Discussing Steven Pinker's 2002 Pulitzer Prize-nominated novel, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature. Discussed in this episode: The dominant views of human nature (The Blank Slate, The Judeo-Christian Theory, The Noble Savage, The Ghost in the Machine, and Behaviorism), radical feminism, dangers of a Blank Slate Theory of human nature, apprehension for abandoning The Blank Slate Theory (Possibility for inequality, determinism, and nihilism), lines of evidence from cognitive science, genetics and neuroscience that disprove the Blank Slate Theory, and critical opinions about the book.

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Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp a Butterfly" discusses how negative influences including fame, fortune, power, status, the devil, gang influence, neighbourhood ties, depression, regret, colorism, and racism lead to the pimping of a butterfly (corrupting a naturally free human being). The beauty of the album exists not only in the complexity of this problem, but also in the love and hope the ever-evolving butterfly retains despite these negative influences. The butterfly not only retains love and hope for himself, but also shares his message with young caterpillars who are afflicted by similar issues.

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In-depth analysis into Artificial Intelligence and the questions raised in the movie Ex Machina. Discussed in this episode: The Turing Test, The Chinese Room thought experiment, The Mary's Room thought experiment, Jason Pillock's automatic drip art, Yuval Noah Harari's "Homo Deus," neuroscience experiments on external control of rats, Trans-cranial Magnetic Stimulation, and the implications of companies profiting from our personal data.

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Discussing the effects of social media on the mind and subsequent behavior. Discussed in this episode: How the environment modulates the brain, Harvard Research on self-disclosure on social networking sites, unattainable beauty standards and their potential effects on young women, possible benefits of social media, tactics used to make social media addictive, operant conditioning and its reinforcement schedules, the anxiety-inducing effects of social media, cancel culture, and the Cambridge Analytica Scandal.

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A thematic analysis of Bong-Joon ho's 2019 film, Parasite. View the accompanying blog post at https://www.insightfulthinkersmedia.com

Discussing the subjective nature of consciousness and its various forms. Also discussed this episode: The Universe, Ziya Tong's "The Reality Bubble," Michael Ward, and Kobe Bryant. 

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