I feel right nowI feel like Im facing everything myself, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/have-you-ever-felt-so-alone-and-nothing-makes-sense-well-thats-how-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nothing needs to be perfect to be good, and no one should need to feel perfect to feel right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-louboutin/nothing-needs-to-be-perfect-to-be-good-and-no-one-should-need-to-feel/) [Christian Louboutin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-louboutin/) > [I know Okay, Sorry. I am. Look, I'm human. It's hard to be fair sometimes. We don't always feel the right thing, do the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/i-know-okay-sorry-i-am-look-i-m-human-it-s-hard-to-be-fair-sometimes/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) > [I'm not one of those politicians, to my probably discredit, who thinks very far ahead. It has to feel right to me and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-garcetti/i-m-not-one-of-those-politicians-to-my-probably-discredit-who-thinks/) [Eric Garcetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-garcetti/) > [“If an encounter with a person doesn't feel right, probably it's not right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitta-xinindlu/if-an-encounter-with-a-person-doesn-t-feel-right-probably-it-s-not/) [Mitta Xinindlu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitta-xinindlu/) [Browse all 202 Feel Right quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-right/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What this tells us is that the brain doesn't merely prefer certainty over ambiguity—it craves it. 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