In this episode we discuss eyebeams and superseded scientific theories with Kevin Lyon, and at the end, we  discuss vitamins and eat a fudgy oatmeal cookie.

007 - Common Sense

The very fact that you are reading this sentence, contemplating whether you want to listen to this podcast, means that you are living out a fantasy from a previous generation's cyberpunk novel.

However you made it here, however you got these words into your brain, you did so by diving through data streams first cooked up by delirious engineers downing late-night coffees, wandering deep within rows of data tape unspooling from jerky, spinning platters.

We've been dreaming of this life for a long time, since before the vacuum tubes and punchcards of the '40s, and now that we are here, some people are worried that the tech will, at best, make us lazy, and at worst make us stupid.

Is all this new technology improving our thinking or dampening it? Are all these new communication tools turning us into navel-gazing human/brand hybrids, or are we developing a new set of senses that allow us to benefit from never severing contact with the people most important to us?

That's the topic of this episode of the You Are Not So Smart Podcast, and to answer these questions we welcome this episode's guest, Clive Thompson, who is the author of Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better. As the title suggests, he disagrees with the naysayers, and his book is an impressive investigation into why they are probably (thankfully) wrong. Thompson is a journalist whose work can be found published in Wired, The Washington Post, and the New York Times Magazine. You can learn more about him at his website, CollisionDetection.Net.

After the interview, I discuss a news story about research into how the way you walk can encourage or discourage criminals to attack you.

In every episode, before I read a bit of self delusion news, I taste a cookie baked from a recipe sent in by a listener/reader. That listener/reader wins a signed copy of my new book, “You Are Now Less Dumb,” and I post the recipe on the YANSS Pinterest page. This episode’s winner is Joye Swan who submitted a recipe for chewy rosemary sugar cookies. Send your own recipes to david {at} youarenotsosmart.com.

013 - Technology - Clive Thompson

Who is pulling the strings? Who is behind the coverup? Who holds the real power, and what do they want? How deep does the conspiracy to control your mind go?

In this episode we discuss the history, social impact, neuroscience, and psychology behind conspiracy theories and paranoid thinking.

Our guests are Steven Novella and Jesse Walker. Steven is a leader in the skeptic community, host of The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, and a neurologist at Yale University's School of Medicine. Walker is the books editor for Reason Magazine and author of the new book, The United States of Paranoia, a Conspiracy Theory. 

Listen as they explain why we love conspiracy theories, how they flourish, how they harm, and what they say about a culture.

016 - Conspiracy Theories - Steven Novella and Jesse Walker

Benjamin Franklin knew how to deal with haters, and in this episode we learn how he turned his haters into fans with what is now called The Benjamin Franklin Effect.

Listen as David McRaney reads an excerpt from his book, "You Are Now Less Dumb," explaining how the act of spreading harm forms the attitude of hate, and the act of spreading kindness generates the attitude of camaraderie.


018 - Inbetweenisode - The Benjamin Franklin Effect

Temple Grandin was born in 1947 at a time when words like neurodivergent and neurotypical had yet to enter the lexicon, at a time when autism was not well understood, and since she didn’t develop speech until much later than most children she might have led a much different life if it hadn’t been for people around her who worked very hard to open up a space for her to thrive and explore her talents and abilities. In this episode we discuss all that as well as her latest book, Visual Thinking, all about three distinct ways that human brains create human minds to make sense of the world outside of their skulls. <ul><li>How Minds Change: <a href="https://www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome">www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome</a></li><li>David McRaney’s Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmcraney">https://twitter.com/davidmcraney</a></li><li>YANSS Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/notsmartblog">https://twitter.com/notsmartblog</a></li><li>Show Notes: <a href="http://www.youarenotsosmart.com/">www.youarenotsosmart.com</a></li><li>Newsletter: <a href="https://davidmcraney.substack.com/">https://davidmcraney.substack.com</a></li></ul>

