UNLIMITED

Chapter 8: Rationality

FromPsych

Start listening View podcast show

UNLIMITED

Chapter 8: Rationality

FromPsych

ratings:

Length:

56 minutes

Released:

Apr 24, 2023

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

Paul and David discuss human rationality and its limitations, including the heuristics-and-biases approach, System 1 and System 2, positive illusions, confirmation bias, motivated reasoning, and conspiracy theories.
Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com]
Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: [email protected]

Released:

Apr 24, 2023

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (17)

Join two psychology professors (Paul Bloom and David Pizarro) as they cover a wide variety of topics about human psychology. Based on Paul Bloom’s new book Psych: The Story of the Human Mind.

Skip carousel

UNLIMITED
Chapter 0: An Introduction: In this episode Paul and David talk about who they are and what they're doing with this podcast. Learn about their background, why they teach intro psych, and their personal biases about theories in psychology. Read the book that inspired the podcast: "[Psych: The Story of the Human Mind](https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us your questions for a future episode!: [email protected] by Psych
42 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 1: The Brain by Psych
59 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 3: Freud: Paul and David discuss Freud's legacy in psychology and culture, why he should continue to be taught, his theories of the unconscious and psychosexual development, the oedipal conflict, the efficacy of psychoanalysis, and the unfalsifiability of his theories. (And we edited out all of the Freudian slips so nobody will ever know our deepest desires). by Psych
56 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 5: Piaget and Development: Paul and David discuss the influential developmental psychologist Jean Piaget, his theories and legacy, stage theories of development, modern developmental psychology and its methods, and the "nature vs nurture" debate. by Psych
57 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 2: Consciousness by Psych
58 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 6: Language: In this episode Paul and David discuss another of Paul's area of expertise--language. What is language? Do any animals have it? How does it develop (and how do children learn it so fast)? Why do children learn nouns sooner than they learn verbs and adjectives? How much does language shape thought? by Psych
74 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 4: B.F. Skinner and Behaviorism: Slot machines, phobias and superstitions, dog training techniques, cures for insomnia... behaviorism has something to say about all of these (and much more!). The scope and ambition of B.F. Skinner's behaviorism rivals that of Freud's--except Skinner wanted nothing to do with the "mind" (or anything else he couldn't observe in a lab). How successful was this program of research? What did it get wrong? Is everything learned through mere associations and reinforcement? And where do Paul and David stand on the big debate between nativism (the idea that the mind comes equipped with knowledge) and empiricism (the idea that all knowledge comes from experience? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "[Psych: The Story of the Human Mind](https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: [email protected] by Psych
69 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 8: Rationality: Paul and David discuss human rationality and its limitations, including the heuristics-and-biases approach, System 1 and System 2, positive illusions, confirmation bias, motivated reasoning, and conspiracy theories. by Psych
56 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 9: Emotion and Motivation: What are the things that move us as human beings? In this episode Paul and David cover a broad range of "hot" topics (having to do with emotion and motivation), including evolutionary theory, disgust, sexual desire, morality, and how much money it would take for us to spit on a picture of someone we love. by Psych
