Podcast appearances and mentions of Alison Gopnik

American psychologist

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Alison Gopnik

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Best podcasts about Alison Gopnik

Latest podcast episodes about Alison Gopnik

Stanford Psychology Podcast
177 - Alison Gopnik: How Can Understanding Childhood Help Us Build Better AI? (REAIR)

Stanford Psychology Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2026 40:34


In this re-air (but more timely than ever!) episode from 2021, Anjie chats with Alison Gopnik, Professor at the Department of Psychology and Affiliate Professor at Department of Philosophy at UC Berkeley. Alison is not only a great cognitive scientist and philosopher who has made many groundbreaking contributions to the field, but also a great science communicator. Alison authored multiple bestselling books, including The Scientist in the Crib, The Philosophical Baby, The Gardener, and the Carpenter. She also writes widely about cognitive science and psychology for multiple national outlets including the NYT, the Atlantic, and so on. In this episode, we discussed one of her recent review pieces on the role of childhood in solving the explore-exploit dilemma, a challenge to contemporary artificial intelligence.Alison's lab website: https://www.gopniklab.berkeley.edu/Alison's paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2019.0502Alison's Twitter: @AlisonGopnikPodcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you thought of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

Many Minds
Is Man the Hunter just a myth?

Many Minds

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2026 92:01


There's a story about of our past that you know well. It goes like this: At some point earlier in human evolution, we started to hunt. Men in particular—perhaps channeling some deep-seated aggressive impulses—began to seek out big game. This new food source, this bonanza of calories, was what allowed our brains to expand. It changed our bodies and our societies and sent our species off on a whole new track. In short, Man the Hunter made us human. This story—told in different versions, with different points of emphasis—has circulated for decades. It's been debunked and revived, rejected and reimagined. What is the history behind the Man the Hunter idea? How does it square with our current understandings of evolution? Is it, in fact, pure fiction? My guest today is Dr. Vivek Venkataraman. Vivek is an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Calgary, and an editor-in-chief of the journal Hunter Gatherer Research. He and his collaborators recently published an article on the different layers and meanings of the Man the Hunter idea. Here, Vivek and I lay out those meanings. We talk about how the phrase refers, first, to that popular myth about our evolution, but also to a landmark scientific conference in the 1960s, and to a major finding of research on contemporary hunter-gatherer groups—namely, that men generally do do most of the hunting. We do a little crash-course on the field of hunter-gatherer research, including the kinds of questions it asks and frameworks it uses. We dig into some of the key ingredients of the Man the Hunter myth: the idea that we have aggressive tendencies, the idea that only men hunt, and the idea that hunting played a transformative role in our evolution. We walk through three recent, high-profile studies challenging Man the Hunter ideas in various ways. And we talk about the ever-present danger of projecting our current norms and ideals back in time. Along the way, Vivek and I touch on 2001: A Space Odyssey; reasons why contemporary hunter-gatherers may differ from the hunter-gatherers of long ago; giant sloths; extractive foraging; the case of the Agta, a society in which women do engage in big-game hunting; the forest people and the fierce people; risk and cooperation in sexual divisions of labor; persistence hunting and endurance activities; caregiving and cognition; and honey. Alright friends, I think you'll enjoy this one. On to my conversation with Dr. Vivek Venkataraman.   Notes 3:30 – The article by Dr. Venkataraman and colleagues, 'The Meaning and Dividends of Man the Hunter.' Commentaries on the article can be read here. A recent popular essay by Dr. Venkataraman on the same ideas. 5:00 – Raymond Dart's "killer ape" was originally laid out in a 1953 article 'The Predatory Transition from Ape to Man' (unavailable online) and then developed in Robert Ardrey's book, African Genesis.  8:30 – The "dawn of man" scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey. 16:00 – The 1966 conference titled 'Man the Hunter' resulted in a 1968 volume of the same name. 27:00 – A philosophical discussion of the use of the "ethnographic analogy" in reconstructions of the past. The paper describing the "tyranny of the ethnographic record." 33:00 – The classic ethnography, The Forest People; the classic ethnography, Yanomamö: The Fierce People. 36:00 – The article by Chris Boehm on the concept of "reverse dominance hierarchy." See also his book Hierarchy in the Forest. 37:00 – Our earlier episode with Brian Hare.  38:00 – Steven Pinker's widely read and contested book, The Better Angels of our Nature.  44:00 – A study of the Agta, a society in which women hunt for big game.  48:00 – The paper by Judith Brown about childcare and subsistence. A paper by Haneul Jang and colleagues about how young girls help mothers during foraging.  55:00 – For a book-length treatment of hunting in evolution and history, see Matt Cartmill's A View to a Death in the Morning. 1:01:00 – For the 2023 paper by Anderson and colleagues on the prevalence of women's hunting across cultures, see here. For Dr. Venkataraman and colleagues' commentary on the paper, see here. For the related study by Dr. Venkataraman and colleagues about women's hunting, see here. 1:05:00 – For the 2020 paper by Haas and colleagues about female hunters of the Americas, see here. 1:13:00 – For the academic 'Woman the Hunter' papers by Lacy and Ocobock, see here (for the physiology paper) and here (for the archaeology paper). For their article in Scientific American, see here. For an interview on the podcast On Humans with Cara Ocobock, see here. 1:14:00 – For the recent study on persistence hunting in the ethnographic record, see here. 1:20:00 – The authors of the three critiques discussed here have all written commentaries on Dr. Venkataraman and colleagues' paper. These commentaries and others can be read here.  1:24:30 – For the commentary emphasizing the links between popularization and science, by Nadine Weidman, see here. 1:28:00 – For our earlier episode with Alison Gopnik, in which we discuss the overlooked cognitive capacities involved in caregiving, see here. 1:29:00 – For papers on the importance of honey in human evolution, see here and here. For one of Dr. Venkataraman's own honey-related studies, see here.   Recommendations Creatures of Cain, by Erika Lorraine Milam The Killer Instinct, by Nadine Weidman   Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Indiana University. The show is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here! We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Bluesky (@manymindspod.bsky.social).

Why Is This Happening? with Chris Hayes
The AI End Game: Two-Year-Olds vs. AI with Alison Gopnik

Why Is This Happening? with Chris Hayes

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2026 56:04


Tech billionaires love to claim that artificial intelligence is getting smarter by the day. But according to cognitive scientist and UC Berkeley professor Alison Gopnik, a typical two-year-old routinely outsmarts the most advanced AI models. She joins WITHpod to discuss how children vs. AI learn and why AI, in many cases, still falls behind human capabilities.   Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Securely Attached
Nature vs nurture: Understanding sensitivity, resilience, and what really shapes kids with Dr. Jay Belsky

Securely Attached

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2026 63:47


Dr. Jay Belsky joins the podcast to explore one of the most important and often misunderstood truths in parenting: the same environment does not affect every child the same way. Drawing from decades of research on nature and nurture, this conversation looks at how biology and experience work together to shape development, and why some kids are more sensitive to their environments while others are more resilient.   Together, we explore:   Why some children are more affected by parenting, stress, and environment than others. The difference between sensitivity and susceptibility, and why it matters for long-term development. What "developmental plasticity" is and how it shapes the way kids respond to their experiences. Why resilience is not always a good thing and sensitivity is not always a problem. How nature and nurture work together to shape each child in unique ways. The one thing within a parent's control that can help protect children from adversity. How to shift from trying to control outcomes to supporting the child you have. The difference between "carpenter" parenting and "gardener" parenting, and why it changes everything. How to set realistic expectations for yourself and your child without lowering the bar.   This conversation offers a powerful reframe for parents who feel confused, overwhelmed, or frustrated when what works for one child doesn't work for another. It is about understanding your child as an individual, letting go of the pressure to get it exactly right, and focusing on what truly supports healthy development over time.     LEARN MORE ABOUT MY GUEST:

The Ezra Klein Show
The case for thinking like a child

The Ezra Klein Show

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2026 44:34


Sean talks with psychologist Alison Gopnik about how children think, learn, experience the world, and why their minds may be more powerful than ours in some crucial ways. They explore the idea that kids are the “research and development” wing of the human species, built for exploration, curiosity, and discovery, while adults are optimized for focus, efficiency, and getting things done. Along the way, they discuss why children notice things we've stopped seeing, what we lose when we grow up, and what parenting reveals about love, care, and the nature of intelligence itself. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling)  Guest: Alison Gopnik (@AlisonGopnik) We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Berkeley Talks
Alison Gopnik on why AI is no match for a 4-year-old

