028 - Crowds - Michael Bond

028 - Crowds - Michael Bond

It is a human tendency that’s impossible not to notice during wars and revolutions – and a dangerous one to forget when resting between them.



In psychology they call it deindividuation, losing yourself to the will of a crowd. In a mob, protest, riot, or even an audience, the presence of others redraws the borders of your normal persona. Simply put, you will think, feel and do things in a crowd that alone you would not.



Psychology didn’t discover this, of course. The fact that being in a group recasts the character you usually play has been the subject of much reflection ever since people have had the time to reflect. No, today psychology is trying to chip away at the prevailing wisdom on what crowds do to your mind and why.



This episode’s guest, Michael Bond, is the author of The Power of Others, and reading his book I was surprised to learn that despite several decades of research into crowd psychology, the answers to most questions concerning crowds can still be traced back to a book printed in 1895.



Gustave’s Le Bon’s book, “The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind,” explains that humans in large groups are dangerous, that people spontaneously de-evolve into subhuman beasts who are easily swayed and prone to violence. That viewpoint has informed the policies and tactics of governments and police forces for more than a century, and like many prescientific musings, much of it is wrong.



Listen in this episode as Bond explains that the more research the social sciences conduct, the less the idea of a mindless, animalistic mob seems to be true. He also explains what police forces and governments should be doing instead of launching tear gas canisters from behind riot shields, which as he explains, actually creates the situation they are trying to prevent. Also, we touch on the psychology of suicide bombers, which is just as surprising as what he learned researching crowds.



After the interview, I discuss new research into how hiring quotas work and don’t work in loose societies vs. tight societies.



In every episode, before I read a bit of self delusion news, I taste a cookie baked from a recipe sent in by a listener/reader. That listener/reader wins a signed copy of my book, and I post the recipe on the YANSS Pinterest page. This episode’s winner is Laura Lee Gooding who submitted a recipe for stained-glass window cookies. Send your own recipes to david {at} youarenotsosmart.com.

Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart


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Avsnitt(327)

330 - A More Beautiful Question - Warren Berger (rebroadcast)

330 - A More Beautiful Question - Warren Berger (rebroadcast)

Warren Berger has made a career out of classifying, categorizing, and making sense of the many varieties of questions that we ask and in this episode he explains how we can ask more beautiful questions that can lead to all manner of better outcomes.Warren Berger's WebsiteWarren Berger's TwitterA More Beautiful QuestionCarl Sagan on Asking QuestionsNeil deGrasse Tyson Explains Why The Sky Is BlueThe Real Reason the Sky is BlueHow Does Rayleigh Scattering ACTUALLY Work? (The Blue Sky)KittedHow Minds ChangeDavid McRaney’s TwitterYANSS TwitterShow NotesNewsletterPatreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

5 Jan 1h 4min

329 - Point Taken - Steven Franconeri

329 - Point Taken - Steven Franconeri

Dr. Steven Franconeri explains the powerful insights and opportunities offered by a game he and his team created for having better disagreements about just about anything, but especially about the sort of topics that often lead to arguments, fights, and terrible holiday dinners.Kitted Executive AcademyPoint TakenThe Visual Thinking LabSteven FranconeriHow Minds ChangeDavid McRaney’s TwitterDavid McRaney’s BlueSkyYANSS TwitterShow NotesNewsletterPatreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

22 Dec 202551min

328 - Shape - Jordan Ellenberg (rebroadcast)

328 - Shape - Jordan Ellenberg (rebroadcast)

We sit down with Jordan Ellenberg, a world-class geometer, who takes us on a far-ranging exploration of the power of geometry, which turns out to help us think better about practically everythingHis writing has appeared in Slate, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe, and he is the New York Times bestselling author of How Not to Be Wrong – but in this episode we will discuss his new book, Shape: The hidden geometry of information, biology, strategy, democracy and everything else.Kitted Executive AcademyJordan Ellenberg’s WebsiteJordan Ellenberg’s Academic WebsiteJordan Ellenberg’s TwitterShapeHow Minds ChangeDavid McRaney’s TwitterDavid McRaney’s BlueSkyYANSS TwitterShow NotesNewsletterPatreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

8 Dec 20251h 10min

327 - The Trolley Solution - Joshua Greene

327 - The Trolley Solution - Joshua Greene

Philosopher, neuroscientist, and psychologist, Joshua Greene tells us how the brain generates morality and how his research may have solved the infamous trolley problem, and in so doing created a way to encourage people to contribute to charities that do the most good, and, in addition, play quiz games that can reduce polarization and possibly save democracy.Kitted Executive AcademyPods Fight PovertyGive DirectlyGiving MultiplierJoshua Greene's WebsiteMoral TribesThe Trolley Problem in Real LifeA Buddhist Monk Faces The Trolley ProblemAlief vs BeliefTangoTango Quiz Game ResearchCharitable Giving ResearchHow Minds ChangeDavid McRaney’s TwitterDavid McRaney’s BlueSkyYANSS TwitterShow NotesNewsletterPatreon  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

24 Nov 20251h 19min

326 - The Origin of Language - Madeleine Beekman

326 - The Origin of Language - Madeleine Beekman

We sit down with Dr. Madeleine Beekman, a professor emerita of evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology at the University of Sydney, Australia, whose new book, The Origin of Language, presents a completely new and fascinating theory for how language emerged in homo sapiens, in human beings, in you and me and the rest of us.Madeleine BeekmanHow Minds ChangeDavid McRaney’s TwitterYANSS TwitterShow NotesNewsletterPatreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

10 Nov 202546min

325 - Cognitive Dissonance - Part Two (rebroadcast)

325 - Cognitive Dissonance - Part Two (rebroadcast)

In this episode we welcome Dr. Sarah Stein Lubrano, a political scientist who studies how cognitive dissonance affects all sorts of political behavior. She’s also the co-host of a podcast about activism called "What Do We Want?" and she wrote a book titled Don’t Talk About Politics which is about how to discuss politics without necessarily talking about politics.Sarah Stein Lubrano's WebsiteSarah Stein Lubrano's SubstackSarah Stein Lubrano's TwitterKittedHow Minds ChangeDavid McRaney’s TwitterYANSS TwitterShow NotesNewsletterPatreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

27 Okt 202557min

324 - Cognitive Dissonance - Part One (rebroadcast)

324 - Cognitive Dissonance - Part One (rebroadcast)

In this episode, the story of a doomsday cult who predicted the exact date and circumstances of the end of the world, and what happened when that date passed and the world did not end.Also, we explore our drive to remain consistent via our desire to reduce cognitive dissonance. When you notice you’ve done something you believe is wrong, then you will either stop doing that thing or stop believing it is wrong. And if you believe something is true but you come across some information that disconfirms that belief, you’ll either change your belief, challenge the validity of the challenging information, or go looking for confirmation you were right all along.Previous EpisodesKitted ShopThe Story of KittedHow Minds ChangeDavid McRaney’s BlueSkyDavid McRaney’s TwitterYANSS TwitterYANSS FacebookShow NotesNewsletterPatreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

13 Okt 202557min

323 - Job Therapy - Tessa West (rebroadcast)

323 - Job Therapy - Tessa West (rebroadcast)

Are you unhappy at your job? Are you starting to consider a change of career because of how your current work makes you feel? Do you know why? According to our guest in this episode, Dr. Tessa West, a psychologist at NYU, if you are currently contemplating whether you want to do the work that you do everyday you should know that although this feeling is common, psychologists who study this sort of thing have discovered that our narratives for why we feel this way are often just rationalizations and justifications.In fact, it turns out that the way we psychologically evaluate the jobs we think we might not want to do anymore is nearly identical to how we evaluate romantic relationships we feel like we might no longer want to be a part of. The feelings are usually undeniable, but our explanations for why we feel the way we feel can be wildly inaccurate, and because of that, our resulting behavior can be, let’s say, sub-optimal. We sometimes stay far longer than we should or make knee-jerk decisions we later regret or commit to terrible mistakes that could have been avoided.Job TherapyTessa West's WebsiteTessa West's TwitterHow Minds ChangeDavid McRaney’s TwitterYANSS TwitterKitted Shop Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

29 Sep 202555min

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