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The letters Rx are somehow related to drug stores. But why? What do those letters actually mean? You probably think they have to do with medication or prescriptions or something. But why Rx? What do those letters stand for. This episode begins with an explanation. https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/06/rx-mean-come/ You are SO not the person you once were. Nor are you the person you will one day be. That's according to Paul Bloom, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale. Listen as he discusses what are most likely the happiest years of your life, why you are different from everyone else on the planet and other fascinating intel into how your mind makes you the person you are. Paul is author of the book Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3k524d5). Your future is uncertain. And people generally don't like uncertainty. That because the future may be full of opportunity, but it can also be full of danger and disappointment – and you don't know which one is around the corner. However, there is another way to look at uncertainty which my guest Nathan Furr is here to reveal. Nathan is a professor and author of the book The Upside of Uncertainty (https://amzn.to/3SbJBZ6). Listen as he offers a different way to face the unknown that will minimize risk and amplify opportunity. Dio you know the difference between a road a street an avenue and a boulevard? For one thing, all streets are roads but not all roads are streets. Sound confusing? Listen and as I sort it all out. https://www.rd.com/article/difference-between-streets-roads-avenues/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!!! FACTOR: Eat smart with Factor! Get 50% off at https://FactorMeals.com/something50off DELL: Anniversary savings await you for a limited time only at https://Dell.com/deals SHOPIFY: Nobody does selling better than Shopify! Sign up for a $1 per-month trial period at https://Shopify.com/sysk and upgrade your selling today! HERS: Hers is changing women's healthcare by providing access to GLP-1 weekly injections with the same active ingredient as Ozempic and Wegovy, as well as oral medication kits. Start your free online visit today at https://forhers.com/sysk INDEED: Get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING right now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
As our centennial series continues, Paul Bloom, professor emeritus of psychology and cognitive science at Yale University and professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and the author of several books, including Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (Ecco, 2023), reviews a century of developments in psychology, psychoanalysis and psychotherapy.
Jonah's in full fanboy mode on today's long-anticipated Remnant. His guest is Paul Bloom—respected psychologist, prolific author, and noted body double for Al Gore and soundalike for Donald Sutherland—who's back on the program at last to answer all of Jonah's burning questions about human behavior and the mind. How should we feel about Freud? Who should decide what issues are taboo? And are people born with an innate political orientation? Viking babies and sci-fi aficionados alike will find much to appreciate. Show Notes: - Paul's website - Paul's previous Remnant appearance - Paul's latest book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (now available in paperback) - Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil - The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning - Jonah: “Speaking Freely About Free Speech” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We're back! We're kicking off a new season of episodes with an interview with Dr. Paul Bloom to discuss his new book Psych. We discuss science communication, the limits and value of psychology, whether researchers should be siloed in academia, the problem with empathy, if kids are little bigots, and if social psychology isn't paying enough attention to policy. Psych: The Story of The Human Mind Paul's webpage (with links to other books), Substack “Small Potatoes” and Twitter Research cited by Kiley Hamlin and Karen Wynn: Hamlin, J. K., & Wynn, K. (2011). Young infants prefer prosocial to antisocial others. Cognitive development, 26(1), 30-39. Hamlin, J. K., Mahajan, N., Liberman, Z., & Wynn, K. (2013). Not like me = bad: Infants prefer those who harm dissimilar others. Psychological science, 24(4), 589-594.
Today, Paul Bloom takes us on a brisk tour through modern psychology.
Our final chapter (at least for now)! In this episode, Paul and David discuss the science of happiness. We cover the difficulty of defining happiness (or the good life in general), the rise of 'positive psychology', the various factors that we know are related to happiness (genes, money, age, having children), and the question of why we can't just choose to be happy. We end with a discussion of pleasure and pain, and some puzzling findings about our memory of painful experiences. Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
Paul and David go further beyond their areas of expertise than usual and discuss the field of clinical psychology--the part of psychology interested in understanding and treating psychological dysfunction. What are mental illnesses? How do we come up with the categories of various psychopathologies? Are mental illnesses the same sort of thing as other diseases, or is the term "disease" more like a metaphor? Are disorders like schizophrenia best understood as discrete categories (either you have it or you don't) or are they continuous? How should we understand personality disorders? Finally, are we making progress on understanding and treating mental illness? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
Paul and David step away from the study of psychological universals to discuss the ways in which we are different from one another. What is our best theory of personality? How is personality assessed? Do personality tests predict behavior? What does it mean to be intelligent? Do IQ tests measure anything important? What sorts of things does IQ predict? Are there multiple intelligences? Finally we dip our toes into behavioral genetics. What is heritability? How heritable are psychological traits? Finally, can parents really shape the personality or IQ of their children? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
Paul Bloom is Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University and Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. He works quite broadly in psychology, and studies how children and adults make sense of the world, with special focus on pleasure, morality, religion, fiction, and art. Paul is the author of seven books, most recently Psych: The Story of the Human Mind, some of the topics of which constitute the subject of this episode. More particularly, Paul and Robinson discuss Freud's legacy in contemporary psychology, mental illness, human rationality and irrationality, and the roots of motivation. Paul has also recently been producing a fantastic podcast with his friend and colleague David Pizarro—also called Psych—that covers many of the topics in introductory courses to psychology, and it comes highly recommended. Psych (Book): https://a.co/d/eYNR4q7 Psych (Podcast): https://psych.fireside.fm Paul's Website: https://paulbloom.net Paul's Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulbloomatyale OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 01:10 Introduction 06:09 Writing Psych 08:30 What is Mental Illness? 23:40 Freud versus Contemporary Psychology 36:31 Psychoanalysis versus Contemporary Therapeutic Modalities 52:13 Is Man THE Rational Animal? 58:24 The Psychological Roots of Our Irrationality 01:17:46 The My-Side Bias and Political Gridlock 01:24:47 The Psychological Roots of Human Motivation 01:52:24 Susan Carey Robinson's Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/robinson-erhardt/support