Berkeley Talks

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 17, 2026 84:50


Over her decadeslong career as a developmental psychologist, Alison Gopnik has observed a striking phenomenon: When children are given a new toy without an obvious use, they often outperform high‑achieving college students in figuring out how it works. While adults tend to test the most likely possibilities and quickly get stuck, children respond with playful experimentation. "What children are doing is exactly the kind of open-ended, non-utilitarian, exploratory learning that allows you to find out things about the world that you would never find out any other way,” says Gopnik, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology. In this Berkeley Talks episode, Gopnik argues that human intelligence is not a single, general capacity, but a collection of distinct cognitive modes — exploration, exploitation and care — that are distributed across different stages of a person's life. Childhood, she says, is evolution's way of creating a dedicated “explorer” phase, made possible by a specialized care system provided by adults."The reason why we can have these big brains," she explains, "is because we have this period of childhood where we're protected ... and we have those older people who are there to provide the resources.” Gopnik contrasts this biological model with current artificial intelligence, noting that while large language models excel at using existing data to predict patterns, it lacks the embodied, curiosity‑driven learning of a child. To create truly intelligent systems, she suggests that we need to focus on the “intelligence of care.”“A system that develops, that changes over time, and in particular, a system that's cared for by humans or cared for by other intelligent agents — that's the secret of human intelligence,” she says. “That's the kind of system you'd need if you wanted a system that had the same kind of intelligence as humans.” This lecture took place on Nov. 5, 2025, as part of the Berkeley Distinguished Faculty Lectures in the Social Sciences.Listen to the episode and read the transcript on UC Berkeley News (news.berkeley.edu/podcasts/berkeley-talks).Music by HoliznaCC0.UC Berkeley photo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many Minds
Seven metaphors for AI

Many Minds

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2026 55:46


If you wanted a petri dish for understanding metaphors—how they emerge and evolve and jostle with each other—it would be hard to do better than the world of AI. We talk about AI systems variously as coaches or co-pilots, little genies or alien intelligences. Some researchers claim that AIs "grow," that they're entering their phase of "adolescence." Critics deride AI products as slop and dismiss LLMs as a kind of autocomplete on steroids. What's behind these different characterizations? Which ones are accurate and which are unfair? And are our metaphors mostly colorful rhetoric or do they matter? Are they shaping how we understand, adopt, and ultimately regulate these new technologies?   My guest today is Dr. Melanie Mitchell. Melanie is a computer scientist and Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. She is the author of the book, AI: A Guide for Thinking Humans, and she writes a Substack by the same name.  This episode is a bit of companion to our recent episode with Steve Flusberg. In that episode, Steve and I attempted a kind of crash course on metaphor and the human mind. Here, Melanie and I sit down for more of an extended case study: how metaphors are guiding, galvanizing, and maybe deceiving us in the contested realm of AI discourse. We unpack seven of the most widely used metaphors in this space. We consider how these metaphors are shaping not only our everyday understandings of AI, but also law and policy. We also talk about the metaphor and analogy capabilities of AI itself. Can these system reason abstractly in the way that humans can? Along the way, Melanie and I touch on: AI-generated poetry, anthropomorphism, the original sin of AI research, the myth of Narcissus, psychometric testing and its pitfalls, metaphors for AI that are a bit hard to spot, and the question of whether an AI has ever come up with a decent analogy for itself.  Longtime fans of the show will know that we've had Melanie on the show once before. We invited her back, not only because she's thought about metaphor and analogy in AI discourse for decades, but because she's a voice of calm insight in an area that's increasingly awash in hype and polemic. Longtime fans of the show may also note that we are now celebrating our 6th birthday at Many Minds. That's right, the show launched in February 2020. If you'd like to support us as we recognize this milestone, you can leave us a rating or a review, recommend us to a friend, or give us a shout out on social media. Your support is always appreciated.  Without further ado, on to my conversation with Dr. Melanie Mitchell. Enjoy!    Notes 3:30 – For an overview of Douglas Hofstadter's work on analogy, see here. 8:00 – Much of our discussion in this interview draws on Dr. Mitchell's piece on the metaphors for AI in Science magazine.  13:30 – For earlier discussions of anthropomorphism on the show, see our earlier episodes here and here.  16:00 – See here for the original discussion of LLMs as "stochastic parrots." 17:00 –  See here for the original discussion of ChatGPT as a "blurry jpeg." 18:30 – See here for the original discussion of LLMs as role players. 22:00 – See here for one use of the "LLMs as crowds" metaphor. See also a discussion of this metaphor (and other metaphors for AI) here.   25:00 – For one discussion of AI as a "cultural technology" by Alison Gopnik and colleagues, see here. For a more recent discussion of the same metaphor by Henry Farrell, Alison Gopnik and others, see here. 27:00 – For the podcast series on intelligence that Dr. Mitchell co-hosted for the Santa Fe Institute, see here.  28:00 – See here for an influential formulations of the idea that AI is an "alien intelligence."  29:00 – For philosopher Shannon Vallor's book about AI as "mirror," see here. 31:00 – For the recent study on users' metaphors for AI systems, see here.  33:00 – For more on the rise of social AI, see our earlier episode here.  38:00 – For more on what AI researchers might learn from developmental and comparative psychologists, see Dr. Mitchell's recent post (summarizing here keynote at NeurIPs).  42:00 – For more on the ARC (Abstraction and Reasoning Corpus) and the research that Dr. Mitchell and colleagues have been doing with it, see here and here. 48:30 – For the study on humans' preference for AI-generated poetry, see here. 50:30 – For Brigitte Nerlich's documentation and discussion of various metaphors for AI (including AI's metaphors for itself), see here.   Recommendations  The AI Mirror, by Shannon Vallor 'Role play with large language models,' by Murray Shanahan (former guest!) et al. 'Large AI models are cultural and social technologies,' by Henry Farrell et al.   Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Indiana University. The show is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here! We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Bluesky (@manymindspod.bsky.social).

UC Berkeley (Audio)
Three Ages and Three Intelligences: Exploit Explore Empower with Alison Gopnik

UC Berkeley (Audio)

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2026 77:29


A common model of AI suggests that there is a single measure of intelligence, often called AGI, and that AI systems are agents who can possess more or less of this intelligence. Cognitive science, in contrast, suggests that there are multiple forms of intelligence and that these intelligences trade-off against each other and have a distinctive developmental profile and evolutionary history. Exploitation, the pursuit of goals, resources and utilities, is characteristic of adult cognition. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the UC Berkeley, and a member of the Berkeley AI Research Group, argues that two very different kinds of cognition characterize childhood and elderhood. Childhood is characterized by exploration. In particular, children seek out information about the world. However, forgoing reward for exploration requires support, care and teaching from others. Care and teaching are particularly characteristic of elders and the intelligence of care has a distinctive structure – it involves empowering others – giving them the resources they need to be effective. The combination of these different kinds of intelligence across the course of a life explains human success. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 41068]

Science (Video)
Three Ages and Three Intelligences: Exploit Explore Empower with Alison Gopnik

Science (Video)

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2026 77:29


A common model of AI suggests that there is a single measure of intelligence, often called AGI, and that AI systems are agents who can possess more or less of this intelligence. Cognitive science, in contrast, suggests that there are multiple forms of intelligence and that these intelligences trade-off against each other and have a distinctive developmental profile and evolutionary history. Exploitation, the pursuit of goals, resources and utilities, is characteristic of adult cognition. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the UC Berkeley, and a member of the Berkeley AI Research Group, argues that two very different kinds of cognition characterize childhood and elderhood. Childhood is characterized by exploration. In particular, children seek out information about the world. However, forgoing reward for exploration requires support, care and teaching from others. Care and teaching are particularly characteristic of elders and the intelligence of care has a distinctive structure – it involves empowering others – giving them the resources they need to be effective. The combination of these different kinds of intelligence across the course of a life explains human success. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 41068]

University of California Audio Podcasts (Audio)
Three Ages and Three Intelligences: Exploit Explore Empower with Alison Gopnik

University of California Audio Podcasts (Audio)

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2026 77:29


A common model of AI suggests that there is a single measure of intelligence, often called AGI, and that AI systems are agents who can possess more or less of this intelligence. Cognitive science, in contrast, suggests that there are multiple forms of intelligence and that these intelligences trade-off against each other and have a distinctive developmental profile and evolutionary history. Exploitation, the pursuit of goals, resources and utilities, is characteristic of adult cognition. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the UC Berkeley, and a member of the Berkeley AI Research Group, argues that two very different kinds of cognition characterize childhood and elderhood. Childhood is characterized by exploration. In particular, children seek out information about the world. However, forgoing reward for exploration requires support, care and teaching from others. Care and teaching are particularly characteristic of elders and the intelligence of care has a distinctive structure – it involves empowering others – giving them the resources they need to be effective. The combination of these different kinds of intelligence across the course of a life explains human success. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 41068]

Humanities (Audio)
Three Ages and Three Intelligences: Exploit Explore Empower with Alison Gopnik

Humanities (Audio)