248 - Visual Thinking - Temple Grandin

In this episode, Micheal Rousell, author of <a href="http://michaelrousell.com/books/power-of-surprise">The Power of Surprise</a>, explains the science of surprise at the level of neurons and brain structures, and then talk about how surprises often lead to the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, the different personal narratives that guide our behaviors and motivations and goals, and, perhaps most importantly, our willingness to be surprised again so that we can change and grow.In the show, you will how we can use the current understanding of how surprise leads to learning, and how learning depends on interpretation, to improve our lives, and the lives of others<ul><li>How Minds Change: <a href="https://www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome" target="_blank">www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome</a></li><li>David McRaney’s Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmcraney" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/davidmcraney</a></li><li>YANSS Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/notsmartblog" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/notsmartblog</a></li><li>Show Notes: <a href="http://www.youarenotsosmart.com/" target="_blank">www.youarenotsosmart.com</a></li><li>Newsletter: <a href="https://davidmcraney.substack.com/" target="_blank">https://davidmcraney.substack.com</a></li></ul>

249 - The Power of Surprise (rebroadcast)

In this episode we sit down with psychologist Dacher Keltner, one of the world’s leading experts on the science of emotion, the man Pixar hired to help them write Inside Out. In his new book – Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life – he outlines his years of work in this field, the health benefits of awe, the evolutionary origins and likely functions, and how to better pursue more awe and wonder in your own life.<ul><li>Dacher Kelter: <a href="https://psychology.berkeley.edu/people/dacher-keltner">https://psychology.berkeley.edu/people/dacher-keltner</a></li><li>Greater Good: <a href="https://twitter.com/GreaterGoodSC">https://twitter.com/GreaterGoodSC</a></li><li>How Minds Change: <a href="https://www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome">www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome</a></li><li>Show Notes: <a href="http://www.youarenotsosmart.com/">www.youarenotsosmart.com</a></li><li>Newsletter: <a href="https://davidmcraney.substack.com/">https://davidmcraney.substack.com</a></li><li>David McRaney’s Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmcraney">https://twitter.com/davidmcraney</a></li><li>YANSS Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/notsmartblog">https://twitter.com/notsmartblog</a></li></ul>

250 - Awe - Dacher Keltner

Nick Sonnenberg doesn’t believe there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. That’s because when his business was in crisis mode, he developed a framework for eliminating inefficiencies and preventing the sort of metawork – working on working – that leads to scavenger hunts and meetings that could be emails, and for that matter, email runarounds that get everyone ever farther from inbox zero. He turned that framework into a consultancy business, and put it all together in a new book for people who feel underwater titled Come up For Air.<ul><li>Come Up For Air: <a href="https://comeupforair.com/">https://comeupforair.com</a></li><li>Nick’s Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/nick_sonnenberg">https://twitter.com/nick_sonnenberg</a></li><li>How Minds Change: <a href="https://www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome">www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome</a></li><li>David McRaney’s Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmcraney">https://twitter.com/davidmcraney</a></li><li>YANSS Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/notsmartblog">https://twitter.com/notsmartblog</a></li><li>Show Notes: <a href="http://www.youarenotsosmart.com/">www.youarenotsosmart.com</a></li><li>Newsletter: <a href="https://davidmcraney.substack.com/">https://davidmcraney.substack.com</a></li></ul>

251 - Come up for Air - Nick Sonnenberg

It’s February. It’s that time of year we start to wonder if we might not follow through with our New Year’s resolutions. It’s that time of the year when procrastination becomes a centerpiece of our psychological concerns.Our guest in this episode is professor, author, therapist, and speaker Britt Frank, a trauma specialist who treats people with a unique and powerful set of techniques and approaches which, taken together, help clients to get out of the feeling of being STUCK.Author of The Science of Stuck, she says, “Procrastination is not a character flaw. Nor is it a sign of weakness. Nor is it a sign of laziness.⁣ Procrastination is an indicator that internal consent has not been given. When our inner parts are distressed, afraid, sad, angry, grief-stricken or anxious, it is important to listen to their concerns, not to shame them or coerce them into action.⁣”In the show you’ll learn about the physiological origins of procrastination – the inner brake pedal and gas pedal – and what to do to escape the two different versions of this universal challenge to getting unstuck and getting things done.<ul><li>Britt Frank: https://www.scienceofstuck.com</li><li>How Minds Change: <a href="https://www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome">www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome</a></li><li>Show Notes: <a href="http://www.youarenotsosmart.com/">www.youarenotsosmart.com</a></li><li>Newsletter: <a href="https://davidmcraney.substack.com/">https://davidmcraney.substack.com</a></li><li>David McRaney’s Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmcraney">https://twitter.com/davidmcraney</a></li><li>YANSS Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/notsmartblog">https://twitter.com/notsmartblog</a></li></ul>