In this episode, Paul and David tackle the social psychology of groups (or at least, a small part of it!). Why do we fall prey to stereotyping? Why do we so sharply distinguish between "us" and "them"? What are the developmental and evolutionary origins of our ingroup favoritism/outgroup bias? Is there such a thing as implicit bias/implicit racism? What does the most popular measure of implicit bias (the IAT) actually measure? And finally, what can be done about these group biases? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
Eric chats with Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. He is the author of seven books, including his latest “Psych: The Story of the Human Mind.” Countless people around the world have been introduced to psychology through his online courses “Introduction to Psychology” and “Moralities of Everyday Life.”In this chat, Eric and Paul discuss to what extent knowing about psychology actually helps us navigate everyday life with other people. Should psychology students still learn about Freud? Why would Paul never write a psychology textbook? Why is he writing a next book on perversity and something called “reactance?” How did he manage to become a successful professor while researching such a diverse range of topics? How to use Twitter without becoming a troll? Finally, Paul faces some surprisingly tough questions generated by ChatGPT.JOIN OUR SUBSTACK! Stay up to date with the pod and become part of the ever-growing community :) https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/If you found this episode interesting at all, consider leaving us a good rating! It just takes a second but will allow us to reach more people and make them excited about psychology.Links:Paul's latest book PsychPaul's online classesPaul's websiteEric's websiteEric's Twitter @EricNeumannPsyPodcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you think of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com
Paul and David begin their discussion of social pyschology by diving into a few of the big topics/areas of research in the field: the differences between the way we see ourselves and the way we see others, obedience to authority and Milgram's classic experiments, and research on "thin-slicing" -- our tendency (ability?) to form quick impressions of others based on minimal information. They end the episode by discussing the controversial research on "social priming": can trivial features of your environment really have such a strong influence on your judgment and behavior? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Send us a message!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
Paul and David devote an episode to listener questions. Among the topics we discuss--the function of consciousness, the psychology of trauma (and it's growing popularity), how we deal with our non-expertise when discussing research outside our fields, the "extended mind" hypothesis, and our picks for some of the best living psychologists. Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
What do we know — and what don't we know — about how the human mind works? Sean Illing talks with Paul Bloom, professor of psychology and author of the new book Psych: The Story of the Human Mind. In this conversation, Sean and Paul talk about some of the most interesting and confounding questions in psychology. They discuss the problematic theories of some giants in the history of the field, the way that AI might change psychology, and whether or not the discipline is any closer to understanding the nature of mental illness. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area Guest: Paul Bloom (@paulbloomatyale), Professor of Psychology, University of Toronto; Professor Emeritus, Yale University; author References: Psych: The Story of the Human Mind by Paul Bloom (Ecco; 2023) The Replication Crisis (Psychology Today) Freud's "primal scene" is taken from his "From the History of an Infantile Neurosis" (a.k.a. the "Wolf Man" case) (1918) The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature by Geoffrey Miller (Anchor; 2001) Aspects of the Theory of Syntax by Noam Chomsky (MIT Press; 1965) On Geoffrey Hinton: "'The Godfather of A.I.' Leaves Google and Warns of Danger Ahead" by Cade Metz (New York Times; May 1) "The looming threat of AI to Hollywood, and why it should matter to you" by Alissa Wilkinson (Vox; May 2) "Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness" by David Chalmers (1995) A.I. Artificial Intelligence, dir. by Steven Spielberg (2001) "Development of the default-mode network during childhood and adolescence" by F. Fan et al. (Neuroimage; Feb. 2021) The Infant Cognition Center at Yale The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Engineers: Patrick Boyd & Brandon McFarland Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
My guest today is Paul Bloom. Paul Bloom is a renowned psychologist, professor and author currently teaching at Yale University and University of Toronto. He's published many books including "Descartes' Baby", "How Pleasure Works", "Just Babies", "Against Empathy", "The Sweet Spot", and the topic of today's conversation, "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind".In this episode, we'll be discussing a broad summary of the field and findings of psychology, touching on its various branches and exploring the complexities of human behavior. We talk about whether psychology is a real science. We talk about the reality of the unconscious mind. We talk about the legacy of Freud, the advantages of self-delusion, the hard problem of consciousness, artificial intelligence and its implication for rival theories of human language and for the future of art. We talk about the potential dangers of AI misalignment, the definition of intelligence, nature versus nurture and much more. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.
My guest today is Paul Bloom. Paul Bloom is a renowned psychologist, professor and author currently teaching at Yale University and University of Toronto. He's published many books including "Descartes' Baby", "How Pleasure Works", "Just Babies", "Against Empathy", "The Sweet Spot", and the topic of today's conversation, "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind". In this episode, we'll be discussing a broad summary of the field and findings of psychology, touching on its various branches and exploring the complexities of human behavior. We talk about whether psychology is a real science. We talk about the reality of the unconscious mind. We talk about the legacy of Freud, the advantages of self-delusion, the hard problem of consciousness, artificial intelligence and its implication for rival theories of human language and for the future of art. We talk about the potential dangers of AI misalignment, the definition of intelligence, nature versus nurture and much more. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
My guest today is Paul Bloom. Paul Bloom is a renowned psychologist, professor and author currently teaching at Yale University and University of Toronto. He's published many books including "Descartes' Baby", "How Pleasure Works", "Just Babies", "Against Empathy", "The Sweet Spot", and the topic of today's conversation, "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind".In this episode, we'll be discussing a broad summary of the field and findings of psychology, touching on its various branches and exploring the complexities of human behavior. We talk about whether psychology is a real science. We talk about the reality of the unconscious mind. We talk about the legacy of Freud, the advantages of self-delusion, the hard problem of consciousness, artificial intelligence and its implication for rival theories of human language and for the future of art. We talk about the potential dangers of AI misalignment, the definition of intelligence, nature versus nurture and much more. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.