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2026 77:29


A common model of AI suggests that there is a single measure of intelligence, often called AGI, and that AI systems are agents who can possess more or less of this intelligence. Cognitive science, in contrast, suggests that there are multiple forms of intelligence and that these intelligences trade-off against each other and have a distinctive developmental profile and evolutionary history. Exploitation, the pursuit of goals, resources and utilities, is characteristic of adult cognition. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the UC Berkeley, and a member of the Berkeley AI Research Group, argues that two very different kinds of cognition characterize childhood and elderhood. Childhood is characterized by exploration. In particular, children seek out information about the world. However, forgoing reward for exploration requires support, care and teaching from others. Care and teaching are particularly characteristic of elders and the intelligence of care has a distinctive structure – it involves empowering others – giving them the resources they need to be effective. The combination of these different kinds of intelligence across the course of a life explains human success. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 41068]

Science (Audio)
Three Ages and Three Intelligences: Exploit Explore Empower with Alison Gopnik

Science (Audio)

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2026 77:29


A common model of AI suggests that there is a single measure of intelligence, often called AGI, and that AI systems are agents who can possess more or less of this intelligence. Cognitive science, in contrast, suggests that there are multiple forms of intelligence and that these intelligences trade-off against each other and have a distinctive developmental profile and evolutionary history. Exploitation, the pursuit of goals, resources and utilities, is characteristic of adult cognition. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the UC Berkeley, and a member of the Berkeley AI Research Group, argues that two very different kinds of cognition characterize childhood and elderhood. Childhood is characterized by exploration. In particular, children seek out information about the world. However, forgoing reward for exploration requires support, care and teaching from others. Care and teaching are particularly characteristic of elders and the intelligence of care has a distinctive structure – it involves empowering others – giving them the resources they need to be effective. The combination of these different kinds of intelligence across the course of a life explains human success. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 41068]

UC Berkeley Graduate Council Lectures (Audio)
Three Ages and Three Intelligences: Exploit Explore Empower with Alison Gopnik

UC Berkeley Graduate Council Lectures (Audio)

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2026 77:29


A common model of AI suggests that there is a single measure of intelligence, often called AGI, and that AI systems are agents who can possess more or less of this intelligence. Cognitive science, in contrast, suggests that there are multiple forms of intelligence and that these intelligences trade-off against each other and have a distinctive developmental profile and evolutionary history. Exploitation, the pursuit of goals, resources and utilities, is characteristic of adult cognition. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the UC Berkeley, and a member of the Berkeley AI Research Group, argues that two very different kinds of cognition characterize childhood and elderhood. Childhood is characterized by exploration. In particular, children seek out information about the world. However, forgoing reward for exploration requires support, care and teaching from others. Care and teaching are particularly characteristic of elders and the intelligence of care has a distinctive structure – it involves empowering others – giving them the resources they need to be effective. The combination of these different kinds of intelligence across the course of a life explains human success. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 41068]

Grow Yourself Up
Ep 157: Generational Clashes and Parenting as Gardening

Grow Yourself Up

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2026 49:57


In this loving and practical episode Cath responds to a listener question about how to manage generational clashes around the approach to dealing with emotions and how to start conversations around this. She reads the listener's letter and looks at the query from multiple points of view.Cath addresses common contexts in terms of generational patterns/clashes, points out how much new information we have these days, she addresses perfectionism, anxiety and control, different approaches we might take to addressing this, and she makes some practical suggestions to support intergenerational relationships.Cath speaks about parenting as gardening and uses this analogy to provide comfort and a useful framework to hold in mind as we work on shifting/breaking cycles in our families.The book Cath reads from is called 'The Gardener and the Carpenter' by Alison Gopnik.The 'Brene Brown' TED talk can be found here: https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerabilityIf you're enjoying this podcast. Please leave a review and rate the podcast, this really helps others to find it.To sign up for the journal prompts and Nurture.Heal.Grow (on Substack) please head to www.cathcounihan.com or @cathcounihan on Instagram. Follow Cath on social media here:Instagram: @cathcounihanSubstack: Nurture.Heal.GrowFacebook: Cath Counihan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Conversations with Tyler
Alison Gopnik on Childhood Learning, AI as a Cultural Technology, and Rethinking Nature vs. Nurture

Conversations with Tyler

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2025 61:18


Help us keep the conversations going in 2026. Donate to Conversations with Tyler today. Alison Gopnik is both a psychologist and philosopher at Berkeley, studying how children construct theories of the world from limited data. Her central insight is that babies learn like scientists, running experiments and updating beliefs based on evidence. But Tyler wonders: are scientists actually good learners? It's a question that leads them into a wide-ranging conversation about what we've been systematically underestimating in young minds, what's wrong with simple nature-versus-nurture frameworks, and whether AI represents genuine intelligence or just a very sophisticated library. Tyler and Alison cover how children systematically experiment on the world and what study she'd run with $100 million, why babies are more conscious than adults and what consciousness even means, episodic memory and aphantasia, whether Freud got anything right about childhood and what's held up best from Piaget, how we should teach young children versus school-age kids, how AI should change K-12 education and Gopnik's case that it's a cultural technology rather than intelligence, whether the enterprise of twin studies makes sense and why she sees nature versus nurture as the wrong framework entirely, autism and ADHD as diagnostic categories, whether the success of her siblings belies her skepticism about genetic inheritance, her new project on the economics and philosophy of caregiving, and more. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video on the new dedicated Conversations with Tyler channel. Recorded October 30th, 2025. Other ways to connect Follow us on X and Instagram Follow Tyler on X Follow Alison on X Sign up for our newsletter Join our Discord Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu Learn more about Conversations with Tyler and other Mercatus Center podcasts here. Timestamps 00:00:00 - How children—and scientists—learn 00:14:35 - Consciousness, episodic memories, and aphantasia 00:23:06 - Freud's and Piaget's theories about childhood 00:27:49 - Twin studies and nature vs. nurture 00:39:33 - Teaching strategies for younger vs. older children 00:44:07 - AI's ability to generate novel insights 00:53:57 - What Autism and ADHD diagnoses do and don't reveal 00:58:02 - The success of the Gopnik siblings Photo Credit: Rod Searcey

Many Minds
The value of animal cultures

Many Minds

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2025 72:00


Not long ago culture was considered rare in nature, maybe even uniquely human. But that's changed. We now know that the tree of life is buzzing with culture—and not just on a few lonely branches. Creatures great and small learn songs, migration routes, and feeding techniques from each other. Many species build up reservoirs of knowledge over generations. This has profound implications, not just for understanding of the natural world, but also for our efforts to protect it.  My guest today is Dr. Philippa Brakes. Philippa is an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Exeter, with one foot in science and another in conservation. She's both a behavioral ecologist, focusing on whales and dolphins, and a leading voice—for more than a decade now—urging conservationists to take animal cultures seriously.  Here, Philippa and I talk about how researchers define culture and social learning in animals. We tour the mounting evidence for culture across species—in birds, in apes, in fish, possibly even in insects. We discuss the methods that scientists use to infer that behaviors are socially learned. We consider how animal culture complicates the conservation enterprise. We also discuss the idea that animal cultures have intrinsic value—not value for us humans, not value that can be easily quantified, but value for the animals themselves. Along the way Philippa and I talk about the notion of "cultural rescue"; indigenous understandings of animal culture; cases where social learning is maladaptive; human-animal mutualism; fashion trends; the idea of conserving "cultural capacity"; elephant matriarchs and other "keystone individuals"; golden lion tamarins, herring, and regent honey-eaters; and the question of why some orcas where salmon as hats. Alright friends, this topic has been on our wish list for a while now. Hope you enjoy it!   Notes  2:30 – For academic articles by Dr. Brakes and colleagues on the importance of animal culture for conservation, see here, here, and here. The last of these is the introduction to a recent special issue on the topic. Many of the topics discussed in this episode are also covered in this issue.  3:30 – The case of the golden lion tamarins is discussed here. 5:00 – For more about the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (or CMS) of Wild Animals, see here.  9:00 – For a classic paper on social learning in animals, see here. For a relatively recent, detailed overview of animal culture see here. For a short primer on animal culture, see here. 10:00 – For discussion of the riskiness of long-line depredation (and for an important early discussion of animal culture and conservation), see here. 12:00 – For a study by Dr. Sonja Wild and colleagues on bottlenose dolphin declines following a heat wave—and how these declines may have been buffered by tool-using traditions—see here.  15:00 – For the review of cetacean foraging tactics by Dr. Taylor Hersh and colleagues, see here.  17:00 – For a primer on honeyguides (and their mutualism with honey hunters), see here. 20:00 – For a recent review of culture and social learning in birds, see here. For a review of conservation of avian song culture, see here. 25:00 – For a review of (the conservation of) chimpanzee culture, see here. 28:00 – For the initial report of chimpanzees putting grass in their ears, see here. For more on the phenomenon of orcas wearing salmon hats, see here. 33:00 – For a recent review of culture and social learning in fish, see here.  35:00 – For the recent study on "collective memory loss" in herring, see here. 39:00 ­– For more on the possibility of social learning in insects, see here. For a video of the puzzle box experiment in bees, see here. 44:00 – For a recent review of the "methodological toolkit" used by researchers in the the study of social learning in animals, see here. 47:00 – For the study using network-based diffusion analysis to understand the spread of feeding strategies in humpback whales, see here. 49:00 – For the original 2000 study on the spread of humpback whale song, see here. For a more recent study of "revolutions" in whale song, see here.  53:00 – For an example of work looking at changes in whale song as a result of human noise, see here.  55:00 – For more on the idea of "keystone individuals" in the case of elephants, see here. For more on menopause and the so-called grandmother hypothesis, see our earlier episode with Alison Gopnik.  1:05:00 – A recent editorial calling for the protection of animal cultural heritage under UNESCO.   Recommendations The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins, by Hal Whitehead and Luke Rendell Animal Social Complexity, edited by Frans de Waal and Peter Tyack The Evolution of Cetacean Societies, by Darren P. Croft et al. The Edge of Sentience, by Jonathan Birch (featured on an earlier episode)   Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Indiana University. The show is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here! We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Bluesky (@manymindspod.bsky.social).