252 - Procrastination - Britt Frank

We cover everything in this episode from why you can't con an honest person to the power of shame and fame to folk psychology to how the British conned Hitler using one of the oldest tricks in the book to how one man broke the code for Press Your Luck earning him the most money ever awarded in a single day on any program in the history of game shows.<ul><li>The World's Greatest Con: https://worldsgreatestcon.fireside.fm/</li><li>Brian Brushwood's Twitter: https://twitter.com/shwood</li><li>Brain's Website: http://shwood.com</li><li>How Minds Change: <a href="https://www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome">www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome</a></li><li>Show Notes: <a href="http://www.youarenotsosmart.com/">www.youarenotsosmart.com</a></li><li>Newsletter: <a href="https://davidmcraney.substack.com/">https://davidmcraney.substack.com</a></li><li>David McRaney’s Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmcraney">https://twitter.com/davidmcraney</a></li></ul>YANSS Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/notsmartblog">https://twitter.com/notsmartblog</a>

253 - The World's Greatest Con - Brian Brushwood (rebroadcast)

This is the first episode in a three-part series about how to have difficult conversations with people who see the world differently, how to have better debates about contentious issues, and how to ethically and scientifically persuade one another about things that matter – in short, this is a three-part series about How Minds Change (which is also the title of my new book).There seems to be a movement afoot, a new wave of nonfiction about how to reduce all this argumentative madness and epistemic chaos. I want to boost everyone's signal on this issue, so I thought it would be nice to collaborate instead of compete, since that's part of what we are all proselytizing with these books.So this episode’s guest is Mónica Guzmán, the author of I Never Thought of It That Way – a book with very practical advice on how to have productive conversations in a polarized political environment via authentic curiosity about where people’s opinions, attitudes, and values come from. In short, it’s about how to reduce polarization and learn from those with whom we disagree by establishing the sort of dynamic in which they will eagerly learn from us as well.- How Minds Change: <a href="https://www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome">www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome</a>- Show Notes: <a href="http://www.youarenotsosmart.com/">www.youarenotsosmart.com</a>- Newsletter: <a href="https://davidmcraney.substack.com/">https://davidmcraney.substack.com</a>- David McRaney’s Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmcraney">https://twitter.com/davidmcraney</a>- YANSS Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/notsmartblog">https://twitter.com/notsmartblog</a>- Mónica Guzmán’s Website: <a href="https://www.moniguzman.com/">https://www.moniguzman.com</a>- Mónica Guzmán’s Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/moniguzman">https://twitter.com/moniguzman</a>- I Never Thought of it That Way: <a href="https://www.moniguzman.com/book">https://www.moniguzman.com/book</a>- Braver Angels: <a href="https://braverangels.org/">https://braverangels.org</a>- My Article on Intellectual Humility: <a href="https://bigthink.com/the-well/change-your-mind-intellectual-humility/">https://bigthink.com/the-well/change-your-mind-intellectual-humility/</a>

