You Are Not So Smart

4.6 (15)
SOCIAL SCIENCES
TWICE MONTHLY

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.

11 HR AGO

339 - Enlightened Disagreement

Northwestern University just launched the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement, a real-world institution devoted to "research-backed approaches to cultivating open-mindedness, identifying one’s own cognitive biases, working collaboratively with others despite disagreement and more." In this episode, David McRaney details his time as a resident of the Center, teaching students how to ask questions that activate a person's introspection, and then follow up with questions that evoke a person's motivated reasoning, then keep going until the other side articulates things they may have never considered before, and, in so doing, reveal the deeper motivations and values generating disagreement. You'll learn about this and all the other modules of the Center's pilot program. You'll also learn about a new game they are designing to improve scientific literacy of news consumers and news creators. Previous Episodes How Minds Change The Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement Medill School for Journalism Patti Wolter Brad Zakarin Eli Finkel Nour Kteily The Center for Public Deliberation The Listen First Coalition Better Together America Heather Barnes Martin Carcasson Point Taken The Visual Thinking Lab Steven Franconeri Joshua Greene’s Website Tango Tango Quiz Game Research Love Factually Website Joshua Hudson Protein Research NYT Protein Deep Dive Tylenol Metastudy The Garage Monica Guzman Braver Angels Jacqui Banaszynski David McRaney’s Twitter David McRaney's BlueSky YANSS Twitter YANSS Facebook Newsletter Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

1hr 29min
27 APR

338 - May Contain Lies - Alex Edmans (rebroadcast)

Alex Edmans, a professor of finance at London Business School, tells us how to avoid the Ladder of Misinference by examining how narratives, statistics, and articles can mislead, especially when they align with our preconceived notions and confirm what we believe is true, assume is true, and wish were true. Alex Edmans May Contain Lies What to Test in a Post Trust World How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter David McRaney’s BlueSky YANSS Twitter YANSS Facebook Newsletter Kitted Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

40 min
13 APR

337 - Cognitive Surrender - Gideon Nave and Steven D. Shaw

How is AI reshaping human reasoning? What is cognitive surrender, and how do we avoid its negative impact? What is system three thinking, and how can we get the most out of it? Artificial intelligence researchers Gideon Nave and Steven D. Shaw have some answers, some questions, and some suggestions. Previous Episodes Thinking: Fast, Slow, and Artificial Gideon Nave's Website Steven D. Shaw's Website How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter David McRaney's BlueSky YANSS Twitter YANSS Facebook Newsletter Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

1 hr
30 MAR

336 - The 3.5 Percent Rule - Erica Chenoweth (rebroadcast)

If you want to overthrow a dictator, resist an authoritarian regime, or create a movement that can change the national status quo, you don't need half the country, you only need 3.5 percent of the population to join – but there are some caveats, and Erica Chenoweth whose research led to the discovery of the 3.5 Percent Rule, explains them to us in this episode. Previous Episodes Erica Chenoweth's Website Why Civil Resistance Works (the paper) Why Civil Resistance Works (the book) The TED Talk The Q&A List of Protests by Size How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter David McRaney's BlueSky YANSS Twitter YANSS Facebook Newsletter Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

1hr 4min
16 MAR

335 - Align Your Mind - Britt Frank (rebroadcast)

Therapist, teacher, speaker, and trauma specialist Britt Frank tells us all about her new book, Align Your Mind, an all-access pass to understanding, befriending, and leading the multiple voices within yourself. Grounded in the latest research on Parts Work and Internal Family Systems, and offering proven techniques from Frank’s clinical practice and personal challenges, this engaging guide is a user manual to your own mind—and presents a road map for finding peace, confidence, and a deeper understanding of who you truly are. Patreon Previous Episodes Britt Frank’s Practice Align Your Mind Website Britt Frank’s Instagram How Minds Change Newsletter David McRaney’s Twitter David McRaney's Bluesky YANSS Twitter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

1hr 13min
2 MAR

334 - Magical Thinking - Matt Tompkins (rebroadcast)

In this episode, the story of Clever Hans, the horse who changed psychology for the better. We also sit down with psychologist and magician Matt Tompkins. Matt is the author of The Spectacle of Illusion, a book about the long history of the manipulation of our own magical thinking and how studying deception can help us better understand perception, memory, belief, and more. How Minds Change David McRaney’s BlueSky David McRaney’s Twitter YANSS Twitter Matt Tompkins The Spectacle of Illusion Prisoners of Silence Clever Hans Wilhelm von Osten Carl Sagan Quote Science of Magic Association Society for Psychical Research Skeptical Inquirer Magazine Houdini's Debunking Newsletter Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

1hr 19min
16 FEB

YANSS 333 - Selective Perception - Jay Van Bavel

How can two people watch the same video yet see two different things? How can two people witness the same event but arrive at two different truths about what they witnessed? How can the same evidence lead people to drastically different realities? In this episode, Dr. Jay Van Bavel at NYU explains. Kitted Executive Academy The Power of Us Website They Saw A Game Jay Van Bavel’s Twitter Jay Van Bavel’s Website How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter David McRaney’s BlueSky YANSS Twitter Newsletter Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

38 min
2 FEB

332 - Concordance Over Truth Bias (rebroadcast)

In this episode, we sit down with three disinformation researchers whose new paper found something surprising about both our resistance and our susceptibility to both true news we wish was fake and fake news we wish was true. Our guests are three of the scientists exploring a newly named cognitive distortion, one that every human being is prone to exhibiting, one that is so common and so easily provoked that nefarious actors depend on it when distributing disinformation and propaganda. Samuel Woolley, Katie Joseff, and Michael Schwalbe will share their methods, findings, and takeaways. They will also explain the troublesome nature of something they are calling concordance over truth bias – a distortion that most often appears in those who have the most (undeserved) confidence in their own (not-so-objective) objectivity. - How Minds Change - Show Notes - Newsletter - David McRaney's BlueSky - David McRaney’s Twitter - YANSS Twitter - Why Do We Share Our Feelings With Others? - Concordance Over Truth Bias - Samuel Wooley - Katie Joseff - Michael Schwalbe - Geoffrey Cohen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

1hr 9min

See All (336)

David McRaney

Host

4.6

out of 5

15 Ratings

This is just sooo good as David always says.

09/03/2021

Fazzie123

Open and raw conversation about the most important topics we could conceive to ponder about. I have learned so much and I am even seriously considering getting formal education in psychology from the IT world where I am at. This is worth getting invested in!
good stuff

02/02/2019

daughterofpyrrho

Best opening music ever.
One of the best podcast around, only wish it was more frequent with less rebroadcasts.

03/12/2017

georgelappies

I discovered this podcast a few months ago, it instantly grabbed my attention due to the quality of the narration as well as the quality of the subject material. I burned through the entire back catalogue and now find myself checking for new episodes frequently. The only negative feedback I can give (and hence 4 stars instead of 5) is the rebroadcasting of older episodes...

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.