Overthink
Togetherness with Dan Zahavi

Overthink

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 4, 2025 58:25


Can we ever be truly alone? In episode 146 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk with philosopher Dan Zahavi about his book, Being We: Phenomenological Contributions to Social Ontology. They discuss how the increase in communication through screens has shifted what it means to be together, the decline of social bonds in political life, and what phenomenological understandings of empathy tell us about being together. How do dyadic relationships such as romantic love and friendship shape our identities? Does there need to be a conception of the self that precedes sociality? What are the different types of "we"? In the Substack bonus segment, Ellie and David get into some juicy stories about their own experiences of togetherness in the beautiful city of Madrid. Works discussed:Alison Gopnik, The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of LifeIvan Leudar and Philip Thomas, Voices of Reason, Voices of InsanitySherry Turkle, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each OtherGerda Walther, Toward an Ontology of Social CommunitiesDan Zahavi, Being We: Phenomenological Contributions to Social OntologyEnjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3vJoin our Substack for ad-free versions of both audio and video episodes, extended episodes, exclusive live chats, and more: https://overthinkpod.substack.com/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Stories of Impact
Dr. Alison Gopnik: Why Care Is the Heart of Human Flourishing

Stories of Impact

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2025 23:43


"If you ask most people what's the most morally profound, significant, meaningful thing in your life, they'll say something about the way that they have been taking care of children or parents or friends, or people who are ill, or spouses. There's something very distinctive about it. It's just intrinsic to the human condition is that we're going to be babies, we're going to be ill, we're going to be old. That just comes with the territory of being human, and care seems to be a way of allowing us as a community, as a species to negotiate these kinds of transitions, to make the transitions work." Dr. Alison Gopnik is a professor of philosophy and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a leading researcher on caregiving. Today, we explore her international research project designed to "think about the way that we care for other people." Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Find us on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and YouTube Share your comments, questions and suggestions at info@storiesofimpact.org Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

Templeton Ideas Podcast
Kelly Corrigan (Family)

Templeton Ideas Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2025 32:25


Kelly is the author of four New York Times bestselling memoirs, including Glitter and Glue, Lift, and The Middle Place, which take ordinary events and relationships and make them come alive in funny, memorable prose. Kelly hosts the podcast “Kelly Corrigan Wonders,” and the PBS television show “Tell Me More”, which have received grants from the John Templeton Foundation. She has also given a popular TED talk entitled “To Love is to Be Brave”. Most recently, she co-authored a children's book with her daughter Claire called Marianne the Maker. She joins the podcast to discuss faith, family, and staying open to wonder.  How does caregiving contribute to a meaningful life? Listen to a Templeton Ideas episode with Dr. Alison Gopnik, who discusses the flaws in our popular understanding of children and babies, the connection between children and awe. Join our growing community of 200,000+ listeners and be notified of new episodes of Templeton Ideas. Subscribe today. 

The Motherwhelm
39 Haley | Motherhood | Identity shifts, postpartum depression, isolation, COVID-19, breaking cycles, honesty in motherhood

The Motherwhelm

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2025 109:36


In the thirty-ninth episode of The Motherwhelm, I am joined by Haley, as she shares about her experience with the isolation of postpartum during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing effort of staying true to her values as a new mother, and the importance of speaking honestly about both the highs and lows of motherhood. Sources mentioned in this episode:InstagramWhole Body PregnancyLife After Birth with Yara HearyTerra de mamaThe Breastfeeding MentorBirth ResourcesThe Bradley MethodBooks‘Good Inside' by Dr Becky Kennedy‘The Whole Brain Child' by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson‘The Gardener and the Carpenter' by Alison Gopnik

Many Minds
Varieties of childhood

Many Minds

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2025 88:48


Childhood is a special time, a strange time. Children are adored and catered to—they're given their own menus and bedrooms. They're considered delicate and precious, and so we cushion them from every imaginable risk. Kids are encouraged to play, of course—but very often it's under the watchful eye of anxious adults. This anyway is how childhood looks in much of the United States today. But is this they way childhood looks everywhere? Is this the way human childhoods have always been? My guests today are Dr. Dorsa Amir and Dr. Sheina Lew-Levy. Dorsa is an Assistant Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University, where she runs the Mind and Culture Lab. Sheina is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Durham University in the UK, where she co-directs the Forager Child Studies research group. Both Sheina and Dorsa have spent much of their careers thinking about how childhoods differ across cultures—and why. In this conversation, I talk with Dorsa and Sheina about their fieldwork with indigenous groups in Ecuador and the Congo, respectively. We discuss the different ways that childhood differs in these places—for instance, in terms of parents' attitudes toward risk, in terms of the social structures and activities in which kids are embedded, and in terms of the freedom that children are granted. We discuss developmental psychology's "WEIRD problem." We talk about about the quasi-autonomous cultures that children create among themselves—sometimes called "peer cultures"—and discuss how these kid-driven cultures end up shaping and benefit the larger community. Along the way, we touch on adult supremacy, adverse childhood experiences, walking the forest and climbing papaya trees, parenting norms, ding dong ditch and "nananabooboo", the pioneering work of the folklorists Iona and Peter Opie, teaching, toys, and the enduring question of what childhood is for.   Alright friends, lots to think about here. On to my conversation with Sheina Lew-Levy and Dorsa Amir. Enjoy!   A transcript of this episode will be posted soon.   Notes and links 9:30 – For an overview of work on how culture shapes motor development, see here. 11:00 – The paper by Dr. Lew-Levy's and a colleague about “walking the forest.” 16:00 – Dr. Amir's TedX talk, ‘How the Industrial Revolution Changed Childhood.' 17:30 – For some of Dr. Amir's work on risk across cultures, see here. 35:00 – For a recent paper by Dr. Lew-Levy and colleagues about the evolution of childhood, see here. 39:00 – The popular article by Ann Gibbons, ‘The Birth of Childhood.' 41:00 – For the idea of the “patriarch hypothesis,” see here. 42:00 – For more on the “WEIRD problem” in developmental psychology, see here. 48:00 – A paper by Dr. Lew-Levy and colleagues about toys in hunter-gatherer groups. For more on the material culture of childhood, see our earlier episode with Michelle Langley. 52:00 – A recent paper by Dr. Lew-Levy on the prevalence of “child-to-child” teaching. 56:00 – A paper by Dr. Amir and a colleague about the concept of “adverse childhood experiences” in cross-cultural perspective. 1:04:00 – The paper by Dr. Amir and Dr. Lew-Levy on “peer cultures” and children as agents of cultural adaptation. 1:08:00 – For more on the idea of children as the "research and development" wing of the species, see our earlier episode with Alison Gopnik. 1:10:00 – For more on the Opies, see here. 1:13:00 – For the work of (past guest) Olivier Morin on children's culture, see here. 1:23:00 – For the paper by Dr. Camilla Morelli, ‘The River Echoes with Laughter,' see here.   Recommendations The Lore and Language of Children, by Iona and Peter Opie The Gardener and the Carpenter, by Alison Gopnik The Anthropology of Childhood, by David Lancy Intimate Fathers, by Barry Hewlett   Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Indiana University. The show is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala. Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here! We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com.    For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Twitter (@ManyMindsPod) or Bluesky (@manymindspod.bsky.social).

KQED’s Forum
Forum from the Archives: Alison Gopnik and Anne-Marie Slaughter on Why We're Not Paying Enough Attention to Caregiving

KQED’s Forum

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2025 57:50


Caregiving is the most universal of human acts. But also one of the most invisible. While caring for a child, parent or loved one can be meaningful, and life defining, it can also be exhausting and life breaking. Drawing on her groundbreaking research on baby's brains, UC Berkeley psychologist and philosopher Alison Gopnik is leading a multidisciplinary project to better understand the social science of caregiving with hopes of translating those insights into practical policies. Gopnik and policymaker Anne-Marie Slaughter join us to talk about how rethinking our approach to caregiving and how we support care providers, could lead to a better, more functional society. Guests: Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy, UC Berkeley; author, "The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children" Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America, a non-profit think tank; author of "Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman
Ep105 "What if AI is not actually intelligent?" (with Alison Gopnik)

Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2025 70:09 Transcription Available


Is AI an intelligent agent, or is there a different way we should be thinking about it? Is it more like a piece of cultural technology? What in the world is a piece of cultural technology -- and how would re-thinking this change our next steps? What does any of this have to do with the myth of the Golem, printing presses, Socrates, Martin Luther, or the story of stone soup? Join Eagleman this week with cognitive scientist Alison Gopnik for a new take on a new tech.

