Mental Immunity: For the Passionately Ignorant and Willfully Disinformed with Andy Norman PhD & Renata Salecl PhD

What is true is not always what some choose to believe. There are some people who subscribe to the ignorance is bliss philosophy and others have difficulty discerning which information is born in conspiracy or in science. To gain a better understanding of those who wish to remain passionately ignorant and willfully disinformed, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two authors who specialize in the science of the mind. In Andy Norman’s book, Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think, he examines what makes some groups more susceptible to mind ‘bugs’ and mental hijacking. His cognitive hygiene concept offers mental immunity to those who prefer to think rationally and want to protect themselves from conspiracy theories. Sociologist Renata Salecl shares the core theme of her book, Passion for Ignorance: What We Choose Not to Know and Why. Her research studies why in this modern age of big data, genetics, and neuroscience people still choose to be ignorant about things that affect them and their health.