Today it’s great to have Steven Pinker on the podcast. Dr. Pinker is the Johnstone professor of psychology at Harvard University. A two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and the winner of many awards for his research, teaching, and books. He’s been elected to the National Academy of Science, and named as one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People”, and one of Foreign Policy’s “100 Leading Global Thinkers”. His books include How the Mind Works, The Blank State, The Stuff of Thought, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Sense of Style, Enlightenment Now, and most recently, Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters.  In this episode, I talk to Steven about the definition of rationality, how it relates to truth, and how it’s different from logic. We also discuss the trade-offs in decision making, the limited usefulness of strategic irrationality, the boundaries of socially acceptable fiction, and why people have weird beliefs among other things.

Website: stevenpinker.com
Twitter: @sapinker

Topics

01:02 Must we always follow reason? 

03:34 Steven’s definition of rationality 

05:24 Tension between conflicting goals 

08:31 What is truth? 

13:12 When to apply logic or rationality 

23:14 There can be no trade-off between rationality and justice 

25:35 Politicizing knowledge and research 

29:24 Strategic irrationality has limits 

36:13 Taboo trade-offs, heretical counterfactuals, and forbidden base rates 

42:04 The changing norms of acceptable fiction 

45:56 Why rationality is cool 

49:39 The costs of decision making 

55:54 Progress came from utilitarian reasoning 

57:52 "The pandemic of poppycock" 

01:01:23 Expressive rationality: morally empowering beliefs 

01:05:26 Bayesian reasoning 
 

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Today it’s great to have Annie Murphy Paul on the podcast. Annie writes about how the findings of cognitive science and psychology could help us to think and act more intelligently. Annie contributes to the New York Times Magazine and the New York Times Book Review, Slate, and O, The Oprah Magazine, among many other publications. She’s also the author of a number of books including The Cult of Personality, Origins, and most recently, The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain. 

In this episode, I talk to Annie about the research and concepts in her new book The Extended Mind. We debunk the notion that intelligence is only in the brain by discussing how our bodies, spaces, and relationships all contribute to thought processes. Finally, we also touch on how to build knowledge and expertise through productive cognitive loops, cognitive unloading, and imitation. 

Topics 

01:05 Thinking outside the brain 

03:54 Individual differences in interception 

09:51 Annie’s definition of intelligence 

13:30 Cognitive loops enhance intelligence 

15:31 Is the mind always extended? 

17:10 The brain’s dynamic role in thinking 

21:14 COVID-19 has turned us into “brains in front of screens” 

24:57 Information overload 

28:11 Using intuition to think rationally 

30:22 Expertise is not brain bound 

31:37 The best relationship hack: eat spicy food together 

33:50 The research behind The Extended Mind 

38:32 Cognitive unloading 

40:51 Mastery through imitation 

43:00 Scott’s theories about shared expertise 

45:39 Reminiscing about Annie’s first episode on The Psychology Podcast 

46:22 Embracing the extended heart

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Today it’s great to have Paige Harden on the podcast. Dr. Harden is a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, where is the director of the Developmental Behavior Genetics lab and co-director of the Texas Twin Project. Her new book is called The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality.

Topics

· Heritability does not imply determinism

· What is the value of the heritability coefficient?

· Nature and nurture are always intertwined

· Genes, giftedness, and responsibility

· Separating individual differences from hierarchy

· Genetics as a tool for social policy

· Can we systematically improve general intelligence?

· Prioritizing self-actualization in education

· Group differences data, racism, inequality

· Anti-eugenics and the great synthesis

· Polygenic scores: evaluations, correlations, and applications

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Today it’s great to have Nick Gillespie on the podcast. Nick is a libertarian journalist who is currently an editor at large at Reason. A two-time finalist for digital National Magazine Awards, Gillespie’s work has appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, Slate, Salon, Time.com, Marketplace, and basically any other publication that you’re ever going to read. The Daily Beast named Nick one of “The Right’s Top 25 Journalists”, calling him “clear headed, brainy…among the foremost libertarians in America.”

Topics

· Reason: “free minds and free markets”

· What does being a libertarian mean?

· A critique of American’s intervention in Afghanistan

· Nick’s childhood and upbringing

· The values of libertarianism

· Parallels between Maslow and libertarianism

· Nick’s pseudonym Mr. Myxzptlk

· Child-proofing the world

· How parenting styles and expectations shape children

· The millennial experience of pressure and self-actualization

· The paradox of marginalization and acceptance in current society

· The purpose of cancel culture

· Canceling people in positions of power

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Today it’s great to have Richard Ryan on the podcast. Dr. Ryan is a professor at the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education at the Australian Catholic University in North Sydney and professor emeritus in psychology at the University of Rochester. Dr. Ryan is a clinical psychologist and co-developer of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), one of the leading theories of human motivation. He’s among the most cited researchers in psychology and social sciences today, ranking among the top 1% of researchers in the field. Dr. Ryan has been recognized as one of the eminent psychologists of the modern era, listed among the top 20 most influential industrial organizational psychologists and has been honored with many distinguished career awards. He’s co-author with Edward Deci of the book Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness.

Topics

· Dr. Ryan’s interest in psychology

· Dr. Ryan’s influences in psychology and philosophy

· What is self-determination?

