In Episode 195 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Andy Norman, an award-winning author, public philosopher, and prominent advocate for the field of “cognitive immunology,” which studies the mind’s resistance to bad ideas.
In this conversation you will learn how mental immunity works, how epidemics of irrationality occur, and how present cultural conditions exacerbate the spread of bad ideas by compromising our mental faculties, exploiting loopholes in the evidentiary chain of reasoning that most of us rely on in order to assess, accept, or reject claims and assertions.
Whether we’re talking about the spread of baseless online conspiracies, increased political polarization, or the bewildering popularity of cancel culture, rethinking and reforming our approach to inquiry and dialectic is urgently needed.
In the Overtime, Andy and Demetri discuss ontological truth and explore the limitations of science and reason in helping ascertain reality. It includes discussions about spirituality, religion, the immaterial, and whether or not it is possible to know something authoritatively, even if you can’t explain it logically or through evidentiary reasoning. They also discuss mattering theory, something Demetri has covered in a prior episode with Rebecca Goldstein, as well as how to build up our mental immunity using concrete steps that help us become better thinkers and better brokers of information during a time when this is desperately needed.
You can access the episode overtime, as well as the transcript and rundown to this week’s episode through the Hidden Forces Patreon Page. All subscribers gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.
If you enjoyed listening to today’s episode of Hidden Forces you can help support the show by doing the following:
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | CastBox | RSS Feed
Write us a review on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe to our mailing list through the Hidden Forces Website
Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou
Subscribe & Support the Podcast at https://patreon.com/hiddenforces
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod
Follow Demetri on Twitter at @Kofinas
Episode Recorded on 06/15/2021
Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order | Gary Gerstle
Are We in a New Crypto Bull Market? | Framework Ventures
What’s Driving the Fall in Oil Prices? | Rory Johnston
How Can We Make Sense of the UAP Conspiracy? | Diana Pasulka
What Elites Don’t Understand About America | Rudy Havenstein
Who Makes The Rules In The Digital Gilded Age? | Tom Wheeler
Reflections on Life, Markets, & Investing | Zach Abraham
What Happened at OpenAI & Why It Matters | Nathaniel Whittemore
American Grand Strategy & the Logic of War | Edward Luttwak
Leadership and the Longing to Belong | Jerry Colonna
Artificial Intelligence and the Containment Problem | Mustafa Suleyman
How to Think About This Political Moment | Marshall Kosloff
Mounting Risk of a New World War | Walter Russell Mead
How America Broke Its War Machine | Michael Brenes
Iran's Role in the Hamas Attacks & Implications for the United States | Kamran Bokhari
What the Bond Sell-off Means for Investors | Andy Constan & Mike Green
Rise of the New Right & the Battle for America in 2024 | Henry Olsen
U.S. Semiconductor Export Controls On China Are Failing | Dylan Patel
The New Geopolitics of Global Finance | Brad Setser
Tech, Military, & Economic Drivers of US-China Competition | Diana Choyleva
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The emPOWERed Half Hour
NABOR® TALKS
U.S Property Podcast
Aligned Money Show
The Ramsey Show
Planet Money