Schauer Thoughts

Latest Episodes:

Let’s Get An *Applied* Understanding of Working Memory! Oct 22, 2025

Show notes

Make sure to stretch, drink water, and break out a pencil and paper for this week’s episode of Schauer Thoughts because it will require active attention (you don’t have to do anything I say, this is just a word of warning that there will be math in this episode and it’s cruel to make someone listen to math without being able to write it down) because we’re getting into working memory! If you have any difficulties with math, please do not be hard on yourself, it’s had some wickedly bad instruction and PR, but I promise math is not the enemy! It’s how we’ve all evolved to this point! Fun little resource before the resource list, if you like literature and you’re math-curious, you should check out: The Meaning of Proofs: Mathematics as Storytelling by Gabriele Lolli. Also, good news for my fiction readers! Due to my lack of internal monologue I’m realizing I genuinely don’t understand the flow of people’s thoughts, so if you’d like to comment your favorite fiction book with an omniscient POV, I’d really appreciate it! I love sapphic romance, academia(?), appreciate a good classic, female lead, dark but also enlightening, anything in that general vicinity. Excited to pick up some recommendations! Thank you all for listening in on this week’s communal Schauer! Resources: The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics - Tim Harford What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice and Change - Emily Falk Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe - Steven Strogatz Connections Over Compliance: Rewiring Our Perceptions of Discipline- Lori L. Desautels, Ph.D. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century - Timothy Snyder Teaching Absolute Value of a Number in Math https://www.hmhco.com/blog/teaching-absolute-value-of-a-number-in-math#:~:text=What%20does%20absolute%20value%20mean,is%20neither%20negative%20nor%20positive.) A Brief Overview of Working Memory https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2019/4/25-1

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What is Cognitive Labor? How Do I Know If People Are Using Me for It? Pt.2 Oct 15, 2025

Show notes

Schauer Thoughts? More like Schauer Cognitive Labor! Kidding, we have fun here. Welcome to part two of my mini-series on cognitive labor! Remember, not everyone is out to use you, discernment is a skill, and always do your own research. Thank you all for listening and as always, please feel free to run the episode and resources by your therapist.

Make sure to like and subscribe on YouTube, and rate me five stars wherever you get your podcasts!

For more information on my book club visit:

Substack:

https://sarahschauer.substack.com/p/schauer-thoughts-book-club-additional?utm_source=activity_item

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/c/sarahschauer/membership

Resources:

The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again - Catherine Price

What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice and Change - Emily Falk

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism - Amanda Montell

Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism - Robert Jay Lifton

What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice & Change - Emily Falk

https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/annenberg-emily-falk-book-what-we-value

Thought terminating cliches:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_clich%C3%A9

The Power of Silence: Unpacking Thought-Terminating Cliches

https://desireebstephens.substack.com/p/the-power-of-silence-unpacking-thought

Entertrained

https://entertrained.app

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So What is Cognitive Labor?? Oct 08, 2025

Show notes

This week on Schauer Thoughts we’re discussing cognitive labor: what it is and isn’t, situations you use it in, and how to tell when someone is using you for your cognitive labor via thought-terminating cliches! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the discussion. Also, I do want to apologize for how disorganized this episode is, I forgot to take my ADHD medication that day and I was really struggling to order my thoughts. I have also received some feedback that my podcast is unpolished and a bit of a “burden” and I completely understand the intention behind those comments. I really do appreciate feedback and I feel so bad that this is the episode going out with those comments in mind. I have ordered a couple books on how to polish your research, I’m currently reading Polish Your Academic Writing by Helen Coleman and I also signed up for a *free* seven week online course on scientific communication. (If you’d also like to take the class here’s a link: https://sciencecommunicationlab.org/research-skills/presentation-on-science/ - you don’t have to, it’s just to share!) It will take me a few weeks for you all to see these new skills in the podcast, so thank you for your patience and hopefully you see that effort payoff soon. I am talking about neuroscience and more technical things but I want to do so in a way that’s more easily understood and accessible so I am working on that! I do genuinely want to share what I’m learning and while I love research I love connecting with my audience more and that’s not really possible if I don’t make more of an active effort to structure and translate concepts in a more accessible way. I promise I am working on it, I deeply appreciate the feedback. There will be a part two to this episode and I am making sure that it’s more cohesive, organized, and delivered in a more accessible way! Links: How I Met Your Masi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/howimetyourmasi/?hl=en Where to Stream: https://www.dynasty.tv/products/how-i-met-your-masi-premiere Sounds Like a Cult Podcast: Website: https://www.soundslikeacult.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soundslikeacultpod/ Reese’s Instagram: (adore her) https://www.instagram.com/reesaronii/ For more information on my book club visit: Substack: https://sarahschauer.substack.com/p/schauer-thoughts-book-club-additional?utm_source=activity_item Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/sarahschauer/membership Resources: Future Tense: Why Anxiety is Good for You (Even Though It Feels Bad) - Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, PhD How To Make Your Brain Your Best Friend: A Neuroscientists Guide to a Healthier, Happier Life - Rachel Barr - Guys! This is the book I’ve talked about from the neuroscientist on “microdosing delight!” Go pick it up! Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism - Amanda Montell Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of “Brainwashing” in China - Robert Jay Lifton Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker PhD The Difference Between Mental Load and Emotional Labor https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/equal-partners/202508/the-difference-between-mental-load-and-emotional-labor Anticipatory feelings: Neural correlates and linguistic markers https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763419300570#:~:text=A%20new%20feeling%20construct%20related,role%20in%20future%20oriented%20feelings.

