Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg
Episodes
Schemas, goals, values, and the pursuit of happiness (with Jeff Perron)
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What does it mean to have conflicts between our schemas and our values? What is schema therapy? How do schema ther...
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and beyond (with David Burns)
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What was therapy like in the years leading up to the advent of CBT? Has CBT now been over-sold? How does CBT diffe...
There are shrinks, and then there are SUPER-shrinks (with Daryl Chow)
03 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is a "super-shrink"? Which factors in the therapist-client relationship are most predictive of positive clien...
Bringing conspiracy theorists back from the brink (with Jesse Richardson)
28 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Have conspiracy theories been more prevalent, more persuasive, or more convoluted in the last few decades than at ...
Simulacra levels, moral mazes, and low-hanging fruit (with Zvi Mowshowitz)
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why do we leave so much low-hanging fruit unharvested in so many parts of life? In what contexts is it better to d...
Effectively encouraging people to give more (with Josh Greene)
15 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can people be encouraged in ways that are more natural and less manipulative to increase the amounts they give...
We can't mitigate AI risks we've never imagined (with Darren McKee)
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we find and expand the limitations of our imaginations, especially with respect to possible futures for hu...
What tools do students really need in order to become successful humans? (with AJ Crabill)
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why did students struggle so much to learn through video meetings during the locked-down days of the pandemic? Wha...
Rethinking what it means to learn math (with Eugenia Cheng)
22 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What should the goals of math education be? What does it mean to "think well"? Is math real? Why are feelings of b...
Values, principles, and behavior change (with Eric Zimmer)
15 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What can we learn from the parable of the two wolves? What is valuism? Do we choose our own intrinsic values? How ...
Escaping a cult: physically, mentally, and emotionally (with Daniella Mestyanek Young)
08 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How do the experiences of children born into cults differ from members who join as adults? Why do some cults that ...
Win-Win vs. Moloch, the many-headed monster that may consume us all (with Liv Boeree)
01 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Who's Moloch? And what do we mean when we call something "Molochian"? What does healthy competition look like? How...
Do technological innovations yield net gains in the long run? (with Justin Smith-Ruiu)
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are the limits of tech solutionism? Do technological innovations create as many problems as they solve? Or, i...
Money, status, power, and sex in nightclubs around the world (with Ashley Mears)
18 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What interesting social phenomena can be observed at nightclubs? What are "whales" hoping to achieve by spending b...
Is bad air quality slowly harming us? (with Richard Bruns)
11 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How bad is the air quality in the US and around the world? What's the evidence that certain kinds of particles in ...
Journalism in the age of AI (with Dylan Matthews)
04 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Will large language models (LLMs) replace journalists any time soon? On what types of writing tasks do LLMs outper...
Experiments for enlightenment and fundamental wellbeing (with Jeffery Martin)
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Is enlightenment the same as being happy all the time? Or being at peace all the time? Or something else? What is ...
Mothers who harm their children for attention (with Andrea Dunlop)
20 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is Munchausen syndrome? How does Munchausen syndrome differ from malingering? Does Munchausen usually correla...
Is evolutionary psychology just a bunch of "just so" stories? (with Geoffrey Miller)
13 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why do even people who accept evolutionary explanations for most biological phenomena often push back against evol...
Systems of governance built on prediction markets (with Robin Hanson)
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is futarchy? Why does it seem to be easier to find social innovations rather than technical innovations? How ...
Using metacognitive therapy to break the habit of rumination (with Pia Callesen)
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is metacognitive therapy? How does MCT differ from CBT, DBT, and other mental health therapy paradigms? How d...
How quickly is AI advancing? And should you be working in the field? (with Danny Hernandez)
23 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Along what axes and at what rates is the AI industry growing? What algorithmic developments have yielded the great...
Can we choose who we are? (with Gavin Leech)
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Can we really deeply change who we are? Can we choose our preferences, intrinsic values, or personality more gener...
