In the final chapter of “Mindware,” Nisbett assures the reader that we’re smarter than we were before started the book, and that we’ll now recognise mistakes in the wild. Are you, dear listener, less likely to make the errors in thinking that w

Episode 10: Simplicity

Oct 6th, 2016 1h 7m

If a major goal in science is to “Keep It Simple,” what exactly does “simple” mean in this context? Helpful? Useful? Easy to Understand? Should public money only be spent on research that can be explained to folks down at the local pub? Does si

Episode 9: Logic and Wisdom

Oct 3rd, 2016 52m 15s

Many experiments have demonstrated differences between people who grew up in the Eastern vs Western cultures on a variety of perceptual and cognitive tasks. Is an “object-centric” perspective more useful than a “situation-centric” perspective?

Episode 8: Self-Experiments

Sep 1st, 2016 1h 15m

What makes a good self-experiment? If our ratings of happiness change depending on whether we're in the moment (the experiencing self) or reflecting on the day (the remembering self), which one should we privilege? Self reports are generally ve

Episode 7: Wiggling Events

Sep 1st, 2016 1h 22m

There's a relatively new movement in science called the “Open Science Framework” where researchers put all their cards on the table and make predictions before collecting a single data point. Will it change the way that people conduct experimen

Episode 6: Tails - No Facebook Day

Aug 26th, 2016 1h 27m

How do you decide what you like or don't like? Given what you now know about the fallibility of your decision making systems, are you really an authority on your personal preferences? It turns out that in order to make better judgements and dec

Episode 5: Know When to Walk Away

Aug 15th, 2016 48m 21s

Why do people persist with terrible jobs or relationships, where jumping ship is clearly the better option? Is it even possible to seriously consider a future job or partner that you've never had before? One way to better generalise from toy pr

Episode 4: Decisions, Decisions…

Aug 15th, 2016 1h 20m

How do you decide what product to buy, apartment to rent, or who to marry? Listing pros and cons, weighing attributes, and collecting evidence are important for optimal decision making. It’s also valuable to consider sunk costs and opportunity

Episode 3: It’s Happening To Me

Aug 1st, 2016 1h 8m

Do you know why you do what you do… really? From the inside, many behaviours feel like they’re absolutely conscious or unconscious, but which ones, and how do you find out? (Mis)perceiving visual illusions are clearly involuntarily, but what ab

Episode 2: The Curse of Knowledge

Aug 1st, 2016 1h 15m

It’s incredibly difficult to put yourself in the shoes of another person. We just can’t ignore the knowledge we have that others don’t. This “curse of knowledge” is common in teaching, argument, political discourse, conflict resolution. It’s cl

Episode 1: I Know Kung-Fu

Jul 3rd, 2016 1h 3m

Downloading knowledge directly and instantly into your brain “Matrix-style” would be pretty magnificent, but is it possible? A common assumption in teaching is that the concepts you learn in high school or university will be useful in everyday

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