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The Real Downside of Intentionally Misunderstanding People Oct 01, 2025

Show notes

This week in the communal Schauer we’re discussing the actual, neurological, downside of intentionally (not accidentally) misunderstanding others! Now I do want y’all to know that there is a difference between genuine debate and being an obtuse pr*ck, so please don’t assume I’m saying “never disagree again.” You can understand (comprehend) someone but you do not have to validate their augment (apply positive or negative moral judgement) because those are two separate processes in the brain. Other than that, please enjoy this episode, have an amazing week, and I hope you feel *a moderate to intense* experience of delight with this new information!

Please like and subscribe on YouTube, rate me five stars on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! I greatly appreciate it.

Please always feel free to send Schauer Thoughts episodes to your therapist or mental health provider :)

For more information on my book club visit:

Substack:

https://sarahschauer.substack.com/p/schauer-thoughts-book-club-additional?utm_source=activity_item

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/c/sarahschauer/membership

Resources:

Olivia Unplugged Tiktok

https://www.tiktok.com/@olivia.unplugged?_t=ZT-90APwzxxDNG&_r=1

Such an incredible creator and account, definitely recommend following her!

Life In Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life - Shigehiro Oishi, PhD

Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker PhD

Use Powerful Intentions to Become Your Authentic Best

https://newayscenter.com/powerful-intentions-authentic-best/

Helpful resource for positively framing intentions

The influence of intentions on dream content

https://academic.oup.com/sleepadvances/article/5/1/zpae088/7912101

How the Little-Known Zeigarnik Effect Impacts Everyone Daily

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/natural-order/202209/how-the-little-known-zeigarnik-effect-impacts-everyone-daily

The Art of Sustainable Performance: The Zeigarnik Effect

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-46463-9_10

Dreaming and offline memory processing

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(10)01360-6?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982210013606%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

The Neuroscience of Goals and Behavior Change

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5854216/#:~:text=This%20habit%20learning%20process%20also,with%20in%20the%20first%20place.

The neural bases of feeling understood and not understood

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4249470/#nst191-B33

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Why AI Will Never Truly Replace Humans Pt. 3! Sep 24, 2025

Show notes

Here it is! Part three to why AI will never truly replace humans - it can’t “afford” to. This weeks episode is a bit long and rambly and for the sake of y’alls likely waning interest in AI, I’m going to include some additional reading on how AI is effecting the environment and what can be done to stop as well as mitigate the damage. Next week I’ll be moving onto another topic, another Schauer filled with long-winded musings and hopefully hotter water (and takes.) Thank you so much for hanging in there, I hope you and your brains leave a little bit more pruny (wrinkles in your brain are a good thing lol.) For more information on my book club visit: Substack: https://sarahschauer.substack.com/p/schauer-thoughts-book-club-additional?utm_source=activity_item Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/sarahschauer/membership Stand up show to benefit Pal Humanity! https://www.instagram.com/share/BBEsWrfoDb Please come if you’re in LA! Resources: Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life - Shigehiro Oishi, PhD James J. Gibson The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception Chapter 8 - The Theory of Affordances https://cs.brown.edu/courses/cs137/2017/readings/Gibson-AFF.pdf Lectures on Tap https://lecturesontap.com/ The session I attended was hosted by Drew McClellan who spoke about the Art & Science of Color Design in Cinema (absolutely incredible lecture, he is so knowledgeable and fun) Please check out his website - he has online courses! https://www.drwmcc.com/about The Visual Story - Bruce A. Block This is the book that Mr. McClellan recommended during his lecture, the book was actually written by his mentor and I will be picking it up. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams - Matthew Walker, PhD I cannot recommend this book enough, it is SO good, absolutely masterfully written. This Is What It Sounds Like - Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas An eco-political economy of AI to understand the complexities of its environmental costs https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/eco-political-economy-ai-understand-complexities-its-environmental-costs