Psychologist Paul Bloom and I talk about the human brain, morality, empathy, perversity, all the things—including Professor Bloom's new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (Ecco Press, 2023). Culturally Jewish but in practice an atheist, Paul Bloom comes at the recurring theological questions familiar to the Almost Good Catholics audience from the materialistic perspective of psychology. Paul Bloom's Yale faculty webpage Paul Bloom's Toronto faculty webpage Paul Bloom's Wikipedia page Paul Bloom's book, Psych Paul Bloom and Dave Pizarro's Psych podcast Paul Bloom's Introduction to Psychology on Yale Open Courses Paul Bloom's TED Talk about St. Augustine of Hippo and perversity. Paul Bloom talks with Russ Roberts on EconTalk about Psych, The Sweet Spot, Cruelty, and Empathy. Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/psychology
Psychologist Paul Bloom and I talk about the human brain, morality, empathy, perversity, all the things—including Professor Bloom's new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (Ecco Press, 2023). Culturally Jewish but in practice an atheist, Paul Bloom comes at the recurring theological questions familiar to the Almost Good Catholics audience from the materialistic perspective of psychology. Paul Bloom's Yale faculty webpage Paul Bloom's Toronto faculty webpage Paul Bloom's Wikipedia page Paul Bloom's book, Psych Paul Bloom and Dave Pizarro's Psych podcast Paul Bloom's Introduction to Psychology on Yale Open Courses Paul Bloom's TED Talk about St. Augustine of Hippo and perversity. Paul Bloom talks with Russ Roberts on EconTalk about Psych, The Sweet Spot, Cruelty, and Empathy. Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion
Psychologist Paul Bloom and I talk about the human brain, morality, empathy, perversity, all the things—including Professor Bloom's new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (Ecco Press, 2023). Culturally Jewish but in practice an atheist, Paul Bloom comes at the recurring theological questions familiar to the Almost Good Catholics audience from the materialistic perspective of psychology. Paul Bloom's Yale faculty webpage Paul Bloom's Toronto faculty webpage Paul Bloom's Wikipedia page Paul Bloom's book, Psych Paul Bloom and Dave Pizarro's Psych podcast Paul Bloom's Introduction to Psychology on Yale Open Courses Paul Bloom's TED Talk about St. Augustine of Hippo and perversity. Paul Bloom talks with Russ Roberts on EconTalk about Psych, The Sweet Spot, Cruelty, and Empathy. Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/neuroscience
Psychologist Paul Bloom and I talk about the human brain, morality, empathy, perversity, all the things—including Professor Bloom's new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (Ecco Press, 2023). Culturally Jewish but in practice an atheist, Paul Bloom comes at the recurring theological questions familiar to the Almost Good Catholics audience from the materialistic perspective of psychology. Paul Bloom's Yale faculty webpage Paul Bloom's Toronto faculty webpage Paul Bloom's Wikipedia page Paul Bloom's book, Psych Paul Bloom and Dave Pizarro's Psych podcast Paul Bloom's Introduction to Psychology on Yale Open Courses Paul Bloom's TED Talk about St. Augustine of Hippo and perversity. Paul Bloom talks with Russ Roberts on EconTalk about Psych, The Sweet Spot, Cruelty, and Empathy. Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies
Psychologist Paul Bloom and I talk about the human brain, morality, empathy, perversity, all the things—including Professor Bloom's new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (Ecco Press, 2023). Culturally Jewish but in practice an atheist, Paul Bloom comes at the recurring theological questions familiar to the Almost Good Catholics audience from the materialistic perspective of psychology. Paul Bloom's Yale faculty webpage Paul Bloom's Toronto faculty webpage Paul Bloom's Wikipedia page Paul Bloom's book, Psych Paul Bloom and Dave Pizarro's Psych podcast Paul Bloom's Introduction to Psychology on Yale Open Courses Paul Bloom's TED Talk about St. Augustine of Hippo and perversity. Paul Bloom talks with Russ Roberts on EconTalk about Psych, The Sweet Spot, Cruelty, and Empathy. Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode we are delighted to welcome Paul Bloom, a distinguished developmental psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. Paul has authored seven books, including Aginst Empathy and his most recent, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind. He is one of the leading thinkers in psychology and has dedicated his career to exploring how people, both children and adults, make sense of the world through language, morality, pleasure, pain, and religion. Join us as we engage in a thought-provoking conversation with Paul about the different subfields of psychology and what they can bring to the real world, from neuroscience to developmental psychology, cognitive, social, and clinical. This discussion evolves into a stimulating debate on the extent to which academia can truly contribute to industry. For our product deep-dive, we challenge Paul to consider how concepts and methods from behavioral science could be used to improve the Bible, and delve into his perspective on the age-old question of nature versus nurture in shaping our lives. This episode should be a fascinating listen for anyone interested in the human mind, behavioral science, and the intersection between academia and industry. Relevant links Paul's website Buy Psych: The Story of the Human Mind Check out Paul's podcast series Psych, hosted with our friend Dave Pizarro exploring concepts from his book Support the podcast by joining Habit Weekly Pro
In this episode, Paul and David dive into the controversy surrounding the very public failings of scientific psychology--the so-called "replication crisis". Why did it happen, how has it changed how we view (and teach) about our field, and are we optimistic about the future of psychology? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
What are the things that move us as human beings? In this episode Paul and David cover a broad range of "hot" topics (having to do with emotion and motivation), including evolutionary theory, disgust, sexual desire, morality, and how much money it would take for us to spit on a picture of someone we love. Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
Paul and David discuss human rationality and its limitations, including the heuristics-and-biases approach, System 1 and System 2, positive illusions, confirmation bias, motivated reasoning, and conspiracy theories. Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
