Is a hotdog a sandwich?
Well, that depends on your definition of a sandwich (and a hotdog), and according to the most recent research in cognitive science, the odds that your concept of a sandwich is the same as another person's concept are shockingly low.
In this episode we explore how understanding why that question became a world-spanning argument in the mid 2010s helps us understand some of the world-spanning arguments vexing us today.
Our guest is psychologist Celeste Kidd who studies how we acquire and conceptualize information, form beliefs around those concepts, and, in general, make sense of the torrent of information blasting our brains each and every second. Her most recent paper examines how conceptual misalignment can lead to semantic disagreements, which can lead us to talk past each other (and get into arguments about things like whether hotdogs are sandwiches).
Previous Episodes
Why can’t we settle the “is a hot dog a sandwich?” debate?
How Minds Change
David McRaney’s Twitter
YANSS Twitter
Newsletter
Celeste Kidd’s Website
Celeste Kidd’s Twitter
Latent Diversity in Human Concepts
067 - The Fallacy Fallacy
065 - Survivorship Bias (rebroadcast)
064 - Monkey Marketplace - Laurie Santos (rebroadcast)
063 - The Search Effect - Matthew Fisher
062 - Naive Realism - Lee Ross
061 - Mindfulness - Michael Taft
060 - Reframing - Robert R. Morris
059 - The Illusion Of Control - Michael And Sarah Bennett
058 - Technology - Clive Thompson (Rebroadcast)
057 - PTSD - Robert D. Laird
056 - Magicians And Scams - Brian Brushwood
055 - WEIRD People - Steven J. Heine
054 - The Self - Bruce Hood (rebroadcast)
053 - Adaptive Learning - Ulrik Christensen
052 - Learned Helplessness
051 - Work - Laszlo Bock
050 - Happy Money - Elizabeth Dunn (rebroadcast)
049 - Rejection - Jia Jiang
048 - Contact
047 - Public Shaming - Jon Ronson
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