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Why AI Will Never Truly Replace Humans Pt. 2 Sep 17, 2025

Show notes

This week we’re doing a part two to why AI will never truly replace human beings - we’ll discuss neuroscience, opinions from accredited experts, as well as go on several explanatory tangents about how the brain *actually* works and how AI does not work like that. Please enjoy this week’s communal Schauer and I hope (a type of wonder -> happiness + fear) to see you all join my book club, starting September 21 & 22nd! More information linked below.

Book Club Info:

Sunday & Monday dates available!

Substack:

https://sarahschauer.substack.com/p/schauer-thoughts-book-club-additional?utm_source=activity_item

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/c/sarahschauer/membership

Resources:

The Human Brain Doesn’t Learn, Think or Recall Like an AI. Embrace the difference

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2025-07-09/human-brain-artificial-intelligence-model

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life - Shigehiro Oishi, PhD

The Order of Time - Carlo Rovelli

This Is What It Sounds Like - Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas

The Nature and Technique of Understanding: Some Fundamentals of Semantics - Hugh Woodworth

- Book I talked about having feelings, sensations, etc. outlined - pg. 26 & 27

Epistemic Injustice: Power & the Ethics of Knowing - Miranda Fricker

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Why ‘AI’ Will Never Truly Replace Humans Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

This week we’re going over what AI can’t “afford” to do that the human brain can! Next week we will cover more on the “neuroscience” (actually just programming) of AI, as well as the ecological impacts. No need to sit tight, this week we’re sensing, feeling, and moving through the communal Schauer as a collective to spite some *very much* artificial intelligence.

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Book Club:

For information about my book club, as well as cost, schedule, and additional learning opportunities, please visit my Substack, linked below.

The outline, as well as the platform it will be hosted on - likely Patreon (not Substack, even though I do know the platform can host book clubs) will go up on my Substack at noon PST on Wednesday, September 10.

I hope you all can join, I am so beyond excited to read and share with you all!

My Substack: https://substack.com/@sarahschauer?utm_source=user-menu

Book Club Book:

Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Makes a Fuller, Better Life - Shigehiro Oishi, PhD

Resources:

Your Brain Instantly Sees What You Can Do, AI Still Can’t

https://neurosciencenews.com/human-ai-visual-encoding-29279/

The Human Brain Doesn’t Learn, Think or Recall Like an AI. Embrace the Difference

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2025-07-09/human-brain-artificial-intelligence-model

Mind Brain Lecture: Neuroscientist Anthony Zador on the Future of AI and the Brain

https://news.stonybrook.edu/university/mind-brain-lecture-neuroscientist-anthony-zador-on-the-future-of-ai-and-the-brain/

Don’t agree with this guys aim or enthusiasm, but his opinion is revealing

The Posterior Parietal Area V6A: An Attentional-Modulated Visuomotor Region Involved in the Control of Reach-to-Grasp Action

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763422003128

Dark and Magical Places: The Neuroscience of Navigation - Christopher Kemp

Flow - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Tech Agnostic - Greg M. Epstein

The Order of Time - Carlo Rovelli

Additional Links

The Huntington Library & Gardens

https://www.huntington.org

Madeline Garden & Bistro

https://www.instagram.com/madeline_garden/?hl=en

Photoskin: Illuminating Body Gloss

Glistening “body oil”

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Let’s Breakdown the Matt Rife, E.L.F. Cosmetics “Rage Bait” CamPAIN Sep 03, 2025

Show notes

This week we’re getting into the psychology, strategy, and *alleged* manipulation tactics of E.L.F. Cosmetic’s latest beauty campaign featuring *womp womp* Matt Rife. Come bare faced or use a good setting spray because the communal Schauer is hot this week and methods to conceal will be tested and removed.

