You Are Not So Smart

Latest Episodes:

250 - Awe - Dacher Keltner Jan 08, 2023

Show notes

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.

Dacher Kelter: https://psychology.berkeley.edu/people/dacher-keltner
Greater Good: https://twitter.com/GreaterGoodSC
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

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

249 - The Power of Surprise (rebroadcast) Dec 24, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Micheal Rousell, author of The Power of Surprise, explains the science of surprise at the level of neurons and brain structures, and then talk about how surprises often lead to the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, the different personal narratives that guide our behaviors and motivations and goals, and, perhaps most importantly, our willingness to be surprised again so that we can change and grow.

In the show, you will how we can use the current understanding of how surprise leads to learning, and how learning depends on interpretation, to improve our lives, and the lives of others

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

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

248 - Visual Thinking - Temple Grandin Dec 11, 2022

Show notes

Temple Grandin was born in 1947 at a time when words like neurodivergent and neurotypical had yet to enter the lexicon, at a time when autism was not well understood, and since she didn’t develop speech until much later than most children she might have led a much different life if it hadn’t been for people around her who worked very hard to open up a space for her to thrive and explore her talents and abilities. In this episode we discuss all that as well as her latest book, Visual Thinking, all about three distinct ways that human brains create human minds to make sense of the world outside of their skulls.

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

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

247 - Narcissism (rebroadcast) Nov 27, 2022

Show notes

In this episode we explore what narcissism is (and what is most-definitely is not).

There is a form of narcissism which has been, up until now, confused with psychopathy. But a new paper, the result of years of experiments, suggests narcissists are not psychopaths, and psychopaths are not narcissists.

In the psychological literature, narcissism comes in two varieties. Grandiose narcissists tend to really, truly love themselves and heavily manipulate their social environment for personal gain. Vulnerable narcissists don’t love themselves, not their true selves. Vulnerable narcissists love their image, and they are highly aware of the fact that it is an image and work very hard to prevent anyone else realizing that. According to the research explored in this episode, there is no such thing as a grandiose narcissist – that’s just another way to describe a psychopath.
Vulnerable narcissists like Don Draper in Mad Men cope with their insecurity by donning a mask, and then spend most of their lives protecting that mask out of a fear of what will happen if people ever see what it hides.

How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome
Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com
Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com
Narcissism through the lens of performative self-elevation

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246 - Ideaflow - Jeremy Utley Nov 13, 2022

Show notes

In this episode we sit down with Jeremy Utley of the Stanford d.school to discuss his new book, Ideaflow, which is all about how to create a practice for producing and trading ideas in massive quantities – whether in an organization or as an individual entrepreneur or content-creator – along with a system for sorting the garbage from the gold. We discuss, among many other things, why it is important to focus on input more than output, how to stop obsessing over quality while generating quantity, and peanut butter pumps.

Jeremy Utley: https://www.jeremyutley.design
Ideaflow: https://www.ideaflow.design
Stanford d.school: https://dschool.stanford.edu
How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome
Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com
Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com
Jeremy Utley’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyutley
David McRaney’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidmcraney
YANSS Twitter: https://twitter.com/notsmartblog
Berkeley Alembic Event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-minds-change-with-david-mcraney-tickets-443811591417

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

245 - The Conspiracy Theorist Who Changed His Mind - Tim Harford Oct 28, 2022

Show notes

Here’s a special bonus episode featuring my recent conversation with Tim Harford, author, economic journalist, and host of the Cautionary Tales podcast. We discussed a story from my new book, How Minds Change, about a conspiracy theorist who was certain 9/11 was an inside job until he actually visited Ground Zero to meet architects, engineers and the relatives of the dead. Tim and I reflect on what he can teach us about those who hold strong beliefs even in the face of damning, contrary evidence and why persuasion, especially if attempted poorly, isn't always the right answer.

• Hear more from Cautionary Tales at https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/ctsmart

• How Minds Change: https://www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome

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244 - Quit - Annie Duke Oct 16, 2022

Show notes

I recently sat down for a live event and Q&A with the great Annie Duke to discuss her new book, Quit: The power of knowing when to walk away. This episode is the audio from that event. Quit is all about how to develop a very particular skill: how to train your brain to make it easier to know which goals and plans are worth sticking to and which are not.
- Toronto Live Event: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/how-minds-change-a-conversation-lab-with-david-mcraney-misha-glouberman-tickets-410047431907

- How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome

- Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com

- Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com

- Annie Duke's Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnnieDuke

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

243 - Psychological Tweetathon with Jay Van Bavel Oct 03, 2022

Show notes

In this episode we sit down with NYU psychologist Jay Van Bavel who is very good at Twitter. His feed is always overflowing with the absolute latest and greatest research from psychology with links to papers as they come out – on many of the topics we so often explore on this podcast – and in this episode we discuss ten of those tweets and the research he’s shared.

Toronto Live Event: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/how-minds-change-a-conversation-lab-with-david-mcraney-misha-glouberman-tickets-410047431907
How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome
Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com
Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com
Jay Van Bavel’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jayvanbavel

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

242 - Survival of the Richest - Douglas Rushkoff Sep 18, 2022

Show notes

In this episode we sit down with Douglas Rushkoff, a media scholar, journalist, and professor of digital economics who has a new fire in his belly when it comes to the world of billionaire preppers, which comes across in his new book Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires – inspired by his invitation to consult a group of the world’s richest people on how to spend their money now to survive an apocalypse they fear is coming within their lifetimes.

Live Event at Caveat: https://caveat.nyc/event/how-minds-change-9-20-2022
How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome
Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com
Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com
Douglas Rushkoff's Website: https://rushkoff.com

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241 - The Status Game - Will Storr Sep 04, 2022

Show notes

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.

Live Event at Caveat: https://caveat.nyc/event/how-minds-change-9-20-2022
How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome
Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com
Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com
Will Storr’s Website: https://willstorr.com
Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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