What’s the key to a lasting myth, a captivating religion or a sensational film pitch? Some cognitive scientists and anthropologists argue that the key is a minimally counterintuitive narrative: the right balance of the mundane with just a dash of the unreasonable and unexpected. Join Robert and Joe as they discuss the minimal counterintuitiveness effect. (Originally published August 2, 2018)   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the Vault: The Gods Must Be Counterintuitive

Deep in the back of your mind, you’ve always had the feeling that there’s something strange about reality. There is. Join Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick as they examine neurological quandaries, cosmic mysteries, evolutionary marvels and our transhuman future.

Natural Sciences

Science & Medicine

Social Sciences

Science

Life Sciences

Once more, it's time for a weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Mail: The Ripe Program

Our personal memories only extend back so far in life, and before that, there is a void. Why don’t we remember our early childhood and what does it say about human memory, childhood development and cultural ideas about infants? Robert and Joe explore in this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind… (originally published 04/18/2023) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the Vault: Before You Could Remember, Part 3

In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss the 1988 Polish science fiction film “On the Silver Globe,” directed by Andrzej Żuławski. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Weirdhouse Cinema: On the Silver Globe

What exactly constitutes dust? What creatures thrive on it? How does it factor into our planet’s atmosphere? In this series of episodes from Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the world of dust, from the scientific facts to the magical and the mythical.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Very Dust, Part 3

In this episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses a curious proposed method of dragon flight proposed by author Peter Dickinson in the 1979 book “The Flight of Dragons.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the Vault: The Gods Must Be Counterintuitive

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