Dumbify — Get Smarter by Thinking Dumber

David Carson
  • 5.0 (6)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Get smarter by thinking dumber with the only podcast that celebrates ideas so weird, wrong, or wildly impractical… they just might be brilliant. Hosted by David Carson, a serial entrepreneur behind multiple hundred-million-dollar companies and the go-to secret weapon for companies looking to unlock new markets through unconventional thinking. Dumbify dives into the messy, counter-intuitive side of creativity — the “dumb” ideas that built empires, broke rules, and ended up changing everything.

  1. 3D AGO

    The Housewife Who Beat the CIA

    Can a Domino’s Pizza tracker predict a military invasion better than a Pentagon analyst? In this episode of Dumbify, host David Carson investigates a reality where "confusion beats certainty" and a retired accountant in suburban Ohio can outperform the world's top geopolitical experts. We dive deep into the story of the Good Judgment Project, a government-sponsored tournament where a ragtag team of amateurs—armed with nothing but Google and open minds—humiliated intelligence agencies by predicting global events with 30% more accuracy than analysts with access to classified data. Sign up for the Dumbify newsletter: https://www.david-carson.com/ Dumbify celebrates ideas so weird, wrong, or wildly impractical… they just might be brilliant. Hosted by David Carson, a serial entrepreneur behind multiple hundred-million-dollar companies and the go-to secret weapon for companies looking to unlock new markets through unconventional thinking. Dumbify dives into the messy, counter-intuitive side of creativity — the “dumb” ideas that built empires, broke rules, and ended up changing everything.

    23 min

  2. FEB 3

    The Art of Being Kinded (Kevin Kelly’s Hitchhiking Rule)

    Imagine commuting to work every single day by standing on the side of a highway with your thumb out, trusting the universe to deliver a miracle. For Wired co-founder Kevin Kelly, this wasn't an act of desperation—it was a deliberate experiment in "pronoia," the sneaking suspicion that the world is actually conspiring to help you. In this episode of Dumbify, we challenge the cult of self-reliance to ask a dangerous question: What if "mooching" isn't a character flaw, but a lost art form that actually brings us closer together? Get ready to unlearn "stranger danger" as we dive into the science behind the "Benjamin Franklin Effect" and the neurology of the "helper’s high." We’ll explain why asking for a favor makes people like you more, not less, and how strategic helplessness can be a genuine superpower. Click play to discover why the smartest thing you can do today is admit you can’t do it alone—and why letting a stranger help you might be the most generous gift you can give them. Sign up for the Dumbify newsletter: https://www.david-carson.com/ Dumbify celebrates ideas so weird, wrong, or wildly impractical… they just might be brilliant. Hosted by David Carson, a serial entrepreneur behind multiple hundred-million-dollar companies and the go-to secret weapon for companies looking to unlock new markets through unconventional thinking. Dumbify dives into the messy, counter-intuitive side of creativity — the “dumb” ideas that built empires, broke rules, and ended up changing everything.

    20 min

  3. JAN 27

    Being Lazy is a Competitive Advantage

    You’ve been lied to. Society says "hard work" is a virtue, but history shows that the most dangerous person in any organization is actually the one who is "hardworking and stupid." In this episode, we explore why a famous German General believed only "lazy" officers were fit for high command, and how a bricklayer tripled productivity by simply copying the workers who refused to move more than necessary. This episode is your biological permission slip to stop grinding. You’ll learn why your brain burns 20% of your body's energy just to exist and is evolutionarily wired to find shortcuts—not because you are flawed, but because you are efficient. We will teach you how to stop confusing "performative suffering" with actual value so you can finally silence the guilt you feel when you find an easier way to get things done. Sign up for the Dumbify newsletter: https://www.david-carson.com/ Dumbify celebrates ideas so weird, wrong, or wildly impractical… they just might be brilliant. Hosted by David Carson, a serial entrepreneur behind multiple hundred-million-dollar companies and the go-to secret weapon for companies looking to unlock new markets through unconventional thinking. Dumbify dives into the messy, counter-intuitive side of creativity — the “dumb” ideas that built empires, broke rules, and ended up changing everything.

    24 min

  4. JAN 20

    Why Your Lying Kid is a Genius

    When your four-year-old looks like she just lost a fistfight with a Hershey bar and blames the dog—despite the suspicious chocolate handprint on its fur —don't ground her. Congratulate her. On this episode of Dumbify, we explore why that shameless, physically impossible lie is actually a massive cognitive milestone. We dive into the science of "semantic leakage control" and explain why your little liar isn't a future sociopath, but a genius whose brain is running a sophisticated counterintelligence operation. Join us as we entrap five-year-olds with the "Barney theme song" , hand disappointed kids bars of soap to test their manners , and reveal why not even social workers or police officers can tell if a toddler is lying. We’ll discuss why the "boring truth" is easy, but a good lie requires the heavy lifting of executive function and working memory. Tune in to learn why "fabulation" is the new honesty, and why you should actually be proud the next time you get played by a preschooler. Sign up for the Dumbify newsletter: https://www.david-carson.com/ Dumbify celebrates ideas so weird, wrong, or wildly impractical… they just might be brilliant. Hosted by David Carson, a serial entrepreneur behind multiple hundred-million-dollar companies and the go-to secret weapon for companies looking to unlock new markets through unconventional thinking. Dumbify dives into the messy, counter-intuitive side of creativity — the “dumb” ideas that built empires, broke rules, and ended up changing everything.

