Episode 54: Confirming Our Identities by Tricking Ourselves

After hearing a striking study on the You Are Not So Smart podcast, I had to jump in and reflect. The episode explores how even the most rational, mathematically inclined people can twist numbers to support their identity-driven beliefs, often without realizing it. I unpack what that means for critical thinking, why simply informing people rarely works, and how it connects to behavior change, public health campaigns, and personal bias. There’s no tidy conclusion here. Just a set of tough, fascinating questions about how we form our beliefs and how hard we work to keep them intact. You Are Not So Smart 317: https://youarenotsosmart.com/2025/07/10/yanss-317-how-to-reimagine-the-marketplace-of-ideas-by-changing-how-if-and-when-we-talk-about-politics/