61 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 7: Sensation, Perception, and Memory: How do we get the external world into our heads? In this episode, Paul and David cover a few of the more interesting features of sensation, perception, and memory. What can visual illusions tell us about the mind? Can perception be influenced by our beliefs and desires? What are flashbulb memories, and are they accurate? Are some of our memories completely false? And what is a memory palace? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "[Psych: The Story of the Human Mind](https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: [email protected] by Psych
61 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 10: The Replication Crisis: In this episode, Paul and David dive into the controversy surrounding the very public failings of scientific psychology--the so-called "replication crisis". Why did it happen, how has it changed how we view (and teach) about our field, and are we optimistic about the future of psychology? by Psych
56 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 12: Social Psychology Pt. 2: In this episode, Paul and David tackle the social psychology of groups (or at least, a small part of it!). Why do we fall prey to stereotyping? Why do we so sharply distinguish between "us" and "them"? What are the developmental and evolutionary origins of our ingroup favoritism/outgroup bias? Is there such a thing as implicit bias/implicit racism? What does the most popular measure of implicit bias (the IAT) actually measure? And finally, what can be done about these group biases? by Psych
69 min listen
UNLIMITED
Psych Q&A: Paul and David devote an episode to listener questions. Among the topics we discuss--the function of consciousness, the psychology of trauma (and it's growing popularity), how we deal with our non-expertise when discussing research outside our fields, the "extended mind" hypothesis, and our picks for some of the best living psychologists. by Psych
69 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 11: Social Psychology Pt. 1: Paul and David begin their discussion of social pyschology by diving into a few of the big topics/areas of research in the field: the differences between the way we see ourselves and the way we see others, obedience to authority and Milgram's classic experiments, and research on "thin-slicing" -- our tendency (ability?) to form quick impressions of others based on minimal information. They end the episode by discussing the controversial research on "social priming": can trivial features of your environment really have such a strong influence on your judgment and behavior? by Psych
55 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 14: Clinical Psychology: Paul and David go further beyond their areas of expertise than usual and discuss the field of clinical psychology--the part of psychology interested in understanding and treating psychological dysfunction. What are mental illnesses? How do we come up with the categories of various psychopathologies? Are mental illnesses the same sort of thing as other diseases, or is the term "disease" more like a metaphor? Are disorders like schizophrenia best understood as discrete categories (either you have it or you don't) or are they continuous? How should we understand personality disorders? Finally, are we making progress on understanding and treating mental illness? by Psych
56 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 13: Individual Differences: Paul and David step away from the study of psychological universals to discuss the ways in which we are different from one another. What is our best theory of personality? How is personality assessed? Do personality tests predict behavior? What does it mean to be intelligent? Do IQ tests measure anything important? What sorts of things does IQ predict? Are there multiple intelligences? Finally we dip our toes into behavioral genetics. What is heritability? How heritable are psychological traits? Finally, can parents really shape the personality or IQ of their children? by Psych
61 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 15: Happiness: Our final chapter (at least for now)! In this episode, Paul and David discuss the science of happiness. We cover the difficulty of defining happiness (or the good life in general), the rise of 'positive psychology', the various factors that we know are related to happiness (genes, money, age, having children), and the question of why we can't just choose to be happy. We end with a discussion of pleasure and pain, and some puzzling findings about our memory of painful experiences. by Psych
53 min listen

