Don’t shy away from this one! In episode 147 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss confidence. Modernity has created a crisis of confidence, leading to the demand that we all maximize our confidence. But what is confidence? Is it a personality trait or a relational concept? What causes under- and over-confidence? And is instilling confidence an equity issue? Your hosts think through Charles Pépin’s pillars of confidence, Don A. Moore's formula for calibrating your confidence, and the gendered nature of confidence through bodily expressions. In the Substack bonus segment, Ellie tells an embarrassing story which reveals the situational nature of confidence, and they discuss the relationship between confidence and nature.

Works discussed:

Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”

Don A. Moore, Perfectly Confident: How to Calibrate Your Decisions Wisely

Charles Pépin, Self-Confidence: A Philosophy

Iris Marion Young, “Throwing Like a Girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body”

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