Art of the Question

Julius Moorman
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Technology

Conversations about science, technology, philosophy, psychology, self-improvement, media, and culture.

  1. 2d ago

    The Incredible Benefits of Fiber - Prof. Jens Walter - #46

    Jens Walter is Professor of Ecology, Food, and the Microbiome at University College Cork and APC Microbiome Ireland, and one of the world's most cited researchers on how diet shapes the gut. Trained as a food scientist in Germany, he did his early microbiome work in New Zealand and later spent years at the University of Alberta in Canada before moving to Ireland. He studies the gut microbiome through an evolutionary and ecological lens, treating humans and their microbes as a symbiosis that modern life has disrupted. His team pioneered ways to modulate the microbiome with specific dietary fibers and whole diets, work that has been featured repeatedly in Nature journals. In a study published in Cell, he and his collaborators built a non industrialised style diet, inspired by the eating habits of rural Papua New Guineans, that cut cholesterol and inflammation markers in just three weeks. The recipes from that work are shared freely through his nonprofit NiMe diet project. Expect to learn how the gut microbiome functions as an ecosystem inside us, why we evolved to depend on trillions of microbes, what fiber actually is and why humans cannot digest it, what happens to your gut lining when you starve your microbes of fiber, how leaky gut is linked to chronic disease, why whole food fiber does far more than fiber supplements, how to see through high in fiber marketing claims, how much fiber you actually need and why almost no one gets enough, what happened when people ate a non industrialised diet for three weeks, whether probiotic yogurt drinks do anything, whether you can one day engineer a healthy microbiome with a pill, and what Jens recommends eating. Jens Walter online: Website: thenimediet.com Instagram: instagram.com/nimediet University profile: University College Cork and APC Microbiome Ireland Free science and recipe book: available at thenimediet.com and on Amazon for the cost of printing 0:00 Introduction 1:25 How he got into fiber research 6:21 The gut microbiome explained 9:47 What the microbiome does 14:25 What fiber actually is 17:22 Leaky gut and the mucus layer 19:10 Whole food fiber vs supplements 24:58 Seeing through fiber marketing 30:13 How much fiber you need 34:12 The Papua New Guinea diet study 50:43 Do probiotic drinks work 54:27 Can you engineer your microbiome 58:37 What Jens recommends eating 1:06:29 Where to find the NiMe diet

    The Incredible Benefits of Fiber - Prof. Jens Walter - #46

  2. 6d ago

    The Scientific Method to Achieve Your Goals - Prof. Gabriele Oettingen - #45

    Gabriele Oettingen is a professor of psychology at New York University and the University of Hamburg who has spent decades studying motivation and the science of goal setting. Her research shows that simply fantasizing about a positive future can quietly drain the energy needed to achieve it, a finding she has replicated across health, work, relationships, and school. Out of that work she developed mental contrasting, a technique that pairs a vivid image of the future with an honest look at the obstacle standing in the way. She turned it into a simple, science-backed four-step method called WOOP, now available as a free app and website in many languages. She is the author of Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation. Expect to learn what motivation actually is and how to measure it, why positive thinking and manifesting can make you less likely to reach your goals, what the research on daydreaming reveals about weight loss, job hunting, exams, and recovery, why telling everyone your goals can backfire, why positive fantasies still matter and what they tell us about our needs, how mental contrasting turns dreams into action, what the four steps of WOOP are and how to use them, how the method helps you set priorities and let go of goals that are not worth it, how the science was actually tested, and much more. Gabriele Oettingen online: Website: woopmylife.org Book: Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation App: WOOP, available free on the website and app stores 0:00 Intro 2:51 What motivation really is 10:03 Why manifesting can backfire 22:35 Adding reality to your dreams 35:39 The four steps of WOOP 38:55 Setting the right goals 55:01 The science behind the method 58:52 Taking WOOP public 1:01:18 Where to find WOOP

