You Are Not So Smart

In celebration of How Minds Change, my new book, turning one-year-old, in this episode Michael Taft interviews David McRaney about how minds do and do not change, the process behind writing a book about that, and what he has learned since writing and promoting it. Michael is a meditation teacher, bestselling author, and a mindfulness coach – and he specializes in secular, science-based mindfulness training. If you are interested in a science-based, secular book about meditation and and mindfulness, I highly recommend his book,The Mindful Geek, snd I recommend guided meditation with him. He offers that at The Alembic in Berkeley. You can join them virtually, over the internet. Links below. I also recommend his podcast, Deconstructing Yourself. It is all about entheogens and neurofeedback and brain hacking. If you are a Carl Sagan loving, science endorsing, evidence based sort of person – a nerd, geek, or skeptic or humanist who wants to know more about meditation and deep dive into what we do and do not know about it – that's what his podcast is about. Sam Harris will be a guest on there soon, and I think many of you will love that episode. Deconstructing Yourself The Alembic Michael Taft How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter YANSS Twitter Show Notes Newsletter Patreon

In this episode we welcome back author Will Storr whose new book, The Status Game, feels like required reading for anyone confused, curious, or worried about how politics, cults, conspiracy theories communities, social media, religious fundamentalism, polarization, and extremism are affecting us - everywhere, on and offline, across cultures, and across the world. What is The Status Game? It’s our primate propensity to perpetually pursue points that will provide a higher level of regard among the people who can (if we provoked such a response) take those points away. And deeper still, it’s the propensity to, once we find a group of people who regularly give us those points, care about what they think more than just about anything else. In the interview, we discuss our inescapable obsession with reputation and why we are deeply motivated to avoid losing this game through the fear of shame, ostracism, embarrassment, and humiliation while also deeply motivated to win this game by earning what will provide pride, fame, adoration, respect, and status. https://willstorr.comwww.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehomewww.youarenotsosmart.comhttps://davidmcraney.substack.com http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

Sedona Chinn, who studies how people make sense of competing scientific, environmental, and health-related claims, joins us to discuss her latest research into doing your own research. In her latest paper she found that the more a person values the concept of doing your own research, the less likely that person is to actually do their own research. In the episode we explore the origin of the concept, what that phrase really means, and the implications of her study on everything from politics to vaccines to conspiratorial thinking. Sedona Chinn's Website Sedona Chinn's Twitter Sedona Chinn's Paper The Other Paper Mentioned How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter YANSS Twitter Show Notes Newsletter Patreon

We sit down with Brian Brushwood to discuss how he put together this most recent season of The World's Greatest Con, his podcast about incredible scams. This season is all about how two teenagers pulled off an incredible hoax called Project Alpha, a con job and a publicity stunt, meant to improve scientific rigor and methodology when it comes to studying the possibility of the existence of psychic phenomena. Links: Brian's Website Brian's Twitter New Yorker Article about Spiritualism The World's Greatest Con How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter YANSS Twitter Show Notes Newsletter Patreon

In this episode we sit down with Jennifer Shahade, a two-time U.S. Women’s Chess Champion, author, speaker, and professional poker player whose new book, Chess Queens, is the true story of the greatest female players of all time interwoven with her own experiences as a chess champion. Jennifer Shahade’s Website Jennifer Shahade’s Instagram Jennifer Shahade’s Twitter How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter YANSS Twitter Show Notes Newsletter Patreon

In an era in which we have more information available to us than ever before, when claims of “fake news” might themselves be, in fact, fake news, Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris, authors of The Invisible Gorilla, are back to offer us a vital tool to not only inoculate ourselves against getting infected by misinformation but prevent us from spreading it to others, a new book titled Nobody's Fool. Dan Simon's Website Christopher Chabris' Website Nobody's Fool How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter YANSS Twitter Show Notes Newsletter Patreon

Deliberation. Debate. Conversation. Though it can feel like that’s what we are doing online as we trade arguments back and forth, most of the places where we currently gather make it much easier to produce arguments in isolation rather than evaluate them together in groups. The latest research suggests we will need much more of the latter if we hope to create a new, modern, functioning marketplace of ideas. In this episode, psychologist Tom Stafford takes us through his research into how to do just that. How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter YANSS Twitter Show Notes Newsletter Patreon

At the peak of COVID-19, Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling set out to write a book about the widespread pushback against masks and vaccines as away to discuss the rise of the medical freedom movement in America. But after meeting a series of people within that movement his efforts took a sharp turn into the motivations, tribulations, and personal lives of the people who sell miracle cures and dietary supplements, skirting the law when they can, and heading to jail when they can't. The book is titled, If it Sounds Like a Quack, and it is a deep dive into the marketplace of snake oils and magical procedures sold by people who each claim to have found the one true cure for any and everything that could ever ail you. Matt's Website Matt's Twitter How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter YANSS Twitter Show Notes Newsletter Patreon

Marina Nitze is a professional fixer of broken systems – a hacker, not of computers and technology, but of the social phenomena that tend to emerge when people get together and form organizations, institutions, services, businesses, and governments. In short, she hacks bureaucracies and wants to teach you how to do the same. - Hack Your Bureaucracy: https://www.hackyourbureaucracy.com - Marina Nitze: https://www.marinanitze.com - How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome - David McRaney’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidmcraney - YANSS Twitter: https://twitter.com/notsmartblog - Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com - Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com Patreon