My Substack: https://substack.com/@sarahschauer?utm_source=user-menu

Resources:
Flow - Mihaly Csikszemtmihalyi

The Science of Revenge - James Kimmel, Jr. JD

How Emotions Are Made - Lisa Feldman Barrett

Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions - Batja Mesquita

Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life - Sissela Bok

Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People - G. Richard Shell

Why It’s So Hard to Ask for Help

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/passion/202308/why-its-so-hard-to-ask-for-help

Exclusive: The Story Behind ELF’s Controversial Matt Rife Campaign

https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/beauty/exclusive-the-story-behind-elfs-controversial-matt-rife-campaign/

Paltering

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paltering

Evidence of paltering

https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/beauty/exclusive-the-story-behind-elfs-controversial-matt-rife-campaign/

Who does nostalgia speak to?

https://www.kantar.com/inspiration/advertising-media/take-me-back-the-power-of-nostalgia-in-advertising

Elf Cosmetics Puts Beauty Prices on Trial After Raising Its Own

https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/elf-cosmetics-puts-beauty-prices-on-trial-after-raising-its-own/

ELF Beauty Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire rhode in $1 Billion Deal

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250528613364/en/e.l.f.-Beauty-Announces-Definitive-Agreement-to-Acquire-rhode-in-%241-Billion-Deal

Jester’s Privilege

https://ludwig.guru/blog/the-jesters-privilege-or-the-power-of-being-unheard/

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Flow State, Method Acting, and Becoming the Person You Want to Be Pt. 2 Aug 27, 2025

Show notes

Here we are, part two of our series on becoming who you want to be using method acting and flow state! This week we’ll be fleshing out our potential new personas, giving them motivations, beliefs, lore, and much more to *temporarily* adopt characteristics to expand our range - logically and expressively. No need for movement clothes or dance shoes in the communal Schauer, just hop in whenever you’re ready.

Make sure to like and subscribe on Youtube, as well as rate my 5 stars on whichever platform you’re streaming from! Thank you.

Substack

https://substack.com/@sarahschauer?utm_source=user-menu

Resources:

What is Self-Esteem?

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-esteem-2795868

Understanding the Interplay Between the Nervous and Muscular Systems

https://www.maven-pt.com/maven-stories/understanding-the-interplay-between-the-nervous-and-muscular-systems

Character Development: A Guide for Actors

https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/character-development-for-actors-76083/#:~:text=Gather%20as%20many%20basic%20details,role%2C%20message%2C%20and%20theme.

The Outside In Acting Technique

https://www.stagemilk.com/acting-technique-outside-in/

Nine components associated with the flow state experience

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7551835/table/behavsci-10-00137-t001/

How to Get Into Flow State: 8 Tips to Unlock Peak Performance

https://www.flowresearchcollective.com/blog/how-to-get-into-flow-state

A Review on the Role of the Neuroscience of Flow States in the Modern World

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7551835/#B15-behavsci-10-00137

Color Psychology: Does It Affect How You Feel?

https://www.verywellmind.com/color-psychology-2795824

How ambient temperature affects mood: an ecological momentary assessment study in Switzerland

https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-023-01003-9

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

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Flow State, Method Acting, and Becoming the Person You Want to Be Pt. 1 Aug 20, 2025

Show notes

Welcome back! We’re discussing the psychology, neuroscience, and applications of method acting and flow state to develop behavioral and character range, aka “become the person you want.” This week’s communal Schauer will be very STEAM heavy, but don’t worry, next week we’re bringing it all together to cultivate a performance that feels personal and true to you (and who you could be).

Make sure to “like” and subscribe on Youtube, rate my 5-stars wherever you get your podcasts, and check out my Substack where I have additional musings.

Substack

https://substack.com/@sarahschauer?utm_source=user-menu

Resources:

The Psychological Effects of Method Acting

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-psychological-effects-of-method-acting-45035

The Neuroscience of Romeo and Juliet: an fMRI study of acting

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.181908

A Review on the Role of the Neuroscience of Flow States in the Modern World

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7551835/#B15-behavsci-10-00137

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Your Conscious Mind - New Scientist

The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism - Fritjof Capra