Is a happy life one that is abundant with pleasure? Or one without pain? Or one that overcomes struggle? The quest for a good life may go beyond the scope of a psychological study. But bestselling author, Paul Bloom does believe that psychology can help us maximize the circumstances that contribute to our happiness. In the second part of our interview with psychologist Paul Bloom we delve more into his book “Psych: The Story of the Human Mind”. Not only do we discuss the factors that lead to a happy life, we talk to Paul about the evolution of selfish versus altruistic behaviors, the ongoing debate between nature versus nurture, how maximizers and satisficers differ and what exactly hypophobia is. If you'd like to listen to the first part of Paul's interview, tune in to episode 352 and you'll also enjoy our previous discussion with Paul about his book, The Sweet Spot in episode 241. Become a podcast follower of Behavioral Grooves and you will automatically be notified when our new weekly episodes go live. Topics (2:23) Why Paul hasn't written a psychology textbook. (5:03) The evolution of kindness and selfishness. (11:57) Nature vs. nurture. (15:30) Why do we care more about our differences than our similarities? (18:07) Maximizers vs. satisficers? (20:28) Is language infinite in principle, but finite in practice? (22:19) What is a good life? (27:34) Do a lot of our politicians have hypophobia (lack of fear)? (30:47) What music would Paul take to a desert island? (34:30) Grooving Session with Kurt and Tim. © 2023 Behavioral Grooves Links Episode 352, Psychology: Should Freud Still Be On The Syllabus? Paul Bloom, Part 1: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/psychology-freud-on-the-syllabus/ Paul Bloom's book “Psych: The Story of the Human Mind”: https://amzn.to/3MF6raM Episode 241 with Paul Bloom, Why Finding Pleasure in Life is a Painful Journey: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/pleasure-is-a-painful-journey/ Lila Gleitman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lila_R._Gleitman Noam Chomsky: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky Randolph Nesse: https://www.randolphnesse.com/ Musical Links The White Lotus Soundtrack “I Want to Live”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I9ffEzCPIA Elton John “The Last Song”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5eEQJZm7ZM David Bowie “Changes”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BgF7Y3q-as Tracey Chapman “Fast Car”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIOAlaACuv4 Joan Armatrading “Already There”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChMcN0ke1eA Suzanne Vega “Walk on The Wild Side”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEXGLRLhWls Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly6ZhQVnVow Pink Floyd “Time”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr0-7Ds79zo
Sam Harris speaks with Paul Bloom about the state of psychological science. They discuss fiction as a window onto the mind, recent developments in AI, the tension between misinformation and free speech, bullshitting vs lying, truth vs belonging, reliance on scientific authority, the limits of reductionism, consciousness vs intelligence, Freud, behaviorism, the unconscious origins of behavior, confabulation, the limitations of debate, language, Koko the gorilla, mental health, happiness, behavioral genetics, birth-order effects, living a good life, the remembered and experiencing selves, and other topics. Paul Bloom is Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, and Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University. Paul Bloom studies how children and adults make sense of the world, with special focus on pleasure, morality, religion, fiction, and art. He has won numerous awards for his research and teaching. He is past-president of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, and co-editor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. He has written for scientific journals such as Nature and Science, and for popular outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic Monthly. He is the author of seven books, including his latest Psych: The Story of the Human Mind. Website: paulbloom.net Twitter: @paulbloomatyale Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.
How do we get the external world into our heads? In this episode, Paul and David cover a few of the more interesting features of sensation, perception, and memory. What can visual illusions tell us about the mind? Can perception be influenced by our beliefs and desires? What are flashbulb memories, and are they accurate? Are some of our memories completely false? And what is a memory palace? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
Ask someone to name a famous psychologist and there's a good chance they'll say Sigmund Freud. Describing a person as “anal” or rebuking someone with “I'm not your mother”, are both references to Freud's work. Since many of his outlandish theories have long been debunked, should he still be part of psychology teaching? Author Paul Bloom lays the case for why he has dedicated a whole chapter to Freud in his new book Psych. This is the first of two episodes with Paul Bloom, who we are warmly welcoming back to the Behavioral Grooves Podcast following his previous interview in episode 274 back in 2022. Paul joins us to discuss his new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind. And since we had such a fascinating (and long!) conversation with Paul, we decided to break it into two, more digestible, episodes. In this first episode, we spend time discussing the history of psychology, delving into the importance of Freud, Skinner and Milgram and the impact that behaviorism had. We also jump to the hypothetical future of psychology and where the field may make seismic progress over the next 50 years. By becoming a follower of Behavioral Grooves Podcast, you will automatically be notified when the second episode of Paul's interview is released next week, on Monday, April 24th. In that interview, we will delve more into Paul's book. We will talk about the impetus to write Psych, selfish vs altruistic behaviors, and what makes a good life. Topics (5:00) Welcome to Paul Bloom and speed round questions. (9:33) Why Paul wrote the book Psych. (12:15) Why Sigmund Freud had a whole chapter in the book. (18:08) The reason Paul doesn't have much love for B.F. Skinner. (25:09) Milgram experiments during a wild west time in psychology. (29:33) Do we have free will? (33:42) How will the field of psychology change over the next 50 years? (37:49) The failures of neuroscience. (42:41) Grooving Session with Kurt and Tim on the history of psychology. © 2023 Behavioral Grooves Links Paul Bloom's book “Psych: The Story of the Human Mind”: https://amzn.to/3MF6raM Episode 274 with Paul Bloom, Why Finding Pleasure in Life is a Painful Journey: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/pleasure-is-a-painful-journey/ Sigmund Freud: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud Episode 67, George Loewenstein: On a Functional Theory of Boredom: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/george-loewenstein-on-a-functional-theory-of-boredom/ Carl Jung: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung B.F. Skinner: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._F._Skinner Episode 247, Stanford Prison Experiment, 50 Years On: What Have We Really Learnt? With Dr Philip Zimbardo: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/stanford-prison-experiment/ Stanley Milgram experiment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment Episode 312, How To Find Meaning IN Life | Dr Brian Lowery PhD: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/meaning-in-life-brian-lowery/ Episode 248, Do We Control Situations or Do Situations Control Us? With John Bargh: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/control-situations-with-john-bargh/
In his expansive new book, "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind," Paul Bloom, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, lays out, in his words, "basically everything I know about the mind." And when he says everything, he means it. Where does consciousness come from? Does IQ matter? What makes us happy? Was Sigmund Freud a madman? The answers to these questions (and more) are all in Paul's book — and in this episode. • To listen to an extended version of Rufus and Paul's conversation, download The Next Big Idea app. • Our newsletter comes out every Thursday and offers a behind-the-scenes look at how we make the show. Sign up today!