254 - I Never Thought of It That Way - Mónica Guzmán

This is the second episode in a three-part series about how to have difficult conversations with people who see the world differently, how to have better debates about contentious issues, and how to ethically and scientifically persuade one another about things that matter – in short, this is a three-part series about How Minds Change (which is also the title of my new book).There seems to be a movement afoot, a new wave of nonfiction about how to reduce all this argumentative madness and epistemic chaos. I want to boost everyone's signal on this issue, so I thought it would be nice to collaborate instead of compete, since that's part of what we are all proselytizing with these books.So this episode’s guest is Bo Seo, the author of Good Arguments – a book about how he became a world debate champion in which he not only teaches us how to apply what he has learned to everyday life but imagines communities built around, not despite, constant arguing and disagreement.Seo says that a political life without constant disagreement would be impoverished. As he puts it, quote, "Nations are, at their best, evolving arguments. As he writes, “In a liberal democracy, good arguments are not what societies should do but also what they should be.” See believes that on well curated, well moderated platforms, ones that value good faith interactions, arguing and disagreement would flip from being catalysts for polarization to the very engine of depolarization and change. In the interview, he not only tells us how to defend ourselves against bad arguments, but explains how in his mind a great democracy isn’t a place where everyone agrees and sees eye-to-eye, but one where we work to have better quality disagreements.- Bo Seo’s Website: <a href="http://www.helloboseo.com/">www.helloboseo.com</a>- How Minds Change: <a href="https://www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome">www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome</a>- David McRaney’s Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmcraney">https://twitter.com/davidmcraney</a>- YANSS Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/notsmartblog">https://twitter.com/notsmartblog</a>- Show Notes: <a href="http://www.youarenotsosmart.com/">www.youarenotsosmart.com</a>- Newsletter: <a href="https://davidmcraney.substack.com/">https://davidmcraney.substack.com</a>

255 - Good Arguments - Bo Seo

This is the third episode in a three-part series about how to have difficult conversations with people who see the world differently, how to have better debates about contentious issues, and how to ethically and scientifically persuade one another about things that matter – in short, this is a three-part series about <a href="https://www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome">How Minds Change</a> (which is also the title of my new book).There seems to be a movement afoot, a new wave of nonfiction about how to reduce all this argumentative madness and epistemic chaos. I want to boost everyone’s signal on this issue, so I thought it would be nice to collaborate instead of compete, since that’s part of what we are all proselytizing with these books.So this episode’s guest is Anand Giridharadas, the author of <a href="https://thepersuadersbook.com/#about-the-author">The Persuaders</a> – a book about activists, politicians, educators, and everyday citizens who are on the ground working to change minds, bridge divisions, and fight for democracy.-   <a href="https://www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome">How Minds Change</a>-   <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmcraney">David McRaney’s Twitter</a>-   <a href="https://twitter.com/notsmartblog">YANSS Twitter</a>-   <a href="http://www.youarenotsosmart.com">Show Notes</a>-  <a href="https://davidmcraney.substack.com"> Newsletter</a><ul><li><a href="https://twitter.com/AnandWrites">Anand's Twitter</a></li><li><a href="https://thepersuadersbook.com/#about-the-author">The Persuaders</a></li></ul>

256 - The Persuaders - Anand Giridharadas

Is a hotdog a sandwich?Well, that depends on your definition of a sandwich (and a hotdog), and according to the most recent research in cognitive science, the odds that your concept of a sandwich is the same as another person's concept are shockingly low.In this episode we explore how understanding why that question became a world-spanning argument in the mid 2010s helps us understand some of the world-spanning arguments vexing us today.  Our guest is psychologist Celeste Kidd who studies how we acquire and conceptualize information, form beliefs around those concepts, and, in general, make sense of the torrent of information blasting our brains each and every second. Her most recent paper examines how conceptual misalignment can lead to semantic disagreements, which can lead us to talk past each other (and get into arguments about things like whether hotdogs are sandwiches).• Celeste Kidd's Website: <a href="https://www.kiddlab.com/" target="_blank">https://www.kiddlab.com</a>• Celeste Kidd's Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/celestekidd" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/celestekidd</a>• How Minds Change: <a href="https://www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome" target="_blank">www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome</a>• David McRaney’s Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmcraney" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/davidmcraney</a>• YANSS Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/notsmartblog" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/notsmartblog</a>• Show Notes: <a href="http://www.youarenotsosmart.com/" target="_blank">www.youarenotsosmart.com</a>• Newsletter: <a href="https://davidmcraney.substack.com/" target="_blank">https://davidmcraney.substack.com</a>• Latent Diversity in Human Concepts: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/25544m3v" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/25544m3v</a>

257 - What Do You Mean? - Celeste Kidd

Why do we sleep and why do we dream? Despite the fact that every human being spends roughly 1/3 of his or her life asleep, science has yet to crack the mystery of the phenomenon. Why do we sleep and dream? The answer for now is...we don't know. To learn more, we interview psychologist Richard Wiseman who has written a new book on sleep and dreaming that promises to help you get the most out of both based on what science has learned so far.

