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
207 - A Slight Change of Plans - Maya Shankar
206 - Narcissism
205 - Unfollow - Megan Phelps-Roper
204 - On Being Certain - Robert Burton
203 - Transcend - Scott Barry Kaufman
202 - Desirability Bias (rebroadcast)
201 - Good Dog - Kate Leaver
200 - Socks and Crocs (rebroadcast)
199 - Math Without Numbers - Milo Beckman
198 - Reflection and Insurrection
197 - Conspiratorial Thinking
196 - Art (rebroadcast)
195 - Clearer Thinking - Spencer Greenberg
194 - Because Internet - Gretchen McCulloch
193 - Gossip
192 - The Dunning-Kruger Effect (rebroadcast)
191 - Livewired - David Eagleman
190 - Learned Helplessness (rebroadcast)
189 - The Vaccine
188 - The Happiness Lab - Laurie Santos (rebroadcast)
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