· The continuum of motivation

· The underdog narrative as a motivating force

· Self-Determination Theory’s Basic Needs

· Is benevolence a basic need?

· Ego involvement in exploration and self-esteem

· Dr. Ryan’s attempt to meet Maslow

· Transcendence, mindfulness, and integration

· Self-Determination Theory in relationships

· Changing organization culture through motivationWorks

· How do we fix the current education system?

· Dr. Ryan’s view of positive psychology

· SDT as a criterion to improve social policy

· Dr. Ryan’s upcoming projects

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Today we have Ron Friedman on the podcast. Dr. Friedman is an award-winning social psychologist who specializes in human motivation. He has served in the faculty of the University of Rochester, Nazareth College, and Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and has consulted for Fortune 500 companies, political leaders, and world’s leading non-profits. His books include The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace and most recently Decoding Greatness: How the Best in the World Reverse Engineer Success.

Topics

· Achieve greatness through reverse engineering

· Reverse Outlining, the most popular TED Talk

· The Xerox Story with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates

· Why complete copycats fail

· Originality is not creativity

· Start a collection of masterpieces

· How The Ritz-Carlton Hotel uses the Scoreboard Principle

· Courage alone is not enough for success

· Strategic practice and cross-training

· Does visualization increase chances of success?

· How copying can facilitate creativity

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Today we have Brad Stulberg on the podcast. Brad is an internationally known expert on human performance, well-being, and sustainable success. He’s co-author of the bestselling Peak Performance and The Passion Paradox. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Wired, Forbes, and more. He’s a contributing editor to Outside Magazine. In his coaching practice, Brad works with executives and entrepreneurs on their performance and well-being and he regularly speaks to large organizations on these topics as well. His latest book is called The Practice of Groundedness: A Transformative Path to Success That Feeds−Not Crushes−Your Soul.

Topics

· The truth with a capital T

· Brad’s coaching practice

· The Practice of Groundedness

· Benefits of exercise and movement

· What is groundedness?

· The right way to strive

· The problem with hustle culture, optimization, and biohacking

· Research findings about loneliness, alcoholism, and anxiety

· Accepting where you are to get where you want to be

· Difference between stillness and groundedness

· Process mindset over results mindset

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Today it’s great to have Irvin Yalom on the podcast. Yalom is emeritus professor of psychiatry at Stanford University’s School of Medicine and author of many internationally bestselling books including Love’s Executioner, The Gift of Therapy, Becoming Myself, and When Nietzsche Wept. He was the recipient of the 1974 Edward Strecker Award and the 1979 Foundations’ Fund Prize in Psychiatry. His textbooks Inpatient Group Psychotherapy and Existential Psychotherapy are classics and have influenced me personally, deeply. Dr. Yalom lives in Palo Alto, California.

Topics

· Dr. Yalom’s childhood and upbringing

· Dr. Yalom’s interest in existential psychology

· Group therapy and death anxiety

· Rollo May’s influence on Dr. Yalom

· Dr. Yalom’s books

· Death anxiety and regret

· Coping with his wife’s death

· Meeting Viktor Frankl, Carl Rogers, and other legends in psychology

· Last moments with Rollo May

· A Matter of Death and Life with the Yaloms

· Dr. Yalom’s advice to therapists

· Overcoming the terror of death

· Serene acceptance of death

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Today we have Heather McGhee on the podcast. Heather is an expert in economic and social policy. The former president of the inequality-focused thinktank “Demos” McGhee has drafted a legislation testified before Congress and contributed regularly in news shows including MBC’s “Meet the Press”. She now chairs the board of “Color of Change”, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. McGhee holds a BA in American Studies from Yale University and a JD from the University of California Berkeley School of Law. Her latest book is called “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together”.

Topics

· Disconnect between policy makers and working families

· Heather’s hope for America

· Zero-sum racial competition in White and Black People

· The true definition of “White Privilege”

· Racist policy-making in determining economic opportunity

· How the Subprime Mortgage Crisis was fueled by racism

· Heather meeting a white supremacist-turned-anti-racist advocate

· “The Big Lie” in election results

· Trump’s “Populist” Agenda

· Black and White people on environmentalism

· Systems in America as the biggest barrier in racial education

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Today it’s great to have Gary Heil on the podcast. Gary is an author, educator, lawyer, consultant, and coach. He’s the co-founder for The Center for Innovative Leadership where he continues to advise leaders in a wide range of industries and cultural issues. And he has served in a number of public and private boards including Gymboree, Red Envelope, and Front Range Solutions. He presently serves as the chairman of the board of CellTech Metals. He’s the co-author of a number of bestselling books including Leadership and the Customer Revolution, One Size Fits All, Maslow on Management, The Leader’s New Clothes, Revisiting the Human Side of Enterprise, Douglas McGregor Revisited, and Choose Love Not Fear: How the Best Leaders Build Cultures of Engagement and Innovation that Unleash Human Potential.

Topics

· Build great teams with love not fear

· Why aren’t we developing better leaders?

· Organizations’ outdated motivation strategies

· Culture homogenizes behavior

· Leaders suffer from motivated blindness

· The democratization of power

· Millennial’s approach to leadership and organizations

· Choosing love first before competence

· Revisiting Douglas McGregor and Abraham Maslow

· The Quiz You Cannot Fail

· Ordinary people are capable of greatness

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