    The Scientific Method to Achieve Your Goals - Prof. Gabriele Oettingen - #45

  3. Aug 10

    How Becoming a Father at 19 Saved My Life - pharrellstory - #44

    Pharrell is a 21-year-old entrepreneur and father who lives in Bali after growing up in a small village of fewer than a thousand people in Europe. From the age of 13 he fell into substance use and gambling, and by 17 he had been kicked out of his parents' home while barely finishing school. At 19, facing an unplanned pregnancy he and his partner had initially decided to end, he spent a sleepless night in Berlin asking dozens of strangers what he should do, and the answer he found changed the direction of his life. Today he runs a scalable marketing business that supports his young family, and he credits the decision to become a father with pulling him out of addiction and onto a completely different path. In this conversation he tells that story in full, from rock bottom to the life he is building now. Expect to learn how Pharrell first slipped into addiction at 13 and why he never saw himself as an addict, what he believes was really driving his substance use, how he found out he was going to be a father at 19, why he and his partner first planned to end the pregnancy, what happened the night he asked strangers in Berlin whether to keep his son, how a chance conversation with a bus driver shifted everything, why changing his environment by moving to Bali helped him quit for good, what the Vietnam war heroin study reveals about addiction and surroundings, how he went from a broke video editor to running a scalable business, why he wants a big family, and much more. Pharrell online: Instagram: @pharrellstory Youtube: @pharrellstory 0:00 Intro 2:15 Growing up in a small village 7:47 Why he never felt like an addict 10:45 The real driver behind the addiction 14:57 A pregnancy at 19 17:51 Deciding to end the pregnancy 19:20 Asking strangers in Berlin 28:02 Turning his life around 36:00 Moving to Bali 43:09 The Vietnam heroin study 46:25 Building a scalable business 59:27 Why he wants a big family 1:03:17 Living an extraordinary life

    How Becoming a Father at 19 Saved My Life - pharrellstory - #44

  4. Aug 6

    The Secret to a Quiet Mind - Prof. Doug Mennin - #43

    Doug Mennin is a Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director of Clinical Training at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he runs the Regulation of Emotion in Anxiety and Depression Lab. He has spent more than 25 years studying worry, rumination and self-criticism, or what he calls the "chronically busy mind." His research digs into the physiological toll of these processes, including their role in chronic inflammation and gastric dysfunction, and why standard treatments like CBT leave a subset of people behind. To address that gap he developed Emotion Regulation Therapy, an integrative mind-body approach that draws on affect science and neuroscience. In this conversation he explains why we evolved to worry, what it does to the body, and how to actually loosen its grip. Expect to learn why worrying and rumination exist in the first place, what the words rumination and worry originally meant, how introspection differs from getting stuck in a mental loop, why the brain reinforces worry even when it makes no logical sense, why we prefer a predictable worst case to an uncertain outcome, what chronic worry physically does to the heart, gut and immune system, how the negativity bias keeps your attention locked on threats, how exercise, meditation and making fears concrete reduce rumination, why you cannot simply clear your mind, and why ripping off the band-aid and taking action beats avoidance. Doug Mennin online: Website: emotionregulationtherapy.com Columbia profile: tc.columbia.edu/faculty/dm3297 0:00 Studying the chronically busy mind 3:49 Why we evolved to worry 8:16 Introspection versus rumination 11:47 Catching the snowball early 13:08 The chronically busy mind 17:34 What worry does to your body 21:06 The negativity bias 24:17 How to stop ruminating 36:55 Meditation and the observing skill 38:31 The dead bunny exercise 40:20 Why you can't clear your mind 43:09 The power of taking action 46:39 Writing and journaling 54:43 The just live impulsively trend 57:45 Keeping the practice going 2:04:41 Emotion regulation therapy recap

    The Secret to a Quiet Mind - Prof. Doug Mennin - #43

  5. Aug 3

    The Fascinating Psychology of Fashion - Dr. Carolyn Mair - #42

    Carolyn Mair is a cognitive psychologist, behavioural scientist and fashion business consultant based in the UK, and the author of The Psychology of Fashion. After an early career as a window dresser and graphic designer, she returned to study in her thirties, earning a PhD in cognitive neuroscience and becoming a full Professor of Psychology for Fashion at the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London. There she pioneered the world's first degree programmes in fashion psychology before leaving in 2017 to set up her own consultancy. She now advises brands, NGOs and educators, and has worked with the H&M Group. Her book, first published by Routledge in 2018 and now in a fully updated second edition, has sold around 10,000 copies and been translated into several languages. In this conversation she explains why we wear what we wear, and what our clothes reveal about who we are. Expect to learn when fashion first became a thing, why clothing shifted from pure survival to status and self-expression, why fashion never stops changing, what really happens in your body when you wear the wrong outfit, how the clothes you wear change how you think and perform, why we dress to fit the groups we want to belong to, how social identity shapes our wardrobe choices, why fitting in matters so much to us, how the fashion industry uses psychology to sell, what AI and data collection mean for how we shop, and why authenticity in dress is harder than it sounds. Carolyn Mair online: Website: psychology.fashion Instagram: @psychologyforfashion LinkedIn: Prof Carolyn Mair PhD X: @Carolyn_UK Book: The Psychology of Fashion, second edition, Routledge 0:00 Introduction 5:29 Building the field of fashion psychology 9:09 When did fashion first begin 16:38 Why fashion is always changing 23:17 Skinny jeans and shifting styles 25:49 Why the wrong clothes feel wrong 35:42 Clothing and social identity 42:38 Why we fear missing out 49:11 Why clothes make you perform better 58:13 Dress for success and the evidence 2:04:43 AI, data and the future of fashion 2:11:11 Authenticity and belonging