KQED’s Forum
Alison Gopnik and Anne-Marie Slaughter on Why We're Not Paying Enough Attention to Caregiving

KQED’s Forum

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2025 57:46


Caregiving is the most universal of human acts. But also one of the most invisible. While caring for a child, parent or loved one can be meaningful, and life defining, it can also be exhausting and life breaking. Drawing on her groundbreaking research on baby's brains, UC Berkeley psychologist and philosopher Alison Gopnik is leading a multidisciplinary project to better understand the social science of caregiving with hopes of translating those insights into practical policies. Gopnik and policymaker Anne-Marie Slaughter join us to talk about how rethinking our approach to caregiving and how we support care providers, could lead to a better, more functional society. Guests: Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy, UC Berkeley; author, "The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children" Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America, a non-profit think tank; author of "Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas
308 | Alison Gopnik on Children, AI, and Modes of Thinking

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2025 69:56


We often study cognition in other species, in part to learn about modes of thinking that are different from our own. Today's guest, psychologist/philosopher Alison Gopnik, argues that we needn't look that far: human children aren't simply undeveloped adults, they have a way of thinking that is importantly distinct from that of grownups. Children are explorers with ever-expanding neural connections; adults are exploiters who (they think) know how the world works. These studies have important implications for the training and use of artificial intelligence.Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/03/17/308-alison-gopnik-on-children-ai-and-modes-of-thinking/Support Mindscape on Patreon.Alison Gopnik received her D.Phil in experimental psychology from Oxford University. She is currently a professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. Among her awards are the Association for Psychological Science Lifetime Achievement Award, the Rumelhart Prize for Theoretical Foundations of Cognitive Science, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She is a past President of the Association for Psychological Science. She is the author of The Scientist in the Crib, The Philosophical Baby, and The Gardener and the Carpenter, among other works.Web siteLab web siteBerkeley web pageGoogle Scholar publicationsAmazon author pageWikipediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Colunistas Eldorado Estadão
Mulheres Reais | #115 Você é mais carpinteiro ou jardineiro ao educar os filhos? Entenda o que isso significa

Colunistas Eldorado Estadão

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2024 9:48


A maioria dos pais e mães tem entre suas maiores preocupações a filha ou o filho “ser alguém na vida”. E as respostas para “o que é ser alguém na vida?” podem variar de conseguir um bom emprego a virar presidente da República - ou, nesses tempos de política em baixa, CEO de uma multinacional. Independentemente do que se almeje, há uma grande ansiedade dos pais também em atuar desde criança para que os filhos “cheguem lá”. E aí é que pode morar o perigo, segundo a psicóloga comportamental americana Alison Gopnik. Para ela, nesse afã de impulsionar resultados dos rebentos, o que pais e mães acabam muitas vezes fazendo é limitar - em vez de promover - o potencial deles.Para a psicóloga e filósofa, muitos pais e mães se preocupam com o futuro dos filhos, mas acabam impedindo-os de ‘florescer' ao determinar suas escolhas. O Mulheres Reais vai ao ar às segundas-feiras, a partir das 8h, no Jornal Eldorado. O podcast é apresentado por Carolina Ercolin e Luciana Garbin e está disponível em todas as plataformas de áudio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Child Care Bar And Grill
NERD_0323 ECE MAYtriarchy Episode 4

Child Care Bar And Grill

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2024


This episode is the fourth installment of a new tradition–episodes in May that invite some of Heather's favorite women in early childhood to talk about the women who guide our work. In this conversation, Heather talks about Lilian Katz, Miriam Beloglovsky celebrates Bev Bos, Rixa Evershed discusses Alison Gopnik's work, and Nadia Jaboneta salutes Margie Carter and Deb Curtis. 

That Early Childhood Nerd
NERD_0323 ECE MAYtriarchy Episode 4

That Early Childhood Nerd

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2024


This episode is the fourth installment of a new tradition–episodes in May that invite some of Heather's favorite women in early childhood to talk about the women who guide our work. In this conversation, Heather talks about Lilian Katz, Miriam Beloglovsky celebrates Bev Bos, Rixa Evershed discusses Alison Gopnik's work, and Nadia Jaboneta salutes Margie Carter and Deb Curtis. 

The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg
The Garden of Earthly Barbarians

The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2024 83:47


Jonah invites Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, to discuss the ideal way to raise little barbarians—also known as human babies. The two weed through the metaphors of garden parenting vs. carpentry parenting and the need of being needed before making a small segue into caregiving policy ideas. (The government can't love you, Jonah!) Show Notes: —Friedrich von Hayek's Nobel Prize speech —Jonathan Haidt on The Remnant —Tim Carney on The Remnant —Sarah Hardy's book on mothers —Paul Bloom on The Remnant —AEI's social survey —Alison Gopnik's “Theory theory” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No Stupid Questions
192. Should You Get Out of Your Comfort Zone?

No Stupid Questions

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2024 40:41


What do the most creative people have in common?  How open-minded are you, really? And what's wrong with ordering eggs Benedict? Take the Big Five inventory: freakonomics.com/bigfive SOURCES:Max Bennett, co-founder and C.E.O. of Alby.David Epstein, author and journalist.Ayelet Fishbach, professor of behavioral science and marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.Steve Jobs, co-founder and former C.E.O. of Apple.Oliver John, professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.Daniel Kahneman, professor emeritus of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University.Claude Shannon, 20th century mathematician and computer scientist.Jannik Sinner, professional tennis player.Christopher Soto, professor of psychology at Colby College.Dashun Wang, professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University.Kaitlin Woolley, professor of marketing at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. RESOURCES:A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains, by Max Bennett (2023)."Exploration vs. Exploitation: Adults Are Learning (Once Again) From Children," by Alison Gopnik (Observer, 2023)."Motivating Personal Growth by Seeking Discomfort," by Kaitlin Woolley and Ayelet Fishbach (Psychological Science, 2022)."Understanding the Onset of Hot Streaks Across Artistic, Cultural, and Scientific Careers," by Lu Liu, Nima Dehmamy, Jillian Chown, C. Lee Giles, and Dashun Wang (Nature Communications, 2021)."Improv Experience Promotes Divergent Thinking, Uncertainty Tolerance, and Affective Well-Being," by Peter Felsman, Sanuri Gunawardena, and Colleen M. Seifert (Thinking Skills and Creativity, 2020).Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, by David Epstein (2019)."Openness to Experience," by Robert R. McCrae and David M. Greenberg (The Wiley Handbook of Genius, 2014). EXTRAS:Big Five Personality Inventory, by No Stupid Questions (2024)."David Epstein Knows Something About Almost Everything," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).

A Slight Change of Plans with Maya Shankar
What Children Can Teach Us About Creativity

A Slight Change of Plans with Maya Shankar

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2024 35:54 Transcription Available


Alison Gopnik is a developmental psychologist who studies childrens' brains. She talks with Maya about how kids' exploratory approach to problem-solving can show us how to better tap into our creative potential. Sign up for Maya's new newsletter here https://bit.ly/41lPqaZ and follow her on instagram @DrMayaShankar.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Portable Practical Pediatrics
Dr. M's SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 14 Issue 8

Portable Practical Pediatrics

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2024 17:10


Literature Review 1) Cancer is now a unique risk factor for Cardiovascular disease according to recent research. This is being discussed as a point of emphasis for those that have been diagnosed with cancer as the knowledge is a wake up alarm to the biological underpinnings of these disparate immune based diseases. (Melchiori R. et. al. 2023) If you have a strong family history of cancer and heart disease as I do, this data needs to be understood for a prevention lens focus. In a few weeksx I will be discussing APOE genotypes for understanding these realities. 2) In a translational model, sulphurophane increases mitochondrial biogenesis.....Plus a continuous glucose monitor experiment and more from Alison Gopnik's book. Enjoy, Dr. M