More Episodes from Psych

Skip carousel

UNLIMITED
Chapter 15: Happiness: Our final chapter (at least for now)! In this episode, Paul and David discuss the science of happiness. We cover the difficulty of defining happiness (or the good life in general), the rise of 'positive psychology', the various factors that we know are related to happiness (genes, money, age, having children), and the question of why we can't just choose to be happy. We end with a discussion of pleasure and pain, and some puzzling findings about our memory of painful experiences. by Psych
53 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 14: Clinical Psychology: Paul and David go further beyond their areas of expertise than usual and discuss the field of clinical psychology--the part of psychology interested in understanding and treating psychological dysfunction. What are mental illnesses? How do we come up with the categories of various psychopathologies? Are mental illnesses the same sort of thing as other diseases, or is the term "disease" more like a metaphor? Are disorders like schizophrenia best understood as discrete categories (either you have it or you don't) or are they continuous? How should we understand personality disorders? Finally, are we making progress on understanding and treating mental illness? by Psych
56 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 13: Individual Differences: Paul and David step away from the study of psychological universals to discuss the ways in which we are different from one another. What is our best theory of personality? How is personality assessed? Do personality tests predict behavior? What does it mean to be intelligent? Do IQ tests measure anything important? What sorts of things does IQ predict? Are there multiple intelligences? Finally we dip our toes into behavioral genetics. What is heritability? How heritable are psychological traits? Finally, can parents really shape the personality or IQ of their children? by Psych
61 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 12: Social Psychology Pt. 2: In this episode, Paul and David tackle the social psychology of groups (or at least, a small part of it!). Why do we fall prey to stereotyping? Why do we so sharply distinguish between "us" and "them"? What are the developmental and evolutionary origins of our ingroup favoritism/outgroup bias? Is there such a thing as implicit bias/implicit racism? What does the most popular measure of implicit bias (the IAT) actually measure? And finally, what can be done about these group biases? by Psych
69 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 11: Social Psychology Pt. 1: Paul and David begin their discussion of social pyschology by diving into a few of the big topics/areas of research in the field: the differences between the way we see ourselves and the way we see others, obedience to authority and Milgram's classic experiments, and research on "thin-slicing" -- our tendency (ability?) to form quick impressions of others based on minimal information. They end the episode by discussing the controversial research on "social priming": can trivial features of your environment really have such a strong influence on your judgment and behavior? by Psych
55 min listen
UNLIMITED
Psych Q&A: Paul and David devote an episode to listener questions. Among the topics we discuss--the function of consciousness, the psychology of trauma (and it's growing popularity), how we deal with our non-expertise when discussing research outside our fields, the "extended mind" hypothesis, and our picks for some of the best living psychologists. by Psych
69 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 10: The Replication Crisis: In this episode, Paul and David dive into the controversy surrounding the very public failings of scientific psychology--the so-called "replication crisis". Why did it happen, how has it changed how we view (and teach) about our field, and are we optimistic about the future of psychology? by Psych
56 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 9: Emotion and Motivation: What are the things that move us as human beings? In this episode Paul and David cover a broad range of "hot" topics (having to do with emotion and motivation), including evolutionary theory, disgust, sexual desire, morality, and how much money it would take for us to spit on a picture of someone we love. by Psych
61 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 7: Sensation, Perception, and Memory: How do we get the external world into our heads? In this episode, Paul and David cover a few of the more interesting features of sensation, perception, and memory. What can visual illusions tell us about the mind? Can perception be influenced by our beliefs and desires? What are flashbulb memories, and are they accurate? Are some of our memories completely false? And what is a memory palace? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "[Psych: The Story of the Human Mind](https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: [email protected] by Psych
61 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 6: Language: In this episode Paul and David discuss another of Paul's area of expertise--language. What is language? Do any animals have it? How does it develop (and how do children learn it so fast)? Why do children learn nouns sooner than they learn verbs and adjectives? How much does language shape thought? by Psych
74 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 5: Piaget and Development: Paul and David discuss the influential developmental psychologist Jean Piaget, his theories and legacy, stage theories of development, modern developmental psychology and its methods, and the "nature vs nurture" debate. by Psych
57 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 4: B.F. Skinner and Behaviorism: Slot machines, phobias and superstitions, dog training techniques, cures for insomnia... behaviorism has something to say about all of these (and much more!). The scope and ambition of B.F. Skinner's behaviorism rivals that of Freud's--except Skinner wanted nothing to do with the "mind" (or anything else he couldn't observe in a lab). How successful was this program of research? What did it get wrong? Is everything learned through mere associations and reinforcement? And where do Paul and David stand on the big debate between nativism (the idea that the mind comes equipped with knowledge) and empiricism (the idea that all knowledge comes from experience? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "[Psych: The Story of the Human Mind](https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: [email protected] by Psych
69 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 3: Freud: Paul and David discuss Freud's legacy in psychology and culture, why he should continue to be taught, his theories of the unconscious and psychosexual development, the oedipal conflict, the efficacy of psychoanalysis, and the unfalsifiability of his theories. (And we edited out all of the Freudian slips so nobody will ever know our deepest desires). by Psych
56 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 2: Consciousness by Psych
58 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 1: The Brain by Psych
59 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 0: An Introduction: In this episode Paul and David talk about who they are and what they're doing with this podcast. Learn about their background, why they teach intro psych, and their personal biases about theories in psychology. Read the book that inspired the podcast: "[Psych: The Story of the Human Mind](https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us your questions for a future episode!: [email protected] by Psych
42 min listen