    The Fascinating Psychology of Fashion - Dr. Carolyn Mair - #42

  6. Jul 30

    The Insane Advantage of Growth Mindset - Prof. Paul O'Keefe - #41

    Paul O'Keefe is a social psychologist and Professor of Organisational Behaviour and HRM at the University of Exeter Business School, where he directs the Mindsets and Motivation Lab. He earned his doctorate at Duke, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford working with Carol Dweck, and spent nine years as a professor in Singapore before moving to the UK. His research examines the psychological barriers that limit what people pursue, particularly beliefs about ability, interest and opportunity. In 2018 he published a paper in Psychological Science with Carol Dweck and Gregory Walton called Implicit Theories of Interest, which argued that the single most repeated piece of career advice in the world, find your passion, is quietly counterproductive. In one of his studies, participants who had called a topic fascinating said they were uninterested in it seven minutes later, purely because the second thing they read was harder than the first. Expect to learn why the word find is the problem in find your passion, how a fixed mindset creates the expectation that a real passion should feel effortless, what happened when researchers sparked an interest and then made it difficult, why there is no such thing as one single growth mindset, how beliefs function as a meaning system that determines what failure means to you, why praising a child for being smart backfires and praising effort does not, what skate videos teach that almost no other sport does, how social media distorts expectations by showing only outcomes, why passion is valued differently in collectivist and individualist cultures, whether the jobs people are passionate about are the ones worth pursuing, what utility value is and how to use it on work you find boring, and why unemployed people with a growth mindset were more likely to have a job five months later. Paul O'Keefe online: Website: https://paulokeefe.com Lab: Mindsets and Motivation Lab, https://paulokeefe.com University profile: University of Exeter Business School Recommended reading: Mindset by Carol Dweck 0:00 Why find your passion is bad advice 2:46 How interest actually develops 4:46 Expectations of a new passion 6:25 Learning BMX and the growth mindset 8:43 There is no single growth mindset 11:28 Decades of research on ability 14:53 Growth mindset and personal agency 16:19 When mindset matters for goals 18:19 Can anyone develop a growth mindset 20:48 The black holes experiment 22:57 Reading the difficult paper 25:51 Watching other people fail 29:30 Where mindsets come from 30:08 Praising ability versus praising effort 31:49 Being called talented instead of hardworking 33:25 Ronaldo, Messi and the talent debate 35:20 The Olympics and invisible preparation 36:08 Quitting tax law for journalism 38:40 Every job has bad parts 40:53 Social media and false expectations 45:17 Why struggle builds character 48:34 Should work even be fun 50:10 Passion across cultures 52:14 What do you do for a living 55:17 Meaning from supporting a family 57:10 Turning a hobby into a career 58:58 Passion jobs and financial risk 1:00:39 Being strategic about passion 1:03:14 Develop your passion, not find it 1:04:48 Statistics and utility value 1:07:09 Interests never stop developing 1:09:39 What people write in the interventions 1:13:46 Mindsets are domain specific 1:15:59 The unemployment study 1:19:30 Why mindsets do not transfer 1:23:51 Where to find Paul's work 1:25:13 Growth mindset takes real work

    The Insane Advantage of Growth Mindset - Prof. Paul O'Keefe - #41

  7. Jul 27

    Debunking the Simulation Hypothesis - Prof. Franco Vazza - #40

    Franco Vazza is a numerical astrophysicist and Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Bologna, where he runs some of the largest cosmological simulations ever attempted. He studies the cosmic web, extragalactic magnetic fields and clusters of galaxies, and he held a European Research Council Starting Grant for the MAGCOW project on the origin of cosmic magnetism. His work involves building entire simulated universes on supercomputers, testing them against observation, and then deleting them. In 2025 he published a paper in Frontiers in Physics titled Astrophysical constraints on the simulation hypothesis for this Universe, which did what philosophers arguing about the Matrix had never done: it calculated the actual energy bill. The answer, across every version he tested, was numbers so large they are incompatible with the physics of this universe. Expect to learn what a numerical astrophysicist actually does all day, how you simulate a universe on a supercomputer and why you delete it afterwards, what the simulation hypothesis really claims and where it came from, why Nick Bostrom's 2003 ancestor simulation argument is different from the version people argue about online, how information and energy are physically linked, what Landauer's limit says about the minimum energy needed to flip a single bit, why simulating just the Earth would require converting the mass of an entire galaxy into energy, whether the Grand Theft Auto rendering argument saves the hypothesis, why nobody knows if consciousness is computable in the first place, whether we could ever prove we are simulated, and why Franco thinks certain people have an interest in promoting the idea. Franco Vazza online: Website: https://cosmosimfrazza.eu University profile: https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/franco.vazza2/en Mastodon: @franco_vazza@mastodon.social Paper: Astrophysical constraints on the simulation hypothesis for this Universe, published open access in Frontiers in Physics 0:00 What a numerical astrophysicist does 2:36 Building a history of the universe 5:01 Why simulations beat observation alone 6:20 Moon rocks and missing evidence 9:35 Existential questions in cosmology 11:13 Tiny fluctuations and cosmic structure 13:07 How much computing power improved 15:23 The limits of current models 17:47 Defining the simulation hypothesis 19:51 Bostrom and the 2003 argument 23:56 The Matrix and popular culture 25:25 Simulating a past civilisation 28:48 Computers, heat and thermodynamics 31:55 Asking how complex a simulation can be 33:48 Calculating the energy cost 35:20 Chaos and the prediction problem 39:48 Landauer's limit and single bits 42:58 Simulating human history 45:04 Neutrinos and low resolution Earth 47:16 Trapping a planet's entire radiation 49:19 The Grand Theft Auto rendering argument 50:51 Reactions to the paper 53:32 Is consciousness computable 54:59 Assuming computers create consciousness 58:17 Why selective rendering fails 59:55 Could we ever prove it 1:01:41 The fundamental gap in the argument 1:03:56 The Pacman hypothesis 1:05:37 Would the answer even matter 1:07:26 Whether we could change anything 1:08:39 Why people were offended by the paper 1:09:54 Elon Musk and the digital blur

    Debunking the Simulation Hypothesis - Prof. Franco Vazza - #40

  8. Jul 23

    The Science of Cuckoldry - Prof. Todd Shackelford - #39

    Todd K. Shackelford is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, and one of the most prolific researchers in evolutionary psychology. He earned his Ph.D. under David Buss at the University of Texas at Austin in 1997 and has since published roughly three hundred peer reviewed articles, edited more than a dozen volumes, and accumulated well over ten thousand citations. Much of his work examines sexual conflict between men and women, with a particular focus on sperm competition theory, the idea that when a female mates with more than one male in a short window, the males' sperm compete to fertilize the egg. What began with his astonishment at reading how birds adjust their behavior to the risk of a partner's infidelity became a career studying the same logic in humans, from mate guarding and jealousy to cuckoldry and its psychological aftermath. He is the editor of the journals Evolutionary Psychology and Evolutionary Psychological Science and co directs the Evolutionary Psychology Lab. This conversation ventures into some of the most provocative and uncomfortable territory in the field. Expect to learn how reading about sperm competition in birds set Todd on his career, what cuckoldry means and where the word comes from, how often men unknowingly raise another man's child, why nature would build psychology to prevent being cuckolded, what mate guarding looks like across species, why men and women are upset by different aspects of infidelity, how obsessive review reveals the sex difference in jealousy, why some men report arousal at the very thing that also enrages them, what a study of adult film covers suggested about sperm competition, whether ejaculate adjustment shows up in the lab, why open relationships run against evolved intuitions, and how the modern cultural meaning of the word cuckold connects to all of it. Todd Shackelford online: Website: ToddKShackelford.com University profile: oakland.edu/psychology Lab: Evolutionary Psychology Lab, Oakland University 0:00 From New Mexico to evolutionary psychology 4:24 Sperm competition in birds 6:49 Ejaculate adjustment and infidelity risk 8:34 Where the word cuckold comes from 9:46 How often cuckoldry happens 11:33 Why nature evolved to prevent it 15:46 Jealousy, killing, and violence 18:55 Sperm competition theory explained 22:09 Emotional versus sexual infidelity 24:47 Obsessive review and the sex difference 28:04 Arousal from the unthinkable 34:58 Open relationships and evolved logic 36:48 The study of adult film covers 38:40 Ejaculates in the lab 41:00 Inviting rivals and forced copulation 44:22 The female point of view 50:04 Forgiveness and mate value 52:18 The modern meaning of cuckold 55:35 Reality TV and jealousy 1:00:35 The last lab standing

    The Science of Cuckoldry - Prof. Todd Shackelford - #39
See All (46)

About

Conversations about science, technology, philosophy, psychology, self-improvement, media, and culture.

Information

  • Creator
    Julius Moorman
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    46
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Julius Moorman