024 - Sleep - Richard Wiseman

Have you ever been confronted with the fact that you were in over your head, or that you had no idea what you were doing, or that you thought you were more skilled at something than you actually were? At its most extreme, this is called the Dunning-Kruger effect - the fact that it is very easy to be both unskilled and unaware, and in this episode we explore how it works and where you might expect to see it your own life. 

036 - The Dunning-Kruger Effect

In this episode, two stories, one about a football game that split reality in two for the people who witnessed it, and another about what happened when a naked man literally appeared out of thin air inside a couple's apartment while they were getting ready for work.

041 - Inbetweenisode - The Game/Ceiling Crasher

In psychology, they call it naive realism, the tendency to believe that the other side is wrong simply because they are misinformed.

According to Lee Ross, co-author of the new book, The Wisest One in the Room, naive realism has three tenets. One, you tend to believe that you arrived at your political opinions after careful, rational analysis through unmediated thoughts and perceptions. Two, since you are extremely careful and devoted to sticking to the facts and thus free from bias and impervious to persuasion, anyone else who has read the things you have read or seen the things you have seen will naturally see things your way, given that they’ve pondered the matter as thoughtfully as you have. And three, if anyone does disagree with your political opinions it must be because they simply don’t have all the facts yet.

Since this is the default position most humans take when processing a political opinion, when confronted with people who disagree, you tend to assume there must be a rational explanation. Usually, that explanation is that the other side is either lazy or stupid or corrupted by some nefarious information-scrambling entity like cable news, a blowhard pundit, a charming pastor or a lack thereof.


Ross and Ward concluded that naive realism leads people to approach political arguments with the confidence that “rational open-minded discourse” will naturally lead to a rapid narrowing of disagreement, but that confidence usually short lived. Instead, they say our “repeated attempts at dialogue with those on the ‘other side’ of a contentious issue make us aware that they rarely yield to our attempts at enlightenment; nor do they yield to the efforts of articulate, fair-minded spokespersons who share our views.” In other words, it’s naive to think evidence presented from the sources you trust will sway your opponents because when they do the same, it never sways you.

Listen in this episode as legendary psychologist Lee Ross explains how to identify, avoid, and combat this most pernicious of cognitive mistakes.

062 - Naive Realism - Lee Ross

If you have ever been in an argument, you've likely committed a logical fallacy, and if you know how logical fallacies work, you've likely committed the fallacy fallacy. 

Listen as three experts in logic and arguing explain just what a formal argument really is, and how to spot, avoid, and defend against the one logical fallacy that is most likely to turn you into an internet blowhard.

• Show Notes: http://bit.ly/1nfOgcu

• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

• Donate Directly through PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/DavidMcRaney

SPONSORS
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067 - The Fallacy Fallacy

Obviously, the world isn't black and white, so why do we try to drain it of color when backed into a rhetorical corner? 

Why do we have such a hard time realizing that we've suggested the world is devoid of nuance when we are in the heat of an argument?

In this episode we explore the black and white fallacy and the false dichotomies it generates. You'll learn how to spot this fallacy, what to do when someone uses it against you, and how to avoid committing it yourself.

• Show Notes: http://bit.ly/1XNlc8S

• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

• Donate Directly through PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/DavidMcRaney

SPONSORS
• Trunk Club: http://bit.ly/1Sp2wZj
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069 - The Black And White Fallacy

Even when the prison doors are left wide open, we sometimes refuse to attempt escape. Why is that? 

In this rebroadcast of one of our most popular episodes we learn all about the strange phenomenon of learned helplessness and how it keeps people in bad jobs, poor health, terrible relationships, and awful circumstances despite how easy it might be to escape any one of those scenarios with just one more effort. 

You'll learn how to defeat this psychological trap with advice from psychologists Jennifer Welbourne, who studies attributional styles in the workplace, and Kym Bennett who studies the effects of pessimism on health.

- Show notes at: www.youarenotsosmart.com
- Become a patron at: www.patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

SPONSORS

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091 - Learned Helplessness (rebroadcast)

We don’t treat all of our beliefs the same. 

