Rationally Speaking #161 - Tom Griffiths and Brian Christian on "Algorithms to Live By"
Julia chats with the authors of Algorithms to Live By, about how to apply key algorithms from computer science to our real life problems. For example, deciding which apartment to rent, planning your c...
3 Jan 202144min
Rationally Speaking #160 - Live at NECSS -- Jacob Appel on "Tackling bioethical dilemmas"
It's the annual live Rationally Speaking episode, taped at the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism in NYC! This year features returning guest Jacob Appel, a bioethicist (and lawyer, and psy...
3 Jan 20211h 3min
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 ...
3 Jan 202155min
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...
3 Jan 202146min
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)...
3 Jan 202149min
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 Jan 202153min
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 ...
3 Jan 202159min
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...
3 Jan 202151min