Normalizing catastrophes and catastrophizing normalcy (with Mike Pesca)
09 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Besides the need to attract attention, what are some other drivers behind the news media's tendency to "catastroph...
What's wrong with society, and how can we fix it? (with Tim Urban)
02 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What's wrong with society? And what can we do to fix it? Centuries ago, a person's grandparents lived in a world t...
AI creativity and love (with Joel Lehman)
26 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Where does innovation come from? How common is it for "lone wolf" scientists to make large leaps in innovation by ...
Glimpses of enlightenment through nondual meditation (with Michael Taft and Jeremy Stevenson)
19 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How does nondual meditation differ from other forms of meditation? Is nonduality the sort of thing a person can ju...
Crumbling institutions, culture wars, and the dismissal economy (with Ashley Hodgson)
12 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is the New Enlightenment? What might it mean to improve our epistemics with regard to institutions? How shoul...
Virtual reality, simulation theory, consciousness, and identity (with David Chalmers)
05 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What does philosophy have to say about virtual reality (VR)? Under what conditions is "normal" reality preferable ...
Deep canvassing, street epistemology, and other tools of persuasion (with David McRaney)
28 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is persuasion, and what is it not? How does persuasion differ from coercion? What is the Elaboration Likeliho...
Will AI destroy civilization in the near future? (with Connor Leahy)
21 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Does AI pose a near-term existential risk? Why might existential risks from AI manifest sooner rather than later? ...
Is AI development moving too fast or not fast enough? (with Reid Hoffman)
14 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Many people who work on AI safety advocate for slowing the rate of development; but might there be any advantages ...
Where philosophy meets the real world (with Peter Singer)
07 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How have animal rights and the animal rights movement changed in the last few decades? How has the scale of animal...
Large language models, deep peace, and the meaning crisis (with Jim Rutt)
31 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are large language models (LLMs) actually doing when they churn out text? Are they sentient? Is scale the onl...
Censorship, cancel culture, and truth-seeking (with Iona Italia)
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. When is a certain speech act an opinion versus a call to action? Does that distinction matter for censorship purpo...
Why are birth rates plummeting? And how much does it matter? (with Malcolm & Simone Collins)
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is pro-natalism? How fast are birth rates falling around the world? How long will it take for us to really fe...
Science is learning from start-ups (with Adam Marblestone)
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are focused research organizations? Which kinds of research projects lend themselves to the FRO model? Resear...
The range of human perceptual experiences (with Anil Seth)
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How does the world differ from our perception of it? Where is color located? Is the self constructed in the same w...
The capabilities approach to welfare (with Martha Nussbaum)
27 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is the capabilities approach to welfare? To what is this approach reacting? How should capabilities be balanc...
Should you become a charity entrepreneur? (with Joey Savoie)
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is charity entrepreneurship? What sorts of incentives pull charities away from their stated goals? Why is Eff...
Has political polarization been misunderstood? (with Nick Gillespie)
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Are the US's culture wars a sign of a society falling apart? Is social media a cause or a symptom (or both or neit...
How can you tell if you're cut out for entrepreneurship? (with Matt Clifford)
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are "variance-amplifying" and "variance-dampening" institutions? Has the world been getting weirder recently?...
Letting ChatGPT make your decisions for you (with Dax Flame)
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What would happen if you chose to let ChatGPT control your life for a year? If products like ChatGPT help us (e.g....
What good is college now that we can learn everything for free on the internet? (with Nick Dirks)
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why are colleges and universities valuable to societies? Why does formal post-secondary education seem unnecessary...
Not seeing your face as a first step to enlightenment? (with Richard Lang)
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is The Headless Way? What are we like before we accept the names, roles, and narratives given to us by other ...
Is giving people a sense of agency better than giving them cash? (with Richard Sedlmayr)
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Can giving people a sense of agency and dignity be better than giving them access to food, shelter, clothing, or c...