In this episode Paul and David discuss another of Paul's area of expertise--language. What is language? Do any animals have it? How does it develop (and how do children learn it so fast)? Why do children learn nouns sooner than they learn verbs and adjectives? How much does language shape thought? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
With his new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind, Canadian psychologist Paul Bloom probes the difference between the brain and the mind, the mystery of consciousness, and whether artificial intelligence will ever match human thought. We revisit our conversation with him from last month.
Apologies everyone, we've been compelled to break our 'golden rule' of interspersing decoding episodes with interview episodes. However, the opportunity to talk to the well-known psychologist, Professor Paul Bloom. There are so many reasons to talk to Paul: first, he's a walking, talking cornucopia of knowledge across so fields in psychology that fascinate Chris and Matt. He's also a prolific author, most recently of "Psych- The Story of the Human Mind", and previously with "The Sweet Spot" about pleasure and pain, and the controversial "Against Empathy". He's also a great educator, having created a bunch of open learning resources in introductory and moral psychology. In addition to the new book "Psych", which offers a layperson's introduction to psychology he is ALSO producing a new podcast with friend of the cast and no slouch at psychology himself, Very Bad Wizard/Psychologist, Dave Pizarro. OK, that's enough reasons. There are probably more reasons, but we have provided enough. And anyway, who says we have to justify our guests and our interview to decoding schedule. We are free agents! We have agency... right?In any case, you cannot complain too much as we felt bad and have thus included in the short intro segment a "mini" (40min!) decoding of the recent appearance of academic/political pundit, Matthew Goodwin, on Triggernometry. And it's a spicy one...Next up Oprah! Coming soon...LinksPaul Bloom & Dave Pizarro's Psych PodcastPaul Bloom's New Book: Psych- The Story of the Human MindPaul's New Ted Talk on The surprising psychology behind your urge to break the rulesTriggernometry- Matt Goodwin: We're in the Post-Populist EraNew Statesman- Going native: How Matthew Goodwin became part of the right-populist movement he once sought to explain.Eliezer Yudkowsky's Tweet about bombing the WIV
Paul Bloom (The Sweet Spot, Just Babies, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind) is a psychologist, professor, and author. Paul returns to the Armchair Expert to discuss how our most important force as humans is our capacity to reason, the reconstructive nature of memory, and how to decide which studies we should believe in. Paul and Dax talk about the natural asymmetry between elation and agony, repressed memories, and how much chance events shape us. Paul explains his thoughts on right brain vs left brain, the gendered differences of jealousy, and how to answer the question of nature or nurture. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Paul and David discuss the influential developmental psychologist Jean Piaget, his theories and legacy, stage theories of development, modern developmental psychology and its methods, and the "nature vs nurture" debate. Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
Slot machines, phobias and superstitions, dog training techniques, cures for insomnia... behaviorism has something to say about all of these (and much more!). The scope and ambition of B.F. Skinner's behaviorism rivals that of Freud's--except Skinner wanted nothing to do with the "mind" (or anything else he couldn't observe in a lab). How successful was this program of research? What did it get wrong? Is everything learned through mere associations and reinforcement? And where do Paul and David stand on the big debate between nativism (the idea that the mind comes equipped with knowledge) and empiricism (the idea that all knowledge comes from experience)? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us with your psychology questions for a future episode!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
Dr. Paul Bloom - Professor, renowned psychologist and bestselling author - He has dedicated his career to exploring the mysteries of the human mind. His latest book, “Psych: The Story of the Human Mind," offers a sweeping overview of the latest research on the psychology of human behavior and culture. (Hour 3)
My guest today is Paul Bloom. He taught at the University of Arizona, and then at Yale University, where he continues to hold the position of Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology. He joined the Psychology Department at the University of Toronto in 2021. Paul studies how children and adults make sense of the world, with special focus on pleasure, morality, religion, fiction, and art. He has won numerous awards for his research and teaching. He is co-editor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. The topic is his book Psych: The Story of the Human Mind. In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss: The human brain Properties of neural machinery Psychology Biological evolution Blasphemy laws Jump in! --- I'm MICHAEL COVEL, the host of TREND FOLLOWING RADIO, and I'm proud to have delivered 10+ million podcast listens since 2012. Investments, economics, psychology, politics, decision-making, human behavior, entrepreneurship and trend following are all passionately explored and debated on my show. To start? I'd like to give you a great piece of advice you can use in your life and trading journey… cut your losses! You will find much more about that philosophy here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/trend/ You can watch a free video here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/video/ Can't get enough of this episode? You can choose from my thousand plus episodes here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/podcast My social media platforms: Twitter: @covel Facebook: @trendfollowing LinkedIn: @covel Instagram: @mikecovel Hope you enjoy my never-ending podcast conversation!