The research shows that when a strong-yet-erroneous, belief is challenged, yes, you might experience some temporary weakening of your convictions, some softening of your certainty, but most people rebound from that and not only reassert their original belief at its original strength, but go beyond that and dig in their heels, deepening their resolve over the long run.

Psychologists call this the backfire effect, and this episode is the first of three shows exploring this well-documented and much-studied psychological phenomenon, one that you’ve likely encountered quite a bit lately.

In this episode, we explore its neurological underpinning as two neuroscientists at the University of Southern California’s Brain and Creativity Institute explain how their latest research sheds new light on how the brain reacts when its deepest beliefs are challenged.

- Show notes at: www.youarenotsosmart.com
- Become a patron at: www.patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

SPONSORS

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093 - The Backfire Effect - Part One

If dumping evidence into people’s laps often just makes their beliefs stronger, would we just be better off trying some other tactic, or does the truth ever win? 

Do people ever come around, or are we causing more harm than good by leaning on facts instead of some other technique?

In this episode we learn from two scientists how to combat the backfire effect. One used an ingenious research method to identify the breaking point at which people stop resisting and begin accepting the fact that they might be wrong. The other literally wrote the instruction manual for avoiding the backfire effect and debunking myths using the latest psychological research into effective persuasive techniques.

- Show notes at: www.youarenotsosmart.com
- Become a patron at: www.patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

SPONSORS

• The Great Courses: www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/smart
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095 - The Backfire Effect - Part Three

"Science is wrong about everything, but you can trust it more than anything."

That's the assertion of psychologist Brian Nosek, director of the Center for Open Science, who is working to correct what he sees as the temporarily wayward path of psychology. 

Currently, psychology is facing what some are calling a replication crisis. Much of the most headline-producing research in the last 20 years isn't standing up to attempts to reproduce its findings. Nosek wants to clean up the processes that have lead to this situation, and in this episode, you'll learn how.

- Show notes at: www.youarenotsosmart.com
- Become a patron at: www.patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

SPONSORS

• The Great Courses: www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/smart
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100 - The Replication Crisis

In this episode, Tali Sharot, a cognitive neuroscientist and psychologist at University College London, explains our' innate optimism bias. 

When the brain estimates the outcome of future events, it tends to reduce the probability of negative outcomes for itself, but not so much for other people. In other words, if you are a smoker, everyone else is going to get cancer. The odds of success for a new restaurant change depending on who starts that venture, you or someone else. Sharot explains why and details how we can use our knowledge of this mental quirk to our advantage both personally and institutionally.

More about Tali Sharot and her book The Optimism Bias here: http://theoptimismbias.blogspot.com/

Sponsors:

-- • The Great Courses: www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/smart --
-- • Dignity Health: www.dignityhealth.org/taketwomins --
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||| Show Notes at YouAreNotSoSmart.com |||

105 - Optimism Bias

One of the most effective ways to change people’s minds is to put your argument into a narrative format, a story, but not just any story. The most persuasive narratives are those that transport us. Once departed from normal reality into the imagined world of the story we become highly susceptible to belief and attitude change.

In this episode, you’ll learn from psychologist Melanie C. Greene the four secrets to creating the most persuasive narratives possible.

- Show notes at: www.youarenotsosmart.com
- Become a patron at: www.patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

SPONSORS

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113 - Narrative Persuasion

We've transferred our biases to artificial intelligence, and now those machine minds are creating the futures they predict. But there's a way to stop it.

In this episode we explore how machine learning is biased, sexist, racist, and prejudiced all around, and we meet the people who can explain why, and are going to try and fix it.

115 - Machine Bias

The evidence is clear that humans value being good members of their tribes much more than they value being correct. We will choose to be wrong if it keeps us in good standing with our peers.

In this episode, we explore how that affects politics and science communication, and how it is driving our growing partisan divide.

122 - Tribal Psychology

In this episode of the You Are Not So Smart Podcast we discuss attention and interview co-author of "The Invisible Gorilla" Daniel Simons. Also, at the end, we eat an Oreo fudge cookie brownie and discuss the foreign language effect. 

