Rationally Speaking #159 - Colin Allen on "Do fish feel pain?"
In this episode Julia talks with philosopher of cognitive science Colin Allen about whether fish can feel pain. In the process they explore a cluster of related questions: Are fish conscious, and how ...
15 Mai 201655min
Rationally Speaking #158 - Dr. George Ainslie on "Negotiating with your future selves"
Ever make a plan to diet, or exercise, or study, and then -- when the scheduled hour rolls around -- decide, "Nah, I'll just put it off another day"? If you said "no," I don't believe you! This episod...
1 Mai 201647min
Rationally Speaking #157 - Dr. Herculano-Houzel on "What made the human brain special?"
For centuries, scientists have wondered what makes humans so much smarter than other species. Some proposed it was the size of our brain (though that didn't explain why whales weren't smarter than us)...
17 Apr 201651min
Rationally Speaking #156 - David McRaney on "Why it's so hard to change someone's mind"
You're probably already aware that it's hard to change someone's mind with logical arguments and evidence, especially about emotionally charged topics. But are there exceptions? David McRaney, bestsel...
3 Apr 201655min
Rationally Speaking #155 - Uri Simonsohn on "Detecting fraud in social science"
He's been called a "Data vigilante." In this episode, Prof. Uri Simonsohn describes how he detects fraudulent work in psychology and economics -- what clues tip him off? How big of a problem is fraud ...
20 Mar 201659min
Rationally Speaking #154 - Tom Griffiths on "Why your brain might be rational after all"
You've probably heard about cognitive biases -- the systematic errors human brains make when we try to reason or make decisions. But what if our biases are actually a sign of rationality? This episode...
6 Mar 201653min
Rationally Speaking #153 - Dr. Vinay Prasad on "Why so much of what we 'know' about medicine is wrong"
We like to think of doctors as experts, whose recommendations are backed up by solid evidence. So why does it keep happening that a widely used medical intervention -- like estrogen replacement therap...
21 Feb 201647min
Rationally Speaking #152 - Dan Fincke on "The pros and cons of civil disagreement"
Julia invites philosopher and blogger Dan Fincke onto the show, inspired by a productive disagreement they had on Facebook. Their topic in this episode: civility in public discourse. Do atheists and s...
7 Feb 201653min