My guest today is Paul Bloom. He taught at the University of Arizona, and then at Yale University, where he continues to hold the position of Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology. He joined the Psychology Department at the University of Toronto in 2021. Paul studies how children and adults make sense of the world, with special focus on pleasure, morality, religion, fiction, and art. He has won numerous awards for his research and teaching. He is co-editor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. The topic is his book Psych: The Story of the Human Mind. In this episode of Trend Following Radio we discuss: The human brain Properties of neural machinery Psychology Biological evolution Blasphemy laws Jump in! --- I'm MICHAEL COVEL, the host of TREND FOLLOWING RADIO, and I'm proud to have delivered 10+ million podcast listens since 2012. Investments, economics, psychology, politics, decision-making, human behavior, entrepreneurship and trend following are all passionately explored and debated on my show. To start? I'd like to give you a great piece of advice you can use in your life and trading journey… cut your losses! You will find much more about that philosophy here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/trend/ You can watch a free video here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/video/ Can't get enough of this episode? You can choose from my thousand plus episodes here: https://www.trendfollowing.com/podcast My social media platforms: Twitter: @covel Facebook: @trendfollowing LinkedIn: @covel Instagram: @mikecovel Hope you enjoy my never-ending podcast conversation!
Paul Bloom—Jonah's favorite psychologist and author of the new book Psych: The Story of the Human Mind—returns to the Remnant for some intensely eggheady conversation on the workings of the human brain (a three-pound wrinkly mass, as Paul puts it). The two spend the episode leapfrogging between different controversies in the field of psychology, each more complex than the last, with enough speed to make your head spin. From the nature of consciousness, to René Girard's understanding of identity, to controversial conceptions of the mind, there's something to delight—and confuse—everyone, least of all our future AI overlords. Show Notes: - Paul's website - Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil - Psych: The Story of the Human Mind - The Remnant with Joseph Uscinski Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Paul and David tackle one of the most difficult questions when it comes to the mind--consciousness. What is it? Can a computer be conscious? What do psychologists mean when they use the term consciousness? What do we know about the psychology of time, and of dreams? And why do we try to escape consciousness? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us your questions for a future episode!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
Paul's new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind ... Does psychology need more evolutionary thinking? ... Freud and Skinner and parts in between ... Mind-body dualism's enduring intuitive appeal ... ChatGPT and the human mind: compare and contrast ... Are cognitive biases overblown? ... A brief note about the podcast ... Implicit biases, memory, and other topics covered in the book ...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com1:46 Paul's new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind 12:13 Does psychology need more evolutionary thinking? 20:33 Freud and Skinner and parts in between 30:47 Mind-body dualism's enduring intuitive appeal 33:16 ChatGPT and the human mind: compare and contrast 38:22 Are cognitive biases overblown? 47:59 A brief note about the podcast 51:24 Implicit biases, memory, and other topics covered in the book Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded March 07, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65784Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe
Paul's new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind ... Does psychology need more evolutionary thinking? ... Freud and Skinner and parts in between ... Mind-body dualism's enduring intuitive appeal ... ChatGPT and the human mind: compare and contrast ... Are cognitive biases overblown? ... A brief note about the podcast ... Implicit biases, memory, and other topics covered in the book ...
Alexa and Yoel chat with Paul Bloom about his newest book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3ZrycHk). The book, built from Paul's popular Introduction to Psychology course, is an opinionated overview of the field of psychology but also a window into his deep fascination with the mind. Yoel and Alexa spend some time picking Paul's brain, inquiring about writing, and teaching, and how to avoid boredom. But Paul has a few questions of his own, challenging the cohosts to consider what their own version of Psych would look like. In the process, their conversation ranges from Freudian dream content, to the limitations of psychology, to the (glaring omission of) the anatomy of the inner ear. Special Guest: Paul Bloom.
In this episode, Paul and David discuss the human brain. Is psychology just brain science? Is the brain a computer? What are brains made of and how do they work? Are people right or left brained? What do split brain patients tell us about identity? Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us your questions for a future episode!: askpsychpod@gmail.com
In this episode Paul and David talk about who they are and what they're doing with this podcast. Learn about their background, why they teach intro psych, and their personal biases about theories in psychology. Read the book that inspired the podcast: "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3YoZDAa)" [amazon.com] Email us your questions for a future episode: askpsychpod@gmail.com
------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao This show is sponsored by Enlites, Learning & Development done differently. Check the website here: http://enlites.com/ Dr. Paul Bloom is Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, and Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University. Dr. Bloom studies how children and adults make sense of the world, with special focus on pleasure, morality, religion, fiction, and art. He is the author of seven books, including his latest Psych: The Story of the Human Mind. In this episode, we focus on Psych. We talk about a mechanistic conception of mental life in modern psychology, and the relationship between the mind and the brain. We discuss modularity of mind. We talk about consciousness and its functions. We discuss if Freud's theories have any scientific value, the insights and limitations of Skinner's behaviorism, and what we learned from Piaget about child development. We touch on the nature vs. nurture debate. We talk about the relationship between language and thought. We discuss if humans are rational. We talk about relational psychology, and phenomena like racism and ethnocentrism. We talk about individual differences. We discuss what mental illness is, and how we can treat it. Finally, we discuss what a good life for humans is. -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, JERRY MULLER, HANS FREDRIK SUNDE, BERNARDO SEIXAS, OLAF ALEX, JONATHAN VISSER, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, JOHN CONNORS, FILIP FORS CONNOLLY, DAN DEMETRIOU, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, SIMON COLUMBUS, PHIL KAVANAGH, MIKKEL STORMYR, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, ALEXANDER DANNBAUER, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, DIEGO LONDOÑO CORREA, YANICK PUNTER, ADANER USMANI, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, NICK GOLDEN, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, EDWARD HALL, HEDIN BRØNNER, DOUGLAS FRY, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, MORTEN EIKELAND, DR BYRD, DANIEL FRIEDMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, MAU MARIA, PAUL-GEORGE ARNAUD, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, ROOFTOWEL, DIOGO COSTA, ANTON ERIKSSON, CHARLES MOREY, ALEX CHAU, AMAURI MARTÍNEZ, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, PEDRO BONILLA, ZIEGLER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, STARRY, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, TOM ROTH, THERPMD, IGOR N, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, BARNABAS RADICS, MARK CAMPBELL, RICHARD BOWEN, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, AND CHRIS STORY! A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, BENEDIKT MUELLER, VEGA GIDEY, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, ROBERT LEWIS, AND AL NICK ORTIZ! AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS, MATTHEW LAVENDER, SERGIU CODREANU, AND BOGDAN KANIVETS!
