282. Anil Seth on the Hard Problem of Consciousness, the Self, and the Essence of Volition
Shermer and Seth discuss: "mind" and "consciousness" in context of understanding how molecules and matter give rise to such nonmaterial processes • controlled hallucinations • the hard problem of cons...
21 Jun 20222h 9min
281. Moneyball For Your Life: Seth Stephens-Davidowitz on Using Data to Get What You Really Want
Most people rely on their gut instinct to decide how to date, who to marry, where to live, what career path to take, how to find happiness, but what if our gut is wrong? Biased, unpredictable, and mis...
18 Jun 20221h 41min
280. Sam Rosenfeld on Party Polarization in the Postwar United States
Shermer and Rosenfeld discuss: why we have a duopoly • gerrymandering • voting restrictions • how we know all elections are not rigged • abortion • immigration • US foreign policy • the rise of conser...
14 Jun 20222h
279. Ian Morris on Deep Time and Big History
Shermer and Morris discuss: the history of Big/Deep History • the US, UK, Europe and the West in the context of Russia and China and his book Why the West Rules — for Now • Russia's war on Ukraine in ...
11 Jun 20221h 48min
278. "Big Historian" David Christian on Time, the Near and Far Future, Transhumanism, Interstellar Migrations, the Fate of Our Species, and the End of Time
The future is uncertain, a bit spooky, possibly dangerous, maybe wonderful. We cope with this never-ending uncertainty by telling stories about the future: future stories. How do we construct those st...
7 Jun 20221h 47min
277. Michel Gagné — How to Think About Conspiracy Theories
As we approach the sixtieth anniversary of the violent public assassination of President John F. Kennedy, over half of all Americans surveyed continue to believe that he was killed by a conspiracy inv...
4 Jun 20222h 3min
276. Andrew Yang — Not Left. Not Right. Forward.
Michael Shermer speaks with Andrew Yang about the Forward Party, the future of politics in a party duopoly, political partisanship, and how to bring about the change we need. This conversation is base...
31 Mai 20221h 7min
275. The Disrupted Mind: Noga Arikha on What Happens to Identity When the Brain Is Assaulted by Disease and Injury
Shermer and Arikha discuss: what it means for a mind to be disrupted • dementia, senility, and Alzheimer's disease • mental illness and the labeling problem • the social construction of mental illness...
28 Mai 20221h 13min
