On Opinion
Aug 5, 2020
How intelligence works, with David Robson
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"The more intelligent someone is, the more polarized their opinions on climate change become. More intelligent Republicans are actually more likely to be climate change deniers, while more intelligent Democrats are more likely to endorse the scientific consensus. So, at the extremes of intelligence, you really see a big strong divergence of opinion."
Turi talks with science writer and author of The Intelligence Trap, David Robson. What is intelligence? How does it create inequality? Do IQ tests favour the rich? Is intelligence a form of propaganda? What is the growth mindset? Where do rationality and morality intersect?
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Aug 31, 2022
Our Stone-Age Brains, with Maren Urner
S2 E29: Our Stone-Age Brains
“We have mental mechanisms that have been there since the Stone Age and no longer function in this environment”
Short-term thinking, lazy reasoning and stereotyping, and too much focus on what’s bad (the ‘negativity bias’)… all are throw-backs to our last major evolutionary stage, when humans lived in a world of scarcity, danger and constant tribal fighting.
In today’s more clement environment where resources are plentiful and the likelihood of being murdered minimal, those mental models no longer apply. In fact, over-reliance on those outmoded forms of thinking risk bringing us back to an age of conflict.“We can either change by design or change by disaster. I prefer the former.”
Listen to Maren make the case for embodied thinking, and explain how a new approach to conversation can change the way we engage socially and politically:
* The 3 Principles of Dynamic Thinking
* How to redefine groups
* Switching our focus from the individual to the collective
* Constructive Journalism
* Why thinking is embodied
* Why rational decision-making is always emotional
* The danger of habits
Prof. Maren Urner
Maren Urner is a neuroscientist, professor of media psychology, and the best-selling author of Raus aus der Erwigen Dauerkrise. She is also the founder of Perspective Daily, a German-language online magazine for constructive journalism.
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Meet Turi Munthe: https://twitter.com/turi
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Jan 12, 2022
The Spirituality Movement, with Jules Evans
S2 E28: The Spirituality Movement
“A lot of those who’ve left the church tend to be younger people, who nonetheless still consider themselves spiritual. They’ve been turned off by churches, but they haven’t necessarily gone full atheist, materialist…”
Religion is declining around the world. Even in America, the great outlier of the post-Christian West, half the population doesn’t believe in organised religion any more.
But the loss of our traditional beliefs has given rise to a growing number of ‘spiritualist’ alternatives. They range from mainstream ‘Wellness’ culture, through eco-spiritualism, occultism, witch culture on Instagram and astrology on TikTok, through to the darker visions of QAnon and Millenarianism.
What defines Spiritualist thinking? What are its roots? Why is it flowering now? And why does it bleed so easily into Conspiracy?“In the last two years, spiritual culture has curdled - from positive and optimistic to a much more fearful and paranoid kind of message…”
Listen to Jules and Turi discuss:
* The history of spiritualism, from the 16th century to today
* The cornerstones of spiritualist thinking: from myths and monsters through to harmony and health
* The ‘Meaning Gap’
* ‘Conspirituality’: why conspiracy theories and spirituality so easily bleed into each other.
* Intuition (over Reason) as a path to knowledge
* What Rationalists have lost
* How Spiritualists have reacted to Covid
Jules Evans
Jules Evans is a writer and practical philosopher interested in emotions, well-being, transcendence and flourishing. He is the author of Philosophy for Life: And Other Dangerous Situations, and The Art of Losing Control: A Guide to Ecstatic Experience.
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Nov 15, 2021
Generational Politics, with Bobby Duffy
S2 E27: Generational Politics
“If you truly understand what’s different between generations, you have a much better idea of what’s coming up in the future.”
It turns out there are very real differences between the generations. Key external events - a world war, a crippling global financial crash, 9⁄11, or even a pandemic - will mark a generation in a way that differentiates them from previous or later ones.
But there are also slower cultural and technological differences that also make their mark: consider the dwindling role of religion across the West over 4 generations, or the impact of smart phones on the way we all think.”The concept of the Generation is the most important one… because it is how history moves, changes, wheels and flows” - Ortega y Gasset
Bobby Duffy has written the book on generational differences, and here explains what brings us together and splits us apart - from our attitudes to sex, money and moral values to the way we think of driving or home-ownership.“Because we’re so deeply connected, looking at things generationally is really important to us because we want each generation after us to do better”
Listen to Bobby discuss:
* How to go about defining generations
* How we get our stereotypes right and wrong
* Why Gen Z are in a ‘sex recession’
* Why Gen X are so miserable
* Whether the Baby Boomers really did have it so much easier
* Whether there is space for the ‘individual’ in a demographic analysis of culture and personality
* The 3 Key drivers of attitudinal change
* And why we all live 200 years…
Read the Full Transcript
Bobby Duffy
Bobby Duffy is Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute. He has worked across most public policy areas in his career of nearly 30 years in policy research and evaluation, including being seconded to the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. He is the author of Generations - Does when you’re born shape who you are?
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Meet Turi Munthe: https://twitter.com/turi
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