The field of psychology mines the depths of our personalities, but it also says a lot about brain function, too. Paul Bloom is Professor of Psychology at University of Toronto and the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the science of the mind, from nature vs. nurture, to what these insights can tell us about the most hot-button topics of our time. His book is “Psych: The Story of the Human Mind.”
In this episode, we get excited about two books: ‘Weyward' by Emilia Hart and ‘Psych: The Story of the Human Mind' by Paul Bloom. Then Dave tells the story a recently solved code that reveals new secrets of a famous Queen. LINKS Weyward by Emilia Hart https://bit.ly/3KoeYh8 Psych: The Story of the Human Mind by Paul Bloom https://bit.ly/3Z5zJSY Video: Emilia Hart shares three books that inspired her https://bit.ly/3xFRA79 Paul Bloom's TED talks https://bit.ly/3ErSszY National Geographic on the decoded letters https://on.natgeo.com/3KsKpqI From Cryptologia: Deciphering Mary Stuart's Lost Letters from 1578–1584 https://bit.ly/3XS76Yq Transcript of this episode https://bit.ly/3KgOhuO The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com Do you enjoy our show? Want access to fun bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon. Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplace As always, you can find us at: - Our site - Instagram - Facebook - Twitter - Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
IN THIS EPISODE OF THE HUMAN UPGRADE™... a look into the story of the human mind wonders if you're just a machine made of meat. Guest Paul Bloom, a researcher, teacher and author, studies adult and child development in terms of how people make sense of the world. It turns out that there are all kinds of automated systems in your body that are making sense of the world for you and after they do that, they give you a picture of the world. The interesting part is that picture may be more or less accurate based on a lot of things that are part of your programming.Paul is a professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto and professor emeritus of Psychology at Yale University. He teaches a popular “Intro to Psychology” class that he turned into his seventh book, called: “Psych: The Story of the Human Mind.”Because he studies psychology at so many different levels, he brings new knowledge and new synthesis of ideas to the discussion of the human mind. Topics range from consciousness to ChatGPT and BDSM, from whether you have a soul or if you can attain happiness. Paul's writing and lectures show how psychology can give us practical insights into important issues. He addresses the treatment of mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety and the best way to lead a fulfilling life. This episode and his new book guide you through the most important topic there is: the story of you and your mind.Watch this episode on YouTube!WE APPRECIATE OUR PARTNERS. CHECK THEM OUT! Sleep Solutions for High Performance: https://sleepbreakthrough.com/dave, use code DAVE10 to get an extra 10% offComfort Options for Hot & Cold Sleepers: https://sleep.me/daveasprey, use code ASPREY for 25% offKickstart Autophagy: https://timelinenutrition.com/DAVE, use the code ASPREY10 to get 10% off any planSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Recently, I've been workshopping an idea. Basically, I don't believe there is such thing as an activity that is intrinsically meaningful.Sure, there are activities which people consistently endorse as meaningful pursuits: having kids, productive careers, learning a language, that sort of thing. And while there is an empirical fact about what sort of activities members of our culture consider meaningful, this is not because these activities are meaningful in some fundamental way. Rather, what this empirical fact captures is that there is a limited set of readily available cultural stories about where meaning comes from. We tend to say that's where we, personally, derive meaning from, because that's the default story about meaning our culture prescribes. In fact, anything that can be construed as meaningful—if you tell the story right.Most recently I argued this point in a piece called meaning is post-hoc, where my claim was that we can't predict ahead of time what will be meaningful and what won't. This is because stories are always told retrospectively—and meaning depends entirely on the stories we tell. In particular, I'm skeptical of the traditional psychological narrative about meaning (“here is the set of activities people tend to derive meaning from”) because whenever academics describe someone who is engaged in canonically meaningful activities, it sounds an awful lot like an abstract version of what a university professor does. I think that really underestimates the diversity of how people conceive of meaning and how devoted they are to finding it. Anthropology and sociology are full of examples along the lines of “Here's some society that we think of as very different from elite western society and yet here they are spending all this time developing sophisticated theories about their place in the world.” One of my personal favorites is The Dignity of Working Men by Michèle Lamont. In short, I believe—at least at present—that there are no intrinsically meaningful activities because you can look back on any activity and come up with a way of construing it as meaningful.In this conversation, I had the privilege of honing this idea against one of the sharpest minds in the field. Paul Bloom is a professor of psychology at Toronto, previously based at Yale. Between these institutions and his online course, he has taught introductory psychology to millions of bright young students. This course laid the foundation for his latest book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind.Paul has thought a lot about the problem of meaning, both in this book and in his previous book, The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning. We approach the topic via entry points from his latest book (particularly Freud), and eventually I get around to pitching him my latest ideas. By no means do I immediately bring him around to my view. A lot of what we disagree on, I think, depends on what goes beyond the purview of psychology and what doesn't. Sometimes it's hard to know where the draw those lines.A conversation with Paul is always enlightening, and at least from my own perspective I think this conversation strikes a nice balance between drawing out some of the highlights of Paul's broad base of thinking with some of the problems I've most directly been grappling with in my own thought.Paul's latest book is Psych: The Story of the Human Mind. It's available now. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit codykommers.substack.com/subscribe
With his new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind, Canadian psychologist Paul Bloom probes the difference between the brain and the mind, the mystery of consciousness, and whether artificial intelligence will ever match human thought.