Human Centered
A Social Science of Caregiving

Human Centered

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2024 64:20


Recorded before a live audience, Margaret Levi, Alison Gopnik, & Anne-Marie Slaughter discuss a CASBS project, "The Social Science of Caregiving," which is reimagining the philosophical, psychological, biological, political, & economic foundations of care and caregiving. The goal is a coherent empirical and theoretical account or synthesis of care that advances understandings and policy discussions. [The episode notes provide links for further exploration.]Article on CASBS's project on The Social Science of CaregivingWeb page for the project on The Social Science of CaregivingRelated: Human Centered episode #61, "Developing AI Like Raising Kids" (Alison Gopnik & Ted Chiang)Alison Gopnik: CASBS bio | UC Berkeley Bio | Gopnik article, "Caregiving in Philosophy, Biology & Political Economy" (Dædalus)Margaret Levi: CASBS bio | CASBS program on Creating a New Moral Political Economy | Anne-Marie Slaughter:  New America bio | Slaughter articles, "Care is a Relationship" (Dædalus) | "Why Women Still Can't Have it All" (The Atlantic)Slaughter book, Unfinished Business (Penguin Random House)   Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford UniversityExplore CASBS: website|Twitter|YouTube|LinkedIn|podcast|latest newsletter|signup|outreach​Human CenteredProducer: Mike Gaetani | Engineer & co-producer: Joe Monzel |

Startup Dad
Building A Community For Dads And Your Family | Matt Ragland (father of 3, HeyCreator, Podia, ConvertKit)

Startup Dad

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 11, 2024 70:14


Matt Ragland focuses on the intersection of productivity and the creator economy. He started an online community for creative Dads called Digital Dads. Matt was the 5th employee at ConvertKit, ran Creator Success at Podia, and has built an audience of over 100,000 fans across his newsletter, YouTube channel, and social media channels. He lives in Nashville with his wife of 17 years and 3 (almost 4) kids. In our conversation today we discussed: Matt's childhood as the son of a pastor The importance of community - and building community for fathers Homeschooling Outward expressions of love Taking your kids on adventures Helping your kids have a vision greater than themselves Pursuing self-employment as a means to better balance work, health and family — Where to find Matt Ragland - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattragland/ - Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/mattragland - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MattRagland/videos   Where to find Adam Fishman - Newsletter: https://startupdadpod.substack.com/ - Newsletter: https://www.fishmanafnewsletter.com - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/ - Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/fishmanaf - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/ — In this episode, we cover: [00:30] Intro [1:52] Welcome [2:15] Matt's professional background [8:06] Matt's childhood and parents [13:10] His partner and kids [16:34] Homeschooling [21:46] Outward expressions of love [25:34] The importance of community and Digital Dads [32:05] Taking kids on adventures [37:05] Most surprising thing as a dad [39:50] Demonstrating good habits [47:21] Vision greater than yourself [52:07] What don't you and your wife align on? [55:33] Mistakes made as a father [59:50] Where to follow along with Matt's journey [1:00:57] Rapid fire [1:09:18] Thank you — Show references: Matt's Website - https://mattragland.com/ Buffer - https://buffer.com/ Backcountry - https://www.backcountry.com/ APPSumo - https://appsumo.com/ ConvertKit - https://convertkit.com/ Nashville, TN - https://www.visitmusiccity.com/ Podia  - https://www.podia.com/ Jiu jitsu - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujutsu Nose Frida - https://frida.com/ Nintendo switch - https://www.nintendo.com/us/switch/ Lululemon (joggers or ABC pants) - https://shop.lululemon.com/ 10,000 (shirts) - https://www.tenthousand.cc/ Smart wool (socks) - https://www.smartwool.com/ Duer (jeans) - https://shopduer.com/ Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five by John Medina - https://www.amazon.com/Brain-Rules-Baby-Updated-Expanded/dp/0983263388 Outdoor Kids in an Inside World: Getting Your Family Out of the House and Radically Engaged with Nature by Steven Rinella - https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Kids-Inside-World-Radically/dp/0593129660 Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans by Michaeleen Doucleff - https://www.amazon.com/Hunt-Gather-Parent-Ancient-Cultures/dp/198214968X The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children by Alison Gopnik - https://www.amazon.com/Gardener-Carpenter-Development-Relationship-Children/dp/1250132258 Inside Out - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2096673/ — Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at http://www.armaziproductions.com/ Episode art designed by Matt Sutherland at https://www.mspnw.com/  

Origins: Explorations of thought-leaders' pivotal moments
James Evans - Cultural observatories, knowledge communities, and a life resplendent with ideas

Origins: Explorations of thought-leaders' pivotal moments

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2024 78:13


James Evans' life is one resplendent with ideas. His trajectory into research and learning in areas as wide as network science, collective intelligence, computational social science, and even how knowledge is created, is as irreducible as it is exhilarating, and is a beacon in disorienting times marked by seemingly accelerating paces of change. Origins Podcast WebsiteFlourishing Commons NewsletterShow Notes:cultural and knowledge observatories (05:30)Mark Granovetter (09:15)Steve Barley (10:30)Woody Powell (10:30)Chris Summerfield (11:00)Some papers mentioned:Metaknowledge (17:10)Weaving the fabric of science: Dynamic network models of science's unfolding structure (18:30)Abduction (21:30)epistemic space (22:40)Claude Lévi-Strauss (24:20)Clifford Geertz (24:30)"Dissecting racial bias in an algorithm used to manage the health of populations" Obermeyer et al. (30:00)Scarcity Sendhil Mullainathan (35:00)The Knowledge Lab (36:00)"Quantifying the dynamics of failure across science, startups and security" Yin et al. (45:00)Charles Sanders Peirce (51:00)Pirkei Avot (56:00)Alison Gopnik on explore-exploit (01:02:30)Elise Boulding "the 200-year present" (01:03:00)Jo Guldi (01:06:00)Lightning Round (01:06:30):Book: The Enigma of ReasonPassion: physical exploration and spiritual callingHeart sing: 'social science fiction' and Hod LipsonScrewed up: management style at timesJames online:@profjamesevansThe Knowledge Lab'Five-Cut Fridays' five-song music playlist series  James' playlistLogo artwork Cristina GonzalezMusic by swelo

This Is Your Brain With Dr. Phil Stieg
Is Your Baby Smarter Than a Robot?

This Is Your Brain With Dr. Phil Stieg

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 3, 2023 27:16


Babies and toddlers have truly outstanding brains - they absorb information broadly, quickly, and indiscriminately as they learn about the world, with processing speeds that leave AI-powered robots in the dust. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of Philosophy at U.C. Berkeley, has been studying baby brains for decades, and she joins us today to talk about how we could look to them to make computers smarter. https://thisisyourbrain.com/ 

This Is Your Brain With Dr. Phil Stieg
Coming Next Friday - Is Your Baby Smarter Than a Robot?

This Is Your Brain With Dr. Phil Stieg

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2023 0:56


Dr. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of Philosophy at U.C. Berkeley, has been studying baby brains for decades.  She says the world of AI has much to learn from babies  - including teaching computers to be playful and curious! http://alisongopnik.com/ 

Overthink
Psychedelics

Overthink

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2023 59:37 Transcription Available


No, you're not hallucinating! In episode 89 of Overthink, Ellie and David investigate the loopy world of psychedelics. Did you know that after doing psychedelics Jean-Paul Sartre went through a  “lobster phase” during which he hallucinated lobsters everywhere he went? Once paraded as mind-opening gateways to the nature of reality, psychedelics are back in the conversation today as tools of therapy and neuroscience. Your hosts take a crack at the philosophy of these puzzling substances, from their implications for phenomenology and the nature of consciousness, to the ethics of their medicinal use, in light of their risks and long-lasting effects. If a trip can transform our mind and senses, it might be that our everyday perception really is far weirder than we think.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedRobin Carhart-Harris, et al. “The Entropic Brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs”Alison Gopnik, The Philosophical BabyAldous Huxley, The Doors of PerceptionMike Jay, “Sartre's Bad Trip”Chris Letheby and Jaipreet Mattu, "Philosophy and Classic Psychedelics: A review of some emerging themes"Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of PerceptionMichael Pollan, How to Change Your MindAnil Seth, Being You: A New Science of ConsciousnessDana G. Smith, “What Does Good Psychedelic Therapy Look Like?”Simeon Wade, Foucault in California Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

Portable Practical Pediatrics
Dr. M's SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 13 Issue 35

Portable Practical Pediatrics

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2023 19:18


Here is a short written version of the fructose story in tandem with the podcast with Dr. Rick Johnson where we go deep. We are going to discuss the survival switch and fructose metabolism in specific as it relates to pregnancy. It will be another life changing discussion for many of us. Fructose is the natural sugar found in fruit, honey and root vegetables. Historically, humans consumed fructose in these natural whole foods and did so moderately. Since the 1970's, there has been a major rise in fructose consumption, primarily as a beverage.... Also, a discussion of fiber and neurodevelopment as well as a review of the book the Carpenter and the Gardener by Alison Gopnik. Enjoy, Dr. M  

Death, Sex & Money
Why Ezra Klein Thinks “We're Living Through A Mistake”

