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
267 - Do Your Own Research - Sedona Chinn
266 - Project Alpha - Brian Brushwood
265 - Chess Queens - Jennifer Shahade (rebroadcast)
264 - Nobody's Fool - Dan Simons and Christopher Chabris
263 - The Truth Wins - Tom Stafford (rebroadcast)
262 - If It Sounds Like a Quack - Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling
261 - Hack Your Bureaucracy - Marina Nitze
260 - The Science of Stuck - Britt Frank (rebroadcast)
259 - Think Again - Adam Grant (rebroadcast)
258 - Under Alien Skies - Phil Plait
257 - What Do You Mean? - Celeste Kidd
256 - The Persuaders - Anand Giridharadas
255 - Good Arguments - Bo Seo
254 - I Never Thought of It That Way - Mónica Guzmán
253 - The World's Greatest Con - Brian Brushwood (rebroadcast)
252 - Procrastination - Britt Frank
251 - Come up for Air - Nick Sonnenberg
250 - Awe - Dacher Keltner
249 - The Power of Surprise (rebroadcast)
248 - Visual Thinking - Temple Grandin
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