Related podcast episodes

Skip carousel

UNLIMITED
Chapter 9: Emotion and Motivation: What are the things that move us as human beings? In this episode Paul and David cover a broad range of "hot" topics (having to do with emotion and motivation), including evolutionary theory, disgust, sexual desire, morality, and how much money it would take for us to spit on a picture of someone we love. by Psych
61 min listen
UNLIMITED
Psych Q&A: Paul and David devote an episode to listener questions. Among the topics we discuss--the function of consciousness, the psychology of trauma (and it's growing popularity), how we deal with our non-expertise when discussing research outside our fields, the "extended mind" hypothesis, and our picks for some of the best living psychologists. by Psych
69 min listen
UNLIMITED
Chapter 10: The Replication Crisis: In this episode, Paul and David dive into the controversy surrounding the very public failings of scientific psychology--the so-called "replication crisis". Why did it happen, how has it changed how we view (and teach) about our field, and are we optimistic about the future of psychology? by Psych
56 min listen
UNLIMITED
Anthony Chaney, “Runaway: Gregory Bateson, the Double Bind, and the Rise of Ecological Consciousness” (UNC Press, 2017): Anthony Chaney teaches history and writing at the University of North Texas at Dallas. His book Runaway: Gregory Bateson, the Double Bind, and the Rise of Ecological Consciousness (University of North Carolina Press, by New Books in the History of Science
56 min listen
UNLIMITED
Professor Sander van der Linden on Misinformation: Why do people fall for misinformation, and what can we do to prevent it? On this episode, I’m speaking to Professor Sander van der Linden of Cambridge University. He’s the author of a new book called ‘Foolproof: Why We Fall for Misinformation and How... by The Human Risk Podcast
61 min listen
UNLIMITED
#123 - The Process of Animal Domestication: A Dialogue with Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra: In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra about animal domestication. They define domestication and how it is a process. They talk about niche construction and the three pathways of domestication. They mention the impac... by Converging Dialogues
99 min listen
UNLIMITED
#280 - The Four Realms of Existence: A Dialogue with Joseph LeDoux by Converging Dialogues
102 min listen
UNLIMITED
BS 161 Joseph Ledoux: Author of "The Deep History of Ourselves: The Four-Billion-Year Story of How We Got Conscious Brains" by Brain Science with Ginger Campbell, MD: Neuroscience for Everyone
92 min listen
UNLIMITED
EP 176 Gregg Henriques Part 1: Addressing the Enlightenment Gap: Jim talks with Gregg Henriques about his book A New Synthesis for Solving the Problem of Psychology: Addressing the Enlightenment Gap. by The Jim Rutt Show
98 min listen
UNLIMITED
Rationally Speaking #42 - On the Limits of Reason: Is there an intrinsic limit to humans ability to reason? Plus Massimo and Julia's picks: "From Technologist to Philosopher Why you should quit your technology job and get a Ph.D. in the humanities" and "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy." by Rationally Speaking Podcast
51 min listen
UNLIMITED
Episode 282: Fearful Symmetry (Borges' "Death and the Compass"): A Rabbi is found dead in a hotel room, stabbed in the chest. The room is filled with Kabbalah texts and a single page in an typewriter that reads “The first letter of the name has been written.” The celebrated detective and... by Very Bad Wizards
85 min listen
UNLIMITED
Cultural Evolution Goes Mainstream - Considering “This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution”: In this episode, Dr. Keith Witt and I discuss evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson’s latest book, This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution, where he challenges mainstream science to broaden its inquiry to include cultural and conscio... by The Daily Evolver
57 min listen
UNLIMITED
BS 174 Georg Northoff, author of "The Spontaneous Brain": Neuroscientist discusses "The Spontaneous Brain: From the Mind–Body to the World–Brain Problem " by Brain Science with Ginger Campbell, MD: Neuroscience for Everyone
71 min listen
UNLIMITED