Are you working on the most important problem in your field? Why not? (with Rohit Krishnan)
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How are curiosity and innovation connected? What's the most important problem in your field? And are you working o...
How huge a deal is climate change, really? (with Diana Ürge-Vorsatz and Misha Glouberman)
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How huge a deal is climate change, really? What's the right metric for determining how bad climate change effects ...
Becoming a policy entrepreneur (with Tom Kalil)
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is a "policy entrepreneur"? Can people become policy entrepreneurs if they're not already a political office ...
How to build your second brain (with Tiago Forte)
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is a "commonplace book"? What traits are desirable in "second brain" tools? What are some common mistakes peo...
Does every language have a word for depression? (with Sean Mayberry)
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why is depression on the rise globally? We've all heard that social media is a big cause of depression, but what o...
What things in life *shouldn't* we optimize? (with Christie Aschwanden)
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why should we not optimize some things in life? Should some things (e.g., interpersonal relationships) be "off-lim...
How can we make science more trustworthy? (with Stuart Ritchie)
19 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we make science more trustworthy? When scientists break into factions around a particular topic, whom shou...
Living a life of service to others (with Tasshin Fogleman)
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is a "quasi-monk"? How hard is it to govern one's own speech and thoughts? What is "maximum deep benefit"? An...
Mapping metaethics (with Lance Bush)
05 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is metaethics? Is moral objectivism the same thing as moral realism? When philosophers examine sentences like...
Do organizations have to get slower as they grow? (with Alex Komoroske)
28 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why do organizations get slower as they grow? What can organizations learn from slime molds? What are the advantag...
How can we un-break politics? (with Magnus Vinding)
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we as individuals and as societies un-break politics? What is the two-step ideal of reasoned politics? How...
Why capitalism doesn't live up to its promises (with Martin Schmalz)
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why doesn't capitalism seem to be living up to its promises of free and fair competition, low prices, and high qua...
Anti-interoperability, vendor lock-in, and high switching costs (with Cory Doctorow)
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is interoperability? What counts as "unauthorized" access to computers or parts of computers? If the rendered...
Separating the sinner from the sin (with Khomotso Moshikaro)
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is a criminal label? What implications should criminal labels have (or not) for a person's future? To what ex...
The FTX catastrophe (with Byrne Hobart, Vipul Naik, Maomao Hu, Marcus Abramovich, and Ozzie Gooen)
28 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What the heck happened with FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried? Were there early warning signs that most people failed to n...
How to find out what people in rural communities really need (with Robert Chambers)
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is the field of development? What are the differences between rapid and participatory rural appraisal? Under ...
Building healthy relationships (with Jayson Gaddis)
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are the main categories of interpersonal relationship problems? What's really going on when most people say t...
Bringing rationality into politics (with Elizabeth Edwards-Appell)
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How do campaign and election dynamics affect the sorts of people that politicians court and the kinds of platforms...
Sex workers — empowered, or victims? (with Melissa Broudo)
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Content warning: Please be aware that rape and sexual abuse are discussed in this episode. If you are particularl...
What, if anything, do AIs understand? (with ChatGPT Co-Creator Ilya Sutskever)
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Can machines actually be intelligent? What sorts of tasks are narrower or broader than we usually believe? GPT-3 w...
Forecasting the things that matter (with Peter Wildeford)
21 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we change the way we think about expertise (or the trustworthiness of any information source) using foreca...
Is the universe a computer? (with Joscha Bach)
12 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is intelligence? What exactly does an IQ test measure? What are the similarities and differences between the ...
Inventions, stories, and ideas that don't matter (with Pablos Holman)
05 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How does 3D-printed food work? How do hackers and inventors think? What are some ideas that don't matter? Why are ...
Humble-bragging, counter-signalling, and impression management (with Övül Sezer)
28 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What should we do (or not do) to make a good first impression on others? Is "humble-bragging" better or worse than...