Death, Sex & Money

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2023 39:07


The New York Times journalist talks about the difficulties of early parenthood, the lure of communal living, and why he loves Burning Man.Want more from Ezra on the topics in today's episode? We recommend the following: This episode of The Ezra Klein Show with scholar Kristen Ghodsee on communes and intentional communities (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/09/opinion/ezra-klein-kristen-ghodsee.html), a conversation The Atlantic's Jerusalem Demsas about homelessness and the origins of our current housing crisis (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-jerusalem-demsas.html), an interview with writer Sheila Liming on loneliness in America (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-sheila-liming.html), and two interviews he's done with child psychologist Alison Gopnik (https://www.vox.com/podcasts/2019/6/13/18677595/alison-gopnik-changed-how-i-think-about-love, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/16/podcasts/ezra-klein-podcast-alison-gopnik-transcript.html). Finally, Annie Lowrey's piece about her experiences with pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting: “What Counts As the Life of the Mother?” (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/pregnancy-birth-complication-abortion-life-of-mother/671006/).Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Death, Sex & Money
Why Ezra Klein Thinks “We're Living Through A Mistake”

Death, Sex & Money

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2023 39:01


The New York Times journalist Ezra Klein thinks a lot about the impacts of policy and systems on our personal lives. On his podcast, The Ezra Klein Show, he recently mentioned how American society insufficiently supports families of young kids, and wondered why living in community is so hard, and the isolation that it can breed as a result. Ezra's thinking about all of these issues in his own life as well: he's married to fellow journalist Annie Lowrey, and they have two young kids. The family moved to California before the pandemic, and after a health crisis they struggled to find the support they needed for their family. They eventually decide to move back to the East Coast, and as they settle into their lives in New York, Ezra's thinking a lot about the tradeoffs of two-parent households. “I don't believe people are meant to do this. You know, two parents plus kids, it's too few people,” he said. Ezra and Anna talk about the beloved communal spaces of his 20s and 30s, the tension between autonomy and community, and why he believes our emphasis on two-parent families is “a cultural mistake.”   Want more from Ezra on the topics in today's episode? We recommend the following: This episode of The Ezra Klein Show with scholar Kristen Ghodsee on communes and intentional communities, a conversation with The Atlantic's Jerusalem Demsas about homelessness and the origins of our current housing crisis, an interview with writer Sheila Liming on loneliness in America, and two interviews he's done with child psychologist Alison Gopnik. Finally, you can read Annie Lowrey's piece about her experiences with pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting here.

Slate Culture
Why Ezra Klein Thinks “We're Living Through A Mistake”

Slate Culture

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2023 39:07


The New York Times journalist talks about the difficulties of early parenthood, the lure of communal living, and why he loves Burning Man.Want more from Ezra on the topics in today's episode? We recommend the following: This episode of The Ezra Klein Show with scholar Kristen Ghodsee on communes and intentional communities (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/09/opinion/ezra-klein-kristen-ghodsee.html), a conversation The Atlantic's Jerusalem Demsas about homelessness and the origins of our current housing crisis (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-jerusalem-demsas.html), an interview with writer Sheila Liming on loneliness in America (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-sheila-liming.html), and two interviews he's done with child psychologist Alison Gopnik (https://www.vox.com/podcasts/2019/6/13/18677595/alison-gopnik-changed-how-i-think-about-love, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/16/podcasts/ezra-klein-podcast-alison-gopnik-transcript.html). Finally, Annie Lowrey's piece about her experiences with pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting: “What Counts As the Life of the Mother?” (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/pregnancy-birth-complication-abortion-life-of-mother/671006/).Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Daily Feed
Why Ezra Klein Thinks “We're Living Through A Mistake”

Slate Daily Feed

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2023 39:07


The New York Times journalist talks about the difficulties of early parenthood, the lure of communal living, and why he loves Burning Man.Want more from Ezra on the topics in today's episode? We recommend the following: This episode of The Ezra Klein Show with scholar Kristen Ghodsee on communes and intentional communities (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/09/opinion/ezra-klein-kristen-ghodsee.html), a conversation The Atlantic's Jerusalem Demsas about homelessness and the origins of our current housing crisis (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-jerusalem-demsas.html), an interview with writer Sheila Liming on loneliness in America (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-sheila-liming.html), and two interviews he's done with child psychologist Alison Gopnik (https://www.vox.com/podcasts/2019/6/13/18677595/alison-gopnik-changed-how-i-think-about-love, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/16/podcasts/ezra-klein-podcast-alison-gopnik-transcript.html). Finally, Annie Lowrey's piece about her experiences with pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting: “What Counts As the Life of the Mother?” (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/pregnancy-birth-complication-abortion-life-of-mother/671006/).Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many Minds
From the archive: Happiness and the predictive mind

Many Minds

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2023 61:39


Hi friends, we will be on hiatus for the fall. To tide you over, we're putting up some favorite episodes from our archives. Enjoy! ———  There's an old view of the mind that goes something like this: The world is flooding in, and we're sitting back, just trying to process it all. Our minds are basically passive and reactive, always a step behind. Contrast that view with a new one that's quickly gaining ground. According to this alternative, we don't just react to the world, we anticipate it. We're not leaning back but trying to stay a step ahead—our minds are fundamentally active and predictive. And our predictions aren't just idle guesses, either—they're shaping how we experience the world. This new view is known as the “predictive processing framework”, and it has implications, not just for how we perceive, but also for how we act and how we feel, for our happiness and our well-being. My guest today is Dr. Mark Miller. Mark is a philosopher of cognition and senior research fellow at the Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies at Monash University. He's part of a new wave of intensely interdisciplinary scholars who are working at the intersections of philosophy, neuroscience, and psychiatry. Here, Mark and I sketch the predictive processing framework and unpack some of its key pillars. We discuss how this approach can inform our understanding of depression, addiction, and PTSD. We sketch out notions of loops and slopes, stickiness and rigidity, wobble and volatility, edges and grip. And, on the way, we will have a bit to say about video games, play, horror, psychedelics, and meditation. This was all pretty new terrain for me, but Mark proved an affable and capable guide. If you enjoy this episode and want to explore some of these topics further, definitely check out the Contemplative Science Podcast, which Mark co-hosts. Alright friends, on to my chat with Mark Miller. Enjoy!   A transcript of this episode is available here.   Notes and links 4:15 – The website of the Hokkaido University Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence, and Neuroscience (CHAIN). The website of the Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies (M3CS). 6:00 – Dr. Miller co-hosts the Contemplative Science podcast, a project of M3CS. 7:30 – For one introduction to the predictive processing framework, see this article by Dr. Miller and colleagues. 11:00 – See Dr. Miller's essay in Aeon on social media, co-authored with Ben White, as well as this more detailed treatment for an academic audience. 12:00 – See a paper by Dr. Miller and colleagues on depression. 14:00 – An introduction to the subfield of “computational psychiatry.” 17:00 – Andy Clark's “watershed” paper on the predictive processing framework. 18:00 – A recent book on “active inference” (which is largely synonymous with the predictive processing approach). 22:00 – A chapter on the idea of the “body as the first prior.” 24:30 – A demo of the “hollow face” illusion. 29:00 – On the potential value of psychedelics in jarring people out of trenches and ruts, see also our earlier episode with Alison Gopnik.   31:00 – See our recent episode with Dimitris Xygalatas. 34:30 – A popular article on children wanting to hear the same stories over and over. 38:00 – A paper by Coltan Scrivner and colleagues on horror fans and psychological resilience during COVD-19. 42:30 – A recent article by Dr. Miller and colleagues about the “predictive dynamics of happiness and well-being,” which covers much of the same terrain as this episode. 46:00 – A recent paper by Dr. Miller and colleagues on the evocative notion of “grip.” 50:00 – A recent paper by Dr. Miller and colleagues about video games and predictive processing. 57:00 – A paper by Dr. Miller and colleagues in which they discuss meditation in the context of the prediction processing approach.   Dr. Miller recommends books by the philosopher Andy Clark, including: Surfing Uncertainty   You can read more about Dr. Miller's work on his website and follow him on Twitter.     Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) (https://disi.org), which is made possible by a generous grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation to UCLA. It is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd (https://www.mayhilldesigns.co.uk/). Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala (https://sarahdopierala.wordpress.com/). You can subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. **You can now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here!** We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. For updates about the show, visit our website (https://disi.org/manyminds/), or follow us on Twitter: @ManyMindsPod.