How does the brain — a three-pound gelatinous mass — give rise to intelligence and conscious experience? Was Freud right that we are all plagued by forbidden sexual desires? What is the function of emotions such as disgust, gratitude, and shame? Renowned psychologist Paul Bloom answers these questions and many more in Psych, his riveting new book about the science of the mind. Shermer and Bloom discuss: neuroscience • human nature • religion • souls • consciousness • Freud • sex and desire • Skinner • development • language • perception • memory • rationality • appetites • differences and disorders • the good life • happiness. Paul Bloom is Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, and the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University. His research explores the psychology of morality, identity, and pleasure. Bloom is the recipient of multiple awards and honors, including, most recently, the million-dollar Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize. He has written for scientific journals such as Natureand Science, and for the New York Times, the New Yorker, and the Atlantic Monthly. He is the author or editor of eight books, including Against Empathy, Just Babies, How Pleasure Works, Descartes' Baby, The Sweet Spot, and Psych: The Story of the Human Mind.
Go to any drug store and somewhere you will see the initials Rx. You probably assume it has to do with medicine or prescriptions or something. But why Rx? What do those letters stand for. This episode begins with an explanation. https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/06/rx-mean-come/ You are not the person you used to be. And you are not the person you will one day become. That's the message from Paul Bloom, psychology professor at the University of Toronto and the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale. Listen as he reveals what is likely the happiest years of your life, why you are different from everyone else and other fascinating insight into how your mind works to make you who you are. Paul is author of the book Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (https://amzn.to/3k524d5). The future is uncertain. And we tend not to like uncertainty. Yes, the future may be full of opportunity but it can also be full of danger and disappointment. So, let's take a fresh look at uncertainty with Nathan Furr. Nathan is a professor and author of several books on innovation with his latest book titled The Upside of Uncertainty (https://amzn.to/3SbJBZ6). Listen as he explains how to face the unknown in a different way that minimizes the risk and amplifies opportunity. Did you know there are very specific differences between a road a street an avenue and a boulevard? For example, all streets are roads but not all roads are streets. Listen and I'll explain what the differences are https://www.rd.com/article/difference-between-streets-roads-avenues/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! With Instant Match from Indeed, as SOON as you sponsor a job post, you get a shortlist of quality candidates whose resumes on Indeed match your job description, and you can invite them to apply right away! Visit https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING to start hiring now! Packed with industry-leading tools ready to ignite your growth, Shopify gives you complete control over your business and your brand without having to learn any new skills in design or code. Sign up for a $1/month trial period at https://Shopify.com/sysk to take your business to the next level today! Visit https://NJM.com/podcast for a quote to see how much you can save on your auto insurance! With With TurboTax, an expert will do your taxes from start to finish, ensuring your taxes are done right (guaranteed), so you can relax! Feels good to be done with your taxes, doesn't it? Come to TurboTax and don't do your taxes. Visit https://TurboTax.com to learn more. Intuit TurboTax. Did you know you could reduce the number of unwanted calls & emails with Online Privacy Protection from Discover? - And it's FREE! Just activate it in the Discover App. See terms & learn more at https://Discover.com/Online Discover Credit Cards do something pretty awesome. At the end of your first year, they automatically double all the cash back you've earned! See terms and check it out for yourself at https://Discover.com/match Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A sense of belonging is essential to human existence. Our ancestors needed to be part of a social group to be safe and provided for. Our need for acceptance still drives us. As an example, being ostracized in today's ‘cancel' culture has been referred to as a type of death. To better understand how the human mind has evolved to deal with the pressures of 24-hour access to social media and more, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with the Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, Paul Bloom. Paul shares the key concepts from his latest book, PSYCH: The Story of the Human Mind, and provides answers about how social interactions, or the lack of them, might stave off human happiness.
A sense of belonging is essential to human existence. Our ancestors needed to be part of a social group to be safe and provided for. Our need for acceptance still drives us. As an example, being ostracized in today's ‘cancel' culture has been referred to as a type of death. To better understand how the human mind has evolved to deal with the pressures of 24-hour access to social media and more, Harvesting Happiness Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with the Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, Paul Bloom. Paul shares the key concepts from his latest book, PSYCH: The Story of the Human Mind, and provides answers about how social interactions, or the lack of them, might stave off human happiness.This episode is proudly sponsored by:NUTRAFOL - Offers hair wellness from within. Use promo code HARVESTING to save $10 off your first month's subscription + free shipping (US only). Visit www.nutrafol.com. To learn more, visit www.harvestinghappinesstalkradio.com.
2:22 Paul's upcoming book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind 18:42 Bob's upcoming book, tk 24:27 Are psychopaths high in (cognitive) empathy? 33:29 How good are we at perspective taking—and how can we get better? 40:28 Elon Musk's apparent cognitive empathy deficit 49:57 Is cognitive empathy a biological adaptation? 1:06:10 Is it even possible to understand the minds of others? 1:16:47 Paul's budding interest in perversity Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded November 8, 2022. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65252 Twitter: https://twitter.com/bloggingheads Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe
Paul's upcoming book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind ... Bob's upcoming book, tk ... Are psychopaths high in (cognitive) empathy? ... How good are we at perspective taking—and how can we get better? ... Elon Musk's apparent cognitive empathy deficit ... Is cognitive empathy a biological adaptation? ... Is it even possible to understand the minds of others? ... Paul's budding interest in perversity ...