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
227 - Imaginable - Jane McGonigal
226 - The World's Greatest Con - Brian Brushwood
225 - Blindsight and Neuromarketing
224 - The Conversation Lab - Misha Glouberman
223 - To Persuade is Human?
222 - The Power of Surprise - Michael Rousell
221 - Conversations and Conversions at the Portable Planetarium
220 - A Very Short History of Life on Earth - Henry Gee
219 - Irrational Labs - Evelyn Gosnell
218 - Unwinding Anxiety - Jud Brewer
217 - Livewired - David Eagleman (rebroadcast)
216 - Shape - Jordan Ellenberg
215 - Jerks at Work - Tessa West
214 - Exploring Genius
213 - Vaccine Hesitancy
212 - The Power of Us - Jay Van Bavel
211 - QAnon and Conspiratorial Narratives
210 - Julia Shaw - The Memory Illusion (rebroadcast)
209 - Masks (rebroadcast)
208 - The Extended Mind - Annie Murphy Paul
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