Ambition and expected value at extremes (with Habiba Islam)
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Are ambition and altruism compatible? How ambitious should we be if we want to do as much good in the world as pos...
Career science, open science, and inspired science (with Alexa Tullett)
14 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How much should we actually trust science? Are registered reports more trustworthy than meta-analyses? How does "i...
Estimating the long-term impact of our actions today (with Will MacAskill)
07 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is longtermism? Is the long-term future of humanity (or life more generally) the most important thing, or jus...
The differences between analytic and continental philosophy (with Alexander Prescott-Couch)
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is the genetic fallacy? How do the analytic and continental philosophical traditions differ? What is the role...
Voting method reform in the US (with Aaron Hamlin)
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Does the US have one of the worst implementations of democracy in the world? Why do people sometimes seem to vote ...
Critiquing Effective Altruism (with Michael Nielsen and Ajeya Cotra)
19 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is Effective Altruism? Which parts of the Effective Altruism movement are good and not so good? Who outside o...
How to form habits effectively (with Jim Davies)
10 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we form good habits more effectively? What roles do reward and punishment play in the habit formation proc...
Are scientific journals just parasites? (with Chris Chambers)
07 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How is outcome bias especially relevant to science publishing? What are some possible solutions for overcoming out...
Human bias in the definition of intelligence (with Alene Anello)
27 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Are all animals equally intelligent but in different ways? Do some animals perceive the passage of time differentl...
Guess culture vs. ask culture (with Will Eden and Sam Rosen)
20 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How straightforwardly should we communicate our preferences to others? How many times does a person need to say "y...
Are we all the heroes of our own stories? (with Cate Hall)
13 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Is our adoption of beliefs primarily motivated by wanting to be the heroes of our own stories? Why do we have such...
Content moderation and its dis-content-moderators (with Ada Palmer)
06 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How does the current information revolution compare to previous information revolutions? What kind of event or set...
Exploring sex science and pseudo-science (with Mary Roach)
29 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are some surprising discoveries in the science of sex? What should we do when animals break human laws (e.g.,...
The worst mistakes people make with diet and exercise (with Menno Henselmans)
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is willpower, really? What are the differences among willpower, self-control, self-discipline, and other rela...
Communicating what you really mean (with Misha Glouberman)
15 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Why is most communication advice so fluffy? How can we actually communicate better? Why do we sometimes fail to sa...
Taking pleasure in being wrong (with Buck Shlegeris)
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How hard is it to arrive at true beliefs about the world? How can you find enjoyment in being wrong? When presenti...
A philosophical theory of jerks (with Eric Schwitzgebel)
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. To what extent does thinking about ethics actually cause a person to behave more ethically? Do ethicists behave mo...
How meanings get words and social sciences get broken (with Literal Banana)
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How do meanings get words? What is ethnomethodology? Some attempts at defining words are successful; but why do so...
Dealing with our "groupstruckness" and "boundedness" (with Katja Grace)
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What does it mean to be "groupstruck"? How does groupstruck-ness differ from the bystander effect, normalcy bias, ...
Math as a perspective on life (with Marcus du Sautoy)
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we have System-2-type reflection but with System-1-type speed? How can math be considered to be a "fast" w...
A former Al-Qaeda recruiter speaks (with Jesse Morton)
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. NOTE: When we published this episode a few days ago, we were unaware that Jesse had passed away back in December ...
Cognitive biases and animal welfare (with Leah Edgerton)
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What are some of the tensions between short-term and long-term thinking about how best to reduce animal suffering?...
Is it bad to coerce yourself to do unpleasant things? (with Matt Goldenberg)
20 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is non-self-coercion? What's so bad about coercing ourselves to do things we don't want to do? What is "the r...
Our 100th episode! (with Uri Bram and Spencer Greenberg)
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Is it possible to be both agreeable and skeptical in conversations? How can