Radiolab
The Cataclysm Sentence

Radiolab

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2023 73:01


Sad news for all of us: producer Rachael Cusick— who brought us soul-stirring stories rethinking grief (https://zpr.io/GZ6xEvpzsbHU) and solitude (https://zpr.io/eT5tAX6JtYra), as well as colorful musings on airplane farts (https://zpr.io/CNpgUijZiuZ4) and belly flops (https://zpr.io/uZrEz27z63CB) and Blueberry Earths (https://zpr.io/EzxgtdTRGVzz)— is leaving the show. So we thought it perfect timing to sit down with her and revisit another brainchild of hers, The Cataclysm Sentence, a collection of advice for The End. To explain: one day in 1961, the famous physicist Richard Feynman stepped in front of a Caltech lecture hall and posed this question to a group of undergraduate students: “If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence was passed on to the next generation of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words?” Now, Feynman had an answer to his own question—a good one. But his question got the entire team at Radiolab wondering, what did his sentence leave out? So we posed Feynman's cataclysm question to some of our favorite writers, artists, historians, futurists—all kinds of great thinkers. We asked them “What's the one sentence you would want to pass on to the next generation that would contain the most information in the fewest words?” What came back was an explosive collage of what it means to be alive right here and now, and what we want to say before we go. Featuring: Richard Feynman, physicist - The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (https://zpr.io/5KngTGibPVDw) Caitlin Doughty, mortician - Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs (https://zpr.io/Wn4bQgHzDRDB) Esperanza Spalding, musician - 12 Little Spells (https://zpr.io/KMjYrkwrz9dy)  Cord Jefferson, writer - Watchmen (https://zpr.io/ruqKDQGy5Rv8)  Merrill Garbus, musician - I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life (https://zpr.io/HmrqFX8RKuFq) Jenny Odell, writer - How to do Nothing (https://zpr.io/JrUHu8dviFqc) Maria Popova, writer - Brainpickings (https://zpr.io/vsHXphrqbHiN) Alison Gopnik, developmental psychologist - The Gardener and the Carpenter (https://zpr.io/ewtJpUYxpYqh) Rebecca Sugar, animator - Steven Universe (https://zpr.io/KTtSrdsBtXB7) Nicholson Baker, writer - Substitute (https://zpr.io/QAh2d7J9QJf2) James Gleick, writer - Time Travel (https://zpr.io/9CWX9q3KmZj8) Lady Pink, artist - too many amazing works to pick just one (https://zpr.io/FkJh6edDBgRL) Jenny Hollwell, writer - Everything Lovely, Effortless, Safe (https://zpr.io/MjP5UJb3mMYP) Jaron Lanier, futurist - Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now (https://zpr.io/bxWiHLhPyuEK) Missy Mazzoli, composer - Proving Up (https://zpr.io/hTwGcHGk93Ty)   Special Thanks to: Ella Frances Sanders, and her book, "Eating the Sun" (https://zpr.io/KSX6DruwRaYL), for inspiring this whole episode. Caltech for letting us use original audio of The Feynman Lectures on Physics. The entirety of the lectures are available to read for free online at www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu.All the musicians who helped make the Primordial Chord, including: Siavash Kamkar (https://zpr.io/2ZT46XsMRdhg), from Iran  Koosha Pashangpour (https://zpr.io/etWDXuCctrzE), from Iran Curtis MacDonald (https://zpr.io/HQ8uskA44BUh), from Canada Meade Bernard (https://zpr.io/gbxDPPzHFvme), from US Barnaby Rea (https://zpr.io/9ULsQh5iGUPa), from UK Liav Kerbel (https://zpr.io/BA4DBwMhwZDU), from Belgium Sam Crittenden (https://zpr.io/EtQZmAk2XrCQ), from US Saskia Lankhoorn (https://zpr.io/YiH6QWJreR7p), from Netherlands Bryan Harris (https://zpr.io/HMiyy2TGcuwE), from US Amelia Watkins (https://zpr.io/6pWEw3y754me), from Canada Claire James (https://zpr.io/HFpHTUwkQ2ss), from US Ilario Morciano (https://zpr.io/zXvM7cvnLHW6), from Italy Matthias Kowalczyk, from Germany (https://zpr.io/ANkRQMp6NtHR) Solmaz Badri (https://zpr.io/MQ5VAaKieuyN), from IranAll the wonderful people we interviewed for sentences but weren't able to fit in this episode, including: Daniel Abrahm, Julia Alvarez, Aimee Bender, Sandra Cisneros, Stanley Chen, Lewis Dartnell, Ann Druyan, Rose Eveleth, Ty Frank, Julia Galef, Ross Gay, Gary Green, Cesar Harada, Dolores Huerta, Robin Hunicke, Brittany Kamai, Priya Krishna, Ken Liu, Carmen Maria Machado, James Martin, Judith Matloff, Ryan McMahon, Hasan Minhaj, Lorrie Moore, Priya Natarajan, Larry Owens, Sunni Patterson, Amy Pearl, Alison Roman, Domee Shi, Will Shortz, Sam Stein, Sohaib Sultan, Kara Swisher, Jill Tarter, Olive Watkins, Reggie Watts, Deborah Waxman, Alex Wellerstein, Caveh Zahedi.EPISODE CREDITS Reported by - Rachael Cusick (https://www.rachaelcusick.com/)Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org Leadership support for Radiolab's science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

COMPLEXITY
Michael Garfield & David Krakauer on Evolution, Information, and Jurassic Park

COMPLEXITY

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2023 99:24


Episode Title and Show Notes:106 - Michael Garfield & David Krakauer on Evolution, Information, and Jurassic ParkWelcome to Complexity, the official podcast of the Santa Fe Institute. I'm Michael Garfield, producer of this show and host for the last 105 episodes. Since October, 2019, we have brought you with us for far ranging conversations with our worldwide network of rigorous researchers developing new frameworks to explain the deepest mysteries of the universe. Today I step down and depart from SFI with one final appearance as the guest of this episode. Our guest host is SFI President David Krakauer, he and I will braid together with nine other conversations from the archives in a retrospective masterclass on how this podcast traced the contours of complexity. We'll look back on episodes with David, Brian Arthur, Geoffrey West, Doyne Farmer, Deborah Gordon, Tyler Marghetis, Simon DeDeo, Caleb Scharf, and Alison Gopnik to thread some of the show's key themes through into windmills and white whales, SFI pursues, and my own life's persistent greatest questions.We'll ask about the implications of a world transformed by science and technology by deeper understanding and prediction and the ever-present knock-on consequences. If you value our research and communication efforts, please subscribe, rate and review us at Apple Podcasts or Spotify and consider making a donation or finding other ways to engage with SFI at Santa fe.edu/engage. Thank you each and all for listening. It's been a pleasure and an honor to take you offroad with us over these last years.Follow SFI on social media: Twitter • YouTube • Facebook • Instagram • LinkedIn

Trailblazers with Walter Isaacson
Rebroadcast - Parenting: It Takes a Village

Trailblazers with Walter Isaacson

Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2023 31:37


This episode originally aired on August 11, 2021.You've probably heard the proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” That's because for most of human history, when it came to child-care, people had the daily support of family, friends and neighbours. Today, that's not the reality for many young parents. Not only that, parents are raising their kids in a much more technologically complex world. So the question becomes, with a smaller support network, how can parents use technology to help raise their children, without letting it get in the way. Featuring Jennifer Traig, Alison Gopnik, Mike Rothman, Dr. Harvey Karp, Jill Gilkerson and Dana Porter. For more on the podcast go to delltechnologies.com/trailblazers

The Ezra Klein Show
Best Of: Why Adults Lose the ‘Beginner's Mind'

The Ezra Klein Show

Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2023 61:29


Here's a sobering thought: The older we get, the harder it is for us to learn, to question, to reimagine. This isn't just habit hardening into dogma. It's encoded into the way our brains change as we age. And it's worsened by an intellectual and economic culture that prizes efficiency and dismisses play.Alison Gopnik is a professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, where she runs the Cognitive Development and Learning Lab; she's also the author of over 100 papers and half a dozen books, including “The Gardener and the Carpenter” and “The Philosophical Baby.” What I love about her work is she takes the minds of children seriously. The child's mind is tuned to learn. They are, she writes, the R. & D. departments of the human race. But a mind tuned to learn works differently from a mind trying to exploit what it already knows.So instead of asking what children can learn from us, perhaps we need to reverse the question: What can we learn from them?In this conversation, recorded in April 2021, Gopnik and I discuss the way children think, the cognitive reasons social change so often starts with the young, and the power of play. We talk about why Gopnik thinks children should be considered an entirely different form of Homo sapiens, the crucial difference between “spotlight” consciousness and “lantern” consciousness, why “going for a walk with a 2-year-old is like going for a walk with William Blake,” what A.I. researchers are borrowing from human children, the effects of different types of meditation on the brain and more.Book recommendations:Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice SendakMary Poppins in the Park by P.L. TraversThe Children of Green Knowe by L.M. BostonThoughts? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com. (And if you're reaching out to recommend a guest, please write  “Guest Suggestion" in the subject line.)You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.“The Ezra Klein Show” is produced by Emefa Agawu, Annie Galvin, Jeff Geld and Roge Karma. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair. Original music by Isaac Jones. Mixing by Jeff Geld. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. Special thanks to Kristina Samulewski.

Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda
Alison Gopnik: Making AI more childlike

Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2022 40:58


The renowned expert on how babies learn about the world through curiosity and exploration is now collaborating with artificial intelligence researchers to make AI systems smarter by being more like children.