“The ability to introspect to work through problems. This is one of the reasons we are so successful as a species. The ability to introspect is how we learn from our problems and plan for the future, is what allows us in part to build spaceships that literally land SUVs nowadays on other planets like Mars, but, on the other hand, people struggle enormously with introspection to the point that they become overly angry, anxious, and depressed. And so we’ve got this remarkable tool but it’s really unwieldy. Sometimes it helps us. Sometimes it hurts us.” – Ethan Kross

Ethan Kross, a father of two daughters, is a best-selling author and award-winning professor at the University of Michigan, where he leads the Emotion and Self Control Lab. His expertise lies in controlling the conscious mind and understanding how self-talk affects health, decisions, and relationships. With degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University, he has been featured in major publications and participated in policy discussions at the White House. Ethan is the author of the acclaimed book “Chatter: The Voice in Our Head,” recognized as a top book of 2021 by prominent figures like Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Grant.