#255 — The Future of Intelligence: A Conversation with Jeff Hawkins by Making Sense with Sam Harris
58 min listen
UNLIMITED
#156 — The Evolution of Culture: A Conversation with Nicholas Christakis by Making Sense with Sam Harris
41 min listen
UNLIMITED
Ruchir Agarwal: Chimpanzee Politics and Climate Change: The animal kingdom can teach us important lessons about ourselves and increase cooperation to fight climate change. by IMF Podcasts
16 min listen
UNLIMITED
The Right to be Lazy by The Magnificast
61 min listen
UNLIMITED
Psychedelics by Overthink
60 min listen
UNLIMITED
BI 153 Carolyn Jennings: Attention and the Self: Support the show to get full episodes and join the Discord community. Carolyn Dicey Jennings is a philosopher and a cognitive scientist at University of California, Merced. In her book The Attending Mind, she lays out an attempt to unify the conc by Brain Inspired
86 min listen
UNLIMITED
208. Can A.I. Companions Replace Human Connection?: What happens when machines become funnier, kinder, and more empathetic than humans? Do robot therapists save lives? And should Angela credit her virtual assistant as a co-author of her book by No Stupid Questions
36 min listen
UNLIMITED
Ep: 109 ”Objective Morality I: The Principle of Optimism”: Morality, like physics, is objective. It is about solving moral problems. In this first part about the nature of objective morality, I discuss "The Principle of Optimism". First stated in "The Beginning of Infinity" by David Deutsch in Chapter 9 of that ... by ToKCast
15 min listen
UNLIMITED
Episode 262: Supposing Truth is a Woman (Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil"): David and Tamler dive into the first two parts of Nietzsche’s Beyond and Good and Evil which contain some of Nietzsche’s best drive-bys on philosophers like Plato, Descartes, the Stoics, Kant, and Hegel along with beliefs in free will, hard... by Very Bad Wizards
89 min listen
UNLIMITED
Michael Tomasello On the Surprising Origins of Communication and Cooperation by Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda
38 min listen
UNLIMITED
Sian Sutherland: "Innovating the Business of Plastics”: On this episode, Nate is joined by Sian Sutherland, a leader in the movement towards reducing the overconsumption of plastic and its waste. The modern era is dependent on fossil fuels for many reasons - one of the most covertly ubiquitous ones being... by The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
76 min listen
UNLIMITED
Paul Bloom on Empathy: Psychologist Paul Bloom talks about his book Against Empathy with host Russ Roberts. Bloom argues that empathy--the ability to feel the emotions of others--is a bad guide to charitable giving and public policy. He argues that reason combined with compassion is a better and more effective guide to making the world a better place. by EconTalk
68 min listen
UNLIMITED
Episode 28, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (Part III): Welcome to Episode 28 (Part III) on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. This week in Part III, we'll be applying virtue ethics and looking at Book X of the Nicomachean Ethics. by The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast
30 min listen
UNLIMITED
The Saad Truth About Happiness: Everyone wants to be happy. The question “How can I be happy?” drives countless decisions across the world, and billions of dollars are spent on marketing a wide variety of answers to it. Increasing evidence shows, however, that unhappiness is on... by The Michael Shermer Show
117 min listen
UNLIMITED
#153 — Possible Minds: Conversations with George Dyson, Alison Gopnik, and Stuart Russell by Making Sense with Sam Harris
99 min listen
UNLIMITED
Paul Vanderklay on Peterson, Vervaeke, and why Sam Harris is wrong: Paul Vanderklay is a minister in the Christian Reformed Church of North America. In this conversation we talk about Jordan Peterson's / John Vervaeke's / Jonathan Pageau's and Sam Harris' influence on "new Christianity."This wasn't going to be releaseed... by Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal
85 min listen
UNLIMITED
The limits of forgiveness by The Gray Area with Sean Illing
52 min listen

Discover this podcast and so much more

Chapter 8: Rationality

Chapter 8: Rationality

Description

Titles in the series (17)

More Episodes from Psych

Related podcast episodes