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
248 - Visual Thinking - Temple Grandin
247 - Narcissism (rebroadcast)
246 - Ideaflow - Jeremy Utley
245 - The Conspiracy Theorist Who Changed His Mind - Tim Harford
244 - Quit - Annie Duke
243 - Psychological Tweetathon with Jay Van Bavel
242 - Survival of the Richest - Douglas Rushkoff
241 - The Status Game - Will Storr
240 - QAnon and Conspiracy Narratives (rebroadcast)
239 - You're Invited - Jon Levy
238 - Chess Queens - Jennifer Shahade
237 - Reactance - Michele Belot
236 - How Minds Change
235 - Tough - Terry Crews
234 - The Truth Wins - Tom Stafford
233 - The Puzzler - A. J. Jacobs
232 - Think Again - Adam Grant
231 - On Being Certain - Robert Burton (rebroadcast)
230 - The Science of Stuck - Britt Frank
229 - What's Your Problem? - Jacob Goldstein
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Flash Forward
RiYL
Tell Me Something I Don’t Know
HOME: Stories From L.A.
Apps for Kids