#YANSS
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jenlucpiquant.bsky.social
YANSS 345 – The historical patterns of behavior which have led to antivaxxers since the very first vaccines youarenotsosmart.com/2026/09/27/y...
YANSS 345 – The historical patterns of behavior which have led to antivaxxers since the very first vaccines
MIT professor Thomas Levenson, the author of the book A Pox on Fools, takes us through the same repeating patterns throughout history which have led to antivaxxers and vaccine hesitancy since the v…
youarenotsosmart.com
September 28, 2026 at 2:35 PM
bytepaws.gay
I've listened to a good amount of the YANSS podcast, but this won via our votes in alumni book club for the fall season. I've read @davidmcraney.bsky.social's "How Minds Change," but we're going to read this one next in the book club!!
The cover of the book, "You are Not so Smart: why you have too many friends on Facebook, why your memory is mostly fiction, and 46 other ways you're deluding yourself."
September 23, 2026 at 9:49 AM
thebigchingon.bsky.social
With the ICE shootings, they simply see things different. To understand it, listen to You Are Not So Smart episode 333. Then listen to the rest of his episodes. Very interesting.
youarenotsosmart.com/2026/02/16/y...
YANSS 333 – How can so many people watch the same event yet “see” so many different realities?
How can two people watch the same video yet see two different things? How can two people witness the same event but arrive at two different truths about what they witnessed? How can the same eviden…
youarenotsosmart.com
September 19, 2026 at 7:09 AM
paulo.pfmj.me
O cara do vídeo, imerso em teorias da conspiração absurdas, me fez lembrar desse episódio do "You Are Not So Smart" com razões pelas quais pessoas entram nesse poço e como retirá-las dele.
O exemplo é um negacionista dos ataques de 11 de setembro nos EUA que perdeu a crença (e foi atacado por isso)
September 14, 2026 at 10:51 AM
brandenp.bsky.social
It’s The Backfire Effect!

youarenotsosmart.com/2017/01/13/y...
YANSS 093 – The neuroscience of changing your mind
We don’t treat all of our beliefs the same. If you learn that the Great Wall of China isn’t the only man-made object visible from space, and that, in fact, it’s actually very difficult to see the W…
youarenotsosmart.com
August 26, 2026 at 4:24 PM
top10glenn.bsky.social
I listened to this years ago and along the same lines it was very illuminating. ALL politics are identity politics and we sort on how we identify ourselves:
youarenotsosmart.com/2018/08/04/y...
YANSS 133 – How politics became our identity
Dinner parties used to be where you avoided politics. Now talking about politics at dinner parties is the norm. Years ago, we avoided politics because we assumed the people at our table had diverse…
youarenotsosmart.com
August 26, 2026 at 3:03 PM
davidmair4.bsky.social
A great introduction to intellectual humility, a superpower of the modern age of AI-based confidence and certainty. The bedrock of critical thinking and meta-cognition.
Thanks @davidmcraney.bsky.social and Prof Porter.

youarenotsosmart.com/2025/11/24/y...
YANSS 322 – How the humbling science behind our general lack of intellectual humility can make us better humans
Can intellectual humility be measured? What influences it and affects it, limits it and enhances it? What even is it, scientifically speaking? We explore all of this and then play an episode of How…
youarenotsosmart.com
August 12, 2026 at 9:08 AM
brandenp.bsky.social
Kinda sounds like what they talk about in this podcast:
youarenotsosmart.com/2026/05/11/y...
YANSS 339 – How a new organization devoted to the science of debate, conversation, and deliberation plans to “save disagreement from polarization.”
Northwestern University just launched the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement, a real-world institution devoted to “research-backed approaches to cultivating open-mindedness, identif…
youarenotsosmart.com
August 2, 2026 at 8:01 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
That's why I suspect Point Taken might be helpful.

I heard about it on @davidmcraney.bsky.social's You Are Not So Smart.

It's a tool for discovering *why* you disagree with someone outside of talking points and posturing.

youarenotsosmart.com/2026/05/11/y...
YANSS 339 – How a new organization devoted to the science of debate, conversation, and deliberation plans to “save disagreement from polarization.”
Northwestern University just launched the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement, a real-world institution devoted to “research-backed approaches to cultivating open-mindedness, identif…
youarenotsosmart.com
July 24, 2026 at 12:41 PM
bigtittygarfield.bsky.social
Bruce Hood peels back the idea of identity and the reality of the illusory self.

youarenotsosmart.com/2015/07/20/0...
YANSS 054 – The self who wasn’t there
Is the person you believe to be the protagonist of your life’s story real, or do you daily witness the unfolding tale of a completely fictional character? In other words, is your very self so…
youarenotsosmart.com
July 22, 2026 at 4:42 PM
brandenp.bsky.social
This exact topic is covered in the Backfire Effect episodes

youarenotsosmart.com/2017/01/13/y...
YANSS 093 – The neuroscience of changing your mind
We don’t treat all of our beliefs the same. If you learn that the Great Wall of China isn’t the only man-made object visible from space, and that, in fact, it’s actually very difficult to see the W…
youarenotsosmart.com
June 2, 2026 at 4:12 PM
brandenp.bsky.social
It’s called The Backfire Effect — new knowledge or the correct facts don’t change people’s minds if it challenges their identities. The brain reacts the same way to an ideological attack as a physical one.

youarenotsosmart.com/2017/01/13/y...
YANSS 093 – The neuroscience of changing your mind
We don’t treat all of our beliefs the same. If you learn that the Great Wall of China isn’t the only man-made object visible from space, and that, in fact, it’s actually very difficult to see the W…
youarenotsosmart.com
June 2, 2026 at 4:10 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
Which is sad only because at least seventy of your episodes deserve more downloads than the billionaire-preppers ep.

