#128 – Dr Micah Goldwater on The Psychology Of Pseudoscience And Conspiracy Theories

In this episode of Better Thinking, Nesh Nikolic speaks with Dr Micah Goldwater about understanding the psychology of pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. Dr Micah Goldwater received his BA in Linguistics from the University of Rochester in 2003, completed his PhD in Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin in 2009, and then held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Northwestern University until joining the University of Sydney in 2013. Dr. Goldwater's research investigates the nature, acquisition, and use of knowledge. This work focuses on how children and adults can look past the superficial to recognize when disparate situations, problems, or ideas share deep structural commonalities. He examines both basic processes of cognition and development, their underlying neural mechanisms, and develops applications to improve education and public health. To achieve these broad research goals, Dr. Goldwater investigates a number of interrelated topics such understanding the psychology of pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. Episode link at https://neshnikolic.com/podcast/micah-goldwaterSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.