David McRaney || How Minds Change

What this episode covers

Today we welcome David McRaney. He is a science journalist fascinated with brains, minds, and culture. In 2012, he created the podcast You Are Not So Smart based on his 2009 internationally bestselling book of the same name and its follow-up, You Are Now Less Dumb. David is also an editor, photographer, voiceover artist, television host, journalism teacher, lecturer, and tornado survivor. His most recent book is called How Minds Change. In this episode, I talk to David McRaney about the science of belief and persuasion. In this day and age of online tribes and echo chambers, changing people’s opinions seems like an impossible task. Instead of arguing over facts, David encourages us to use empathy to understand why we disagree. He explains Piaget's framework behind knowledge building and shares the use of technique rebuttal for sincere conversations. Website: www.davidmcraney.com Twitter: @davidmcraney   Topics 02:12 David’s interest in how minds change 08:41 Piaget's Genetic Epistemology 13:49 Focus on motivations, not conclusions 16:35 Why do people see the viral 2015 dress differently?  23:44 How we produce and evaluate arguments 28:36 We’re living in a post trust world 32:32 How to change minds in large groups 44:33 Cults and conspiratorial communities 52:57 Technique rebuttal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.