Confirmation bias, ever heard of it? Well, listen in and we'll tell you all about it, at least how these two idiots understand the term. We'll define the term and give examples of how it shows up in our day-to-day from social media posts generated by malicious algorithms, to echo chambers, to political tribes, to healthcare conspiracies and overconfidence. We, again, use historical and contemporary examples to make sense of the term, and we even talk about witches!!! Also, did you know confirmation bias can be worse the more intelligent a person is? Well, we didn't, and oddly for us it's not that bad - wait, what does that say about my idiot brother? Finally, we'll give some pointers about combating confirmation bias and suggest some tools and techniques.

In this episode, we define "critical thinking" as the ability to question; to acknowledge and test previously held assumptions; to recognize ambiguity; to examine, interpret, evaluate, reason, and reflect; to make informed judgments and decisions; and to clarify, articulate, and justify positions. We also miserably attempt to define the term in our own words. Then, we identify traits of critical thinkers, including curiosity, skepticism, open-mindedness, self-awareness, analytical thinking, among others. To better illustrate critical thinking, we provide historical and contemporary examples of non-critical thinking (because that's more fun) in the form of events and people. We cap it off by talking about groupthink, with more fun examples. Enjoy, and stick around for more thought-provoking(?) episodes.

What's this podcast all about and who is my idiot brother? Well, tune in to this intro episode and we'll answer those questions and more. My Idiot Brother Questions Everything is brought to you by two brothers, undoubtedly, both idiots, but who are nonetheless passionate about critical thinking. While the podcast is singular in focus, the scope of discussions is broad. We talk about anything related to critical thinking - really, any subject, from books and articles, to impediments to critical thought, to psychological, sociological, environmental impacts on critical thinking, to specific examples of critical and non-critical thought. To fuel and guide our discussions, we rely on current events, historical examples, moments and experiences from our own lives, interviews with insightful, smart people, and myriad other influences and wellsprings. We engage in lively conversations and discussions, based in logic and devoid of vitriol. Please join us if you’ve ever thought you could be a bit more critical in your approach to any subject, but especially if you’ve never thought you could.