To wit: youarenotsosmart.com/2026/05/11/y...
June 1, 2026 at 5:20 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
Which is sad only because at least seventy of your episodes deserve more downloads than the billionaire-preppers ep.

To wit: youarenotsosmart.com/2026/05/11/y...

This one gave me ideas, which I still need to usefully articulate.
YANSS 339 – How a new organization devoted to the science of debate, conversation, and deliberation plans to “save disagreement from polarization.”
Northwestern University just launched the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement, a real-world institution devoted to “research-backed approaches to cultivating open-mindedness, identif…
youarenotsosmart.com
June 1, 2026 at 5:19 PM
davidmcraney.bsky.social
Huh, this is now the most downloaded episode since my interview with @rushkoff.com about billionaire preppers (episode 242).

youarenotsosmart.com/2026/04/13/y...
YANSS 337 – How to preserve your critical thinking and avoid cognitive surrender when using AI to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new things
How is AI reshaping human reasoning? What is cognitive surrender, and how do we avoid its negative impact? What is system three thinking, and how can we get the most out of it? Artificial intellige…
youarenotsosmart.com
June 1, 2026 at 5:15 PM
patricktruchon.bsky.social
David (@davidmcraney.bsky.social), your latest episode about Enlightened Disagreement gave me so much hope. Thank you!

youarenotsosmart.com/2026/05/11/y...
YANSS 339 – How a new organization devoted to the science of debate, conversation, and deliberation plans to “save disagreement from polarization.”
Northwestern University just launched the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement, a real-world institution devoted to “research-backed approaches to cultivating open-mindedness, identif…
youarenotsosmart.com
May 18, 2026 at 10:30 PM
drdavemd.bsky.social
"How is AI reshaping human reasoning? What is cognitive surrender, and how do we avoid its negative impact?" youarenotsosmart.com/2026/04/13/y...
YANSS 337 – How to preserve your critical thinking and avoid cognitive surrender when using AI to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new things
How is AI reshaping human reasoning? What is cognitive surrender, and how do we avoid its negative impact? What is system three thinking, and how can we get the most out of it? Artificial intellige…
youarenotsosmart.com
May 18, 2026 at 4:48 PM
jibblescribbits.bsky.social
Every episode of @davidmcraney.bsky.social 's You Are Not So Smart is profound, interesting & good for society.

Here's a brilliant episode on how AI can cause "Cognative surrender" & how to avoid it.

youarenotsosmart.com/2026/04/13/y...
May 15, 2026 at 2:51 AM
jenlucpiquant.bsky.social
YANSS 338 – How to avoid the Ladder of Misinference in a world of sophisticated misinformation machines youarenotsosmart.com/2026/05/11/y...
YANSS 338 – How to avoid the Ladder of Misinference in a world of sophisticated misinformation machines
Alex Edmans, a professor of finance at London Business School, tells us how to avoid the Ladder of Misinference by examining how narratives, statistics, and articles can mislead, especially when th…
youarenotsosmart.com
May 11, 2026 at 2:11 PM
trikitrok.bsky.social
About avoiding cognitive surrender when using AI:
youarenotsosmart.com/2026/04/13/y...

from David McRaney ‪@davidmcraney.bsky.social‬
YANSS 337 – How to preserve your critical thinking and avoid cognitive surrender when using AI to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new things
How is AI reshaping human reasoning? What is cognitive surrender, and how do we avoid its negative impact? What is system three thinking, and how can we get the most out of it? Artificial intellige…
youarenotsosmart.com
May 9, 2026 at 6:20 PM
cgruenloh.bsky.social
Banger episode with the authors of the recent bombshell „cognitive surrender“ preprint paper. They walk us through the study; difference betw cognitive offloading and cognitive surrender to AI, the increased confidence despite wrong results and introducing system 3 thinking

🔥 highly recommended!
May 7, 2026 at 9:07 PM
fernly.eurosky.social
GOSH I miss neuroscience, sigh! Thank goodness for scicomm, podcasts like YANSS, etc. Also Aeon et al :)
May 5, 2026 at 11:39 PM
kennethkalmer.opensourcery.blog
Great thread, reminded me of this episode of You’re No So Smart and Debunkbot (which is brilliant)

youarenotsosmart.com/2024/10/29/y...
YANSS 299 – An interview with the scientists who created Debunkbot, an AI that reliably reduces belief in conspiracy theories via back-and-forth chat
Our guests in this episode are Thomas H. Costello at American University, Gordon Pennycook at Cornell University, and David G. Rand at MIT who created Debunkbot, a GPT-powered, large language model…
youarenotsosmart.com
May 2, 2026 at 7:43 PM
neil-vass.com
I originally heard it on the "How to Talk to People About Things" episode of this podcast, much recommend:
YANSS 143 – How to Talk to People About Things
In this episode, we sit down with negotiation expert Misha Glouberman who explains how to talk to people about things – that is, how to avoid the pitfalls associated with debate when two or more pe…
youarenotsosmart.com
April 29, 2026 at 8:22 PM
jibblescribbits.bsky.social
I thought this was a really insightful discussion on AI & really helped capture one of the main criticisms that people have about it.

"Cognative Surrender" vs "Cognitive Offloading" is a thing I'm going to think about a lot

youarenotsosmart.com/2026/04/13/y...
YANSS 337 – How to preserve your critical thinking and avoid cognitive surrender when using AI to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new things
How is AI reshaping human reasoning? What is cognitive surrender, and how do we avoid its negative impact? What is system three thinking, and how can we get the most out of it? Artificial intellige…
youarenotsosmart.com
April 25, 2026 at 3:29 PM