001 - Attention

In this episode of the You Are Not So Smart Podcast we discuss the illusion of knowledge with Christopher Chabris, co-author of "The Invisible Gorilla." After that, we eat a triple-ginger molasses cookie while discussing non-believed false memories.

002 - The Illusion of Knowledge

In this episode, we discuss confabulation with neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran, and at the end of the episode we taste a cranberry chocolate chip cookie while contemplating positive affirmations.

003 - Confabulation

In this episode we sit down with psychology legend Richard Petty to discuss the Elaboration Likelihood Model, a theory he developed with psychologist John Cacioppo in the 1980s that unified the study of attitude change and persuasion and has since become one of the most robust models for explaining how and why some messages change people’s minds, some don’t, and what makes some stick and others fade in influence over time.

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134 - The Elaboration Likelihood Model

In this episode we discuss the self and interview Bruce Hood, author of "The Self Illusion." Also, at the end, we eat a chewy chocolate chip cookie and discuss therapeutic touch. 

004 - The Self

In this episode, we discuss selling out, countercultures, and authenticity with Andrew Potter, the author of "The Authenticity Hoax." Afterward, I eat a Chewie Chewbacca Chocolate Chip vegan cookie and read a study about the sugar high and hyperactivity.

005 - Selling Out

In this episode, we sit down with author Will Storr to talk about his new book -- Selfie: How We Became so Self-Obsessed, and What it is Doing to Us.

The book explores what he calls “the age of perfectionism” -- our modern struggle to meet newly emerging ideals and standards that tell us we are falling short of the person we ought to be. As he says in the book, "Perfectionism is the idea that kills," and you’ll hear him explain what he means by that in the interview.

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156 - Selfie (rebroadcast)

Back in 2015, before Brexit, before Clinton vs. Trump, before weaponized Macedonian internet trolls, one NPR affiliate called the mass epistemic crisis created by The Dress, “The debate that broke the internet,” and The Washington Post referred to that moment of widespread existential confusion as “The drama that divided the planet.”

This episode is about the science behind The Dress, why some people see it as black and blue, and others see it as white and gold. But it’s about how the scientific investigation of The Dress lead to the scientific investigation of socks and Crocs, and how the scientific investigation of socks and Crocs may be, as one researcher told me, the nuclear bomb of cognitive neuroscience.

- Show notes at: www.youarenotsosmart.com
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175 - Socks And Crocs - Part One

When facing a novel and uncertain situation, the brain secretly disambiguates the ambiguous without letting you know it was ever uncertain in the first place, leading people who disambiguate differently to seem iNsAnE.

This episode is about the science behind The Dress, why some people see it as black and blue, and others see it as white and gold. But it’s also about how the scientific investigation of The Dress lead to the scientific investigation of socks and Crocs, and how the scientific investigation of socks and Crocs may be, as one researcher told me, the nuclear bomb of cognitive neuroscience.

- Show notes at: www.youarenotsosmart.com
- Become a patron at: www.patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

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176 - Socks and Crocs - Part Two

In this episode, we explore why we are unaware that we lack the skill to tell how unskilled and unaware we are. 

The evidence gathered so far by psychologists and neuroscientists seems to suggest that each one of us has a relationship with our own ignorance, a dishonest, complicated relationship, and that dishonesty keeps us sane, happy, and willing to get out of bed in the morning. Part of that ignorance is a blind spot we each possess that obscures both our competence and incompetence called the Dunning-Kruger Effect. 

It's a psychological phenomenon that arises sometimes in your life because you are generally very bad at self-assessment. If you have ever been confronted with the fact that you were in over your head, or that you had no idea what you were doing, or that you thought you were more skilled at something than you actually were – then you may have experienced this effect. It is very easy to be both unskilled and unaware of it, and in this episode we explore why that is with professor David Dunning, one of the researchers who coined the term and a scientist who continues to add to our understanding of the phenomenon.

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192 - The Dunning-Kruger Effect (rebroadcast)

You Are Not So Smart is a show about psychology that celebrates science and self delusion. In each episode, we explore what we've learned so far about reasoning, biases, judgments, and decision-making.

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