Feeling stuck? Can't build momentum to escape all the loops keeping you from moving forward? Our guest in this episode is professor, author, therapist, and speaker Britt Frank, a trauma specialist who treats people with unique and powerful techniques and approaches which help clients to get out of the feeling of being stuck. In the show, we nerd out with Britt about how hard it is to be a person, and though this interview is supposed to be about her new book - "The Science of Stuck: Breaking Through Inertia to Find your Path Forward" – at least of half of this interview turned out to be was wide-ranging conversation chasing down many nested tangents about everything from procrastination to somatic markers to trauma to the multitudes of the self and more. Bringing together research-backed solutions that range from shadow work to reparenting, embodied healing, and other clinical practices, along with empowering personal stories, this book is a hands-on road map for moving forward with purpose, confidence, and the freedom to become who you’re truly meant to be. Britt Frank’s Practice How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter YANSS Twitter Show Notes Newsletter Patreon The Science of Stuck Website Britt Frank's Instagram

How to manage procrastination according to Margaret Atwood, how to work around your first-instinct fallacy, the upsides of imposter syndrome, the best way to avoid falling prey to the Dunning-Kruger effect, how to avoid thinking like a preacher, prosecutor, or politician so you can think like a scientist instead – and that’s just the beginning of the conversation in this episode with psychologist, podcast host, and author Adam Grant. In the show, we discuss both his new book – Think Again: The Power of Knowing What you Don’t Know – and his TED Original Podcast, WorkLife, in which he interviewed Margaret Atwood, the author of The Handmaid’s Tale, to learn how she deals with the constant allure of social media and streaming videos in a future where giving in to procrastination is easier than it has ever been. In the show, you’ll hear portions of that interview followed by a lengthy interview with Grant about his new book in this all-over-the-place, extensive exploration of how to rethink your own thinking. Previous Episodes Adam Grant’s Website Adam Grant on Twitter Think Again How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter YANSS Twitter Show Notes Newsletter Patreon

Astronomer Phil Plait joins us to discuss his new book, Under Alien Skies, in which he describes what it would be like (through human eyes and real physical experiences) to actually travel to Saturn, Mars, asteroids, and distant stars. Also, we discuss the recent surge in UFO sighting as well as his famous talk at The Amazing Meeting more than a decade ago in which he asked all science communicators and critical thinkers to approach those who believe in pseudoscience with empathy and respect instead of scorn and vitriol. And, we run through the history of James Randi's popularization of the big-S Skeptic movement. - Phil Plait’s Substack: https://badastronomy.substack.com/ - How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome - David McRaney’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidmcraney - YANSS Twitter: https://twitter.com/notsmartblog - Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com - Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com

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: https://www.kiddlab.com • Celeste Kidd's Twitter: https://twitter.com/celestekidd • How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome • David McRaney’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidmcraney • YANSS Twitter: https://twitter.com/notsmartblog • Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com • Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com • Latent Diversity in Human Concepts: https://tinyurl.com/25544m3v

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 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 Anand Giridharadas, the author of The Persuaders – a book about activists, politicians, educators, and everyday citizens who are on the ground working to change minds, bridge divisions, and fight for democracy. - How Minds Change - David McRaney’s Twitter - YANSS Twitter - Show Notes - Newsletter Anand's TwitterThe Persuaders

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: www.helloboseo.com - How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome - David McRaney’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidmcraney - YANSS Twitter: https://twitter.com/notsmartblog - Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com - Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com

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: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome - Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com - Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com - David McRaney’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidmcraney - YANSS Twitter: https://twitter.com/notsmartblog - Mónica Guzmán’s Website: https://www.moniguzman.com - Mónica Guzmán’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/moniguzman - I Never Thought of it That Way: https://www.moniguzman.com/book - Braver Angels: https://braverangels.org - My Article on Intellectual Humility: https://bigthink.com/the-well/change-your-mind-intellectual-humility/

In this episode, we sit down with famed stage magician and infamous instructor of the school of scams, Brian Brushwood, whose new podcast explores the world's greatest con artists and con jobs from World War II to modern game shows. 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. www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehomewww.youarenotsosmart.comhttps://davidmcraney.substack.comhttps://twitter.com/davidmcraneyhttps://twitter.com/notsmartblog

It’s February. It’s that time of year when 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, helps 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. How Minds Change David McRaney’s Twitter YANSS Twitter Show Notes Newsletter Patreon

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. https://comeupforair.comhttps://twitter.com/nick_sonnenbergwww.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehomehttps://twitter.com/davidmcraneyhttps://twitter.com/notsmartblogwww.youarenotsosmart.comhttps://davidmcraney.substack.com

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. https://psychology.berkeley.edu/people/dacher-keltnerhttps://twitter.com/GreaterGoodSCwww.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehomewww.youarenotsosmart.comhttps://davidmcraney.substack.comhttps://twitter.com/davidmcraneyhttps://twitter.com/notsmartblog