You Are Not So Smart

Latest Episodes:

270 - Defining Genius Oct 01, 2023

Show notes

In this show you'll hear the first episode of a documentary series I made for Himalaya, an audio service devoted to inspirational and educational content that asked me if I had any ideas for a book that I had yet to pursue, and sure enough, I did. The series is all about the difficulty of defining the word "genius," and out of that launching point it goes deep into the science of human potential and the history of the both the word and all the ideas we have attempted to understand and express when using it.

How Minds Change

David McRaney’s Twitter

YANSS Twitter

Show Notes

Exploring Genius Audio Documentary

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269 - Deconstructing How Minds Change - Michael Taft Sep 14, 2023

Show notes

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

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268 - The Status Game - Will Storr (rebroadcast) Sep 03, 2023

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.

Will Storr’s Website: https://willstorr.com
How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome
Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com
Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com
Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

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267 - Do Your Own Research - Sedona Chinn Aug 19, 2023

Show notes

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

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266 - Project Alpha - Brian Brushwood Aug 06, 2023

Show notes

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

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265 - Chess Queens - Jennifer Shahade (rebroadcast) Jul 23, 2023

Show notes

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

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264 - Nobody's Fool - Dan Simons and Christopher Chabris Jul 11, 2023

Show notes

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

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263 - The Truth Wins - Tom Stafford (rebroadcast) Jul 09, 2023

Show notes

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

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262 - If It Sounds Like a Quack - Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling Jun 25, 2023

Show notes

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

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261 - Hack Your Bureaucracy - Marina Nitze Jun 11, 2023

Show notes

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

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