Cognitive Engineering

As the US is in the throes of a presidential election, we examine why the US electoral system seems so strange and complicated.

In this podcast we discuss the origins of the US electoral system, why it seems foreign and the rationale underpinning its complexities. We delve into the difficulties of changing such a system and consider what an idealised electoral system would look like.

A few things we mentioned in this podcast:

• Effect of the electoral college on narrow elections
• US election outcomes and the popular vote
• Electoral college history
• Vox on why people vote
• Voters vote on looks

For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email [email protected]

Can behaving irrationally ever be a rational thing to do? This week we are re-releasing a podcast based on the works of the late Derek Parfit, a philosopher who specialised in personal identity, rationality, and ethics, and who had just passed away when we recorded the episode in 2017.

We focus on dynamic decision problems, specifically how we make or should make decisions that will have an impact over time or have future consequences. In what situations should we take a rational or irrational approach when it comes to decision making and can we ever be truly irrational?

A few things we mentioned in this podcast:

• Derek Parfit
• Dynamic Decision Problems
• Richard Dawkins
• The Prisoner’s Dilemma

For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email [email protected]

Many decisions are binary: should we wear a face mask or not? We discuss how this might affect our thinking more broadly and whether it drives polarisation.

This podcast investigates binary thinking, looking at why and in what situations we have a tendency to think in absolute terms. We debate the advantages and pitfalls associated with binary thinking, and consider whether some of us are better at handling ambiguity and uncertainty than others. Finally, we discuss ways of managing our own and others’ binary thinking. Does that sound interesting - yes, or no?

A few things we mentioned in this podcast:

• Cognitive Engineering Podcast: Polarisation https://soundcloud.com/aleph-insights/polarisation
• Ambiguity intolerance
• What drives ambiguity intolerance
• Ambiguity intolerance and politics
• Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
• Three types of Binary Thinking, Spenser Greenberg
• Rhetological Fallacies, Information is Beautiful, David McCandless

For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email [email protected]

We look at the YAM cryptocurrency bug and ask whether in a digital age our capacity to mess up has spiralled out of control.

In this podcast we examine software bugs and other types of error, and discuss whether there is any connection between the size of an error and its consequence. We also attempt to classify types of errors and look at how they might be compounded by the complex systems humans have created. Finally, we consider if errors are uniquely human phenomena or whether they can occur in our absence.

A few things we mentioned in this podcast:

• The YAM bug
• The El Dorado fire

For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email [email protected]

With the recent discovery of phosphine gas on Venus, we debate whether Dan Dare has now been vindicated.

This podcast explores what we can infer from the small amounts of data we receive from space, and whether we have sufficient data to develop meaningful models of what is happening on other planets. We also discuss the way theories and counter-theories develop and - of course - alien life itself and the probability of its existence in different forms.

A few things we mentioned in this podcast:

• ‘Phosphine Gas in the Cloud Decks of Venus’
• Bill Clinton’s announcement about the Allan Hills meteorite
• Why Nick Bostrom hopes we don’t find extraterrestrial life
• The Drake Equation
• The search for megastructures
• Life on Venus is bad news in terms of the Great Filter

For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email [email protected]

What is a fair way to decide an exam result in the absence of being able to sit the exam?

In this podcast we discuss the background to the controversial A-Level algorithm debacle. We also touch on the concept of fairness in examinations and consider the essence of what we are trying to measure through an exam. Finally, we look at the application of algorithms to other areas of performance assessment, such as sport.

A few things we mentioned in this podcast:

• Explanation of the OFQUAL algorithm
• Accuracy of predicted grades
• Earlier research on predictive accuracy

For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email [email protected]

Is procrastination a total waste of time or can it be productive? If you have something important to do, you should really spend the next 25 minutes listening to us discuss the topic.

In this podcast we discuss why we feel the urge to procrastinate, and whether it reduces or increases stress in the long run. We also consider the nature of tasks we like to avoid and what the potential benefits of time wasting activities might be.

A few things we mentioned in this podcast:

• Wait But Why? on procrastination
• Svartdal et al, Behavioural Delay in Real-Time Settings
• The science behind procrastination
• Westgate et al, Productive Procrastination
• NYT on why procrastination is an emotional problem
• Professor Tim Pychyl’s talk on procrastination

For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email [email protected]

What does it mean when we lose something and why are some of us better at finding things than others?

We define the concept of losing something and discuss different heuristics, strategies and technologies that have developed to help us find things. We also mention the psychological impact of losing something, how much time we spend looking for stuff and consider why some people may be better predisposed to locate misplaced objects.

A few things we mentioned in this podcast:

• Humans are surprisingly unproductive with their eye movements when searching for items.
• Passport application data
• Express article on losing things
• Losing objects can induce grief
• Losing things has a genetic component?

For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email [email protected]

Recent research suggests there will be a significant reduction in the birth rate over the course of the next century. What would this mean if it were true?

In this podcast we discuss the accuracy of population forecasts, the assumptions they are based on, and the relationship between the number of people and factors such as productivity and societal innovation. We also attempt to predict some of the implications of an aging population with fewer children and ask whether there is an optimal number of human beings.

A few things we mentioned in this podcast:

• BBC coverage of declining fertility
• The ‘Lump of Labour’ fallacy
• Derek Parfit’s repugnant conclusion

For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email [email protected]

With a case of the bubonic plague being contracted in Mongolia after consumption of a wild marmot, we consider whether disgust at certain foodstuffs serves a protective purpose.

We all experience disgust, but do we really think about it? In our latest podcast, we list some of the more disgusting foods we've come across while discussing why we find somethings more repugnant than others.

A few things we mentioned in this podcast:

• Boy eats marmot, dies
• Neural basis for cheese disgust
• The mystery of disgust
• The disgust test

For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email [email protected]