    21 min

  5. JAN 13

    How Trader Joe's Wins by Getting Everything Wrong

    Have you ever whispered the Trader Joe's prayer right before you black out and wake up with eleven bags of cauliflower gnocchi and a succulent you'll kill by Thursday? This store shouldn't work. No app. No loyalty points. A parking lot designed by someone who hates cars. And yet people drive past three normal grocery stores to shop there like it's a pilgrimage. The origin story is unhinged. Joe Coulombe realized he couldn't out-7-Eleven 7-Eleven, so he fled to the Caribbean and wrote a manifesto about a customer who didn't exist yet. He predicted exactly what they'd want, what would flatter them, and what would make them feel like they'd discovered something the masses had missed. Then he built a store that runs on psychological tricks most retailers would consider business malpractice. Why won't they put in a loudspeaker? Why do the employees wear Hawaiian shirts? Why is the cheese section a disaster on purpose? Every answer is weirder than you think. Sign up for the Dumbify newsletter: https://www.david-carson.com/ Dumbify celebrates ideas so weird, wrong, or wildly impractical… they just might be brilliant. Hosted by David Carson, a serial entrepreneur behind multiple hundred-million-dollar companies and the go-to secret weapon for companies looking to unlock new markets through unconventional thinking. Dumbify dives into the messy, counter-intuitive side of creativity — the “dumb” ideas that built empires, broke rules, and ended up changing everything.

    28 min

  6. JAN 6

    Certainty Is Just Confusion That Quit

    You know that feeling when someone finishes explaining something and asks, "Does that make sense?" and you nod like an idiot even though you understood maybe 12% of it? Turns out that nod is the problem. In this episode, we make the case that confused people are actually the smartest ones in the room — and that your lifelong suspicion that you're the only one who doesn't get it is actually a sign your brain is still working while everyone else's quit early. We'll dig into the UCLA research on "desirable difficulties" that proves confusion is literally how learning works, why Einstein called abandoning his own confusion his "biggest blunder," and how Jeff Bezos built a trillion-dollar company on being 30% unsure about everything. If you've ever felt dumb for not getting it while everyone else nods along confidently, this one's for you. Sign up for the Dumbify newsletter: https://www.david-carson.com/ Dumbify celebrates ideas so weird, wrong, or wildly impractical… they just might be brilliant. Hosted by David Carson, a serial entrepreneur behind multiple hundred-million-dollar companies and the go-to secret weapon for companies looking to unlock new markets through unconventional thinking. Dumbify dives into the messy, counter-intuitive side of creativity — the “dumb” ideas that built empires, broke rules, and ended up changing everything.

    20 min

  7. 12/30/2025

    Shakespeare, The Beatles, and Other Total Frauds

    We’re taught that copying is cheating and that true genius requires inventing something from nothing. But what if the "originality" we worship is actually a lie? In this episode, we debunk the myth of the solitary genius by looking at the greatest creative thieves in history. We find out why Shakespeare would be expelled from modern colleges for plagiarism, how The Beatles honed their craft as a cover band in Hamburg strip clubs, and why The Ramones only invented punk rock because they were physically incapable of playing Beach Boys songs. We’ll dive into the cognitive science of "combinatorial creativity" and the concept of the "palimpsest" to show why the best ideas are often just "bad copies" of old ones. From DJ Kool Herc inventing hip hop by looping James Brown records to Japanese whiskey distillers accidentally improving on Scotch, we prove that your unique voice is actually found in the mistakes you make while trying to be someone else. Stop waiting for a lightning bolt of inspiration and learn why the smartest way to create is to get dumb and start copying. Sign up for the Dumbify newsletter: https://www.david-carson.com/ Dumbify celebrates ideas so weird, wrong, or wildly impractical… they just might be brilliant. Hosted by David Carson, a serial entrepreneur behind multiple hundred-million-dollar companies and the go-to secret weapon for companies looking to unlock new markets through unconventional thinking. Dumbify dives into the messy, counter-intuitive side of creativity — the “dumb” ideas that built empires, broke rules, and ended up changing everything.

    30 min

  8. 12/23/2025

    Why Talking to Yourself is a Sign of Genius

    Society tells us that mumbling to ourselves is a sign of madness, a habit reserved for the unhinged or the socially awkward. But what if the person muttering next to the Gouda is actually the smartest one in the room? In this episode, we discover that history’s greatest minds—from Albert Einstein to Nikola Tesla—weren’t just eccentric, they were utilizing a powerful "thinking technology" that modern science confirms can actually make you smarter. Join host David Carson as we explore the surprising neuroscience behind self-talk, revealing why LeBron James refers to himself in the third person to win championships and why top engineers at Google explain their code to yellow rubber ducks. We’ll break down how "psychological distancing" can help you regulate emotions and solve complex problems. By the end of this episode, you’ll have permission to stop thinking silently and start talking your way to brilliance—even if people stare. Sign up for the Dumbify newsletter: https://www.david-carson.com/ Dumbify celebrates ideas so weird, wrong, or wildly impractical… they just might be brilliant. Hosted by David Carson, a serial entrepreneur behind multiple hundred-million-dollar companies and the go-to secret weapon for companies looking to unlock new markets through unconventional thinking. Dumbify dives into the messy, counter-intuitive side of creativity — the “dumb” ideas that built empires, broke rules, and ended up changing everything.

    24 min
See All (36)

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Get smarter by thinking dumber with the only podcast that celebrates ideas so weird, wrong, or wildly impractical… they just might be brilliant. Hosted by David Carson, a serial entrepreneur behind multiple hundred-million-dollar companies and the go-to secret weapon for companies looking to unlock new markets through unconventional thinking. Dumbify dives into the messy, counter-intuitive side of creativity — the “dumb” ideas that built empires, broke rules, and ended up changing everything.

Information