A legend in the field, economic psychologist Barry Schwartz talks about how having too many options can be paralytic and tiresome to the human psyche. Schwartz also discusses the destructive force of an “only the best will do” mentality. We contemplate the implications of these concepts across topics like parenting consumerism, creativity, the prevalence of ... Show More
Nov 20
How Mindsets Shape Reality w/ Dr. Alia Crum
<p>This week, Scott sits down with his longtime friend and colleague, Dr. Alia Crum—one of the world’s leading researchers on the science of mindsets. Dr. Crum’s groundbreaking work investigates how our subjective beliefs and interpretations can produce real, me ... Show More
1 h
Nov 6
The Gentle Power of Sisu w/ Dr. Elisabet Lahti
This week, Scott welcomes Dr. Elisabet Lahti—educator, applied psychology researcher, and founder of the Sisu Lab. Dr. Lahti is the world’s leading expert on sisu, a Finnish concept that embodies extraordinary courage, resilience, and determination in the face of adversity. Toget ... Show More
48m 45s
Oct 23
From Coping to Capacity w/ RaQuel Hopkins
This week, Scott speaks with RaQuel Hopkins, a certified coach with a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling. RaQuel shares her personal and professional journey—from mastering the art of coping to discovering the transformative power of growth. Together, they explo ... Show More
54m 3s
Jun 2022
Revealing the Hidden Brain, with Shankar Vedantam
How much insight do people have into why they behave the way they do? Science journalist Shankar Vedantam, host of the Hidden Brain podcast and author of “Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain,” talks about why he is fascinated by the paradoxes of hu ... Show More
40m 38s
Nov 2018
#143 — The Keys to the Mind
Sam Harris speaks with Derren Brown about his work as a "psychological illusionist." They discuss the power of hypnosis, the power of expectations, the usefulness of Stoic philosophy, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to ... Show More
42m 28s
Jul 2021
#255 — The Future of Intelligence
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sam Harris speaks with Jeff Hawkins about the nature of intelligence. They discuss how the neocortex creates models of the world, the role of prediction in sensory-motor experience, cortical columns, reference frames, thought as movement in conc ... Show More
58m 1s
Jan 2022
Minimizing Pain, Maximizing Joy
<p>Life is often filled with hardships and tragedies. For thousands of years, philosophers have come up with strategies to help us cope with such hardship. This week, we revisit a 2020 conversation with philosopher <a href="https://www.williambirvine.com/">William Irvine</a> abou ... Show More
52m 22s
Apr 2021
Is a ton of psychology just ... wrong?
A decade ago, psychologists realized much of their science was fatally flawed, calling untold numbers of studies into question. Now, some young psychologists are trying to rebuild the foundations of their field. Can they succeed?
For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable
It’s ... Show More
29m 42s
Nov 2020
#226 — The Price of Distraction
Sam Harris speaks with Adam Gazzaley about the way our technology is changing us. They discuss our limited ability to process information, our failures of multitasking, "top-down" vs "bottom-up" attention, self-interruptions and switching costs, anxiety, boredom, "digital medicin ... Show More
44m 18s
Sep 2022
Special Episode: Language in Brains and Machines
A special interview from the Padverb Podcast, in which I discuss my research on language in the brain and thoughts on AI. The discussion covers topics such as backpropagation, how humans acquire language and concepts, how artificial neural networks differ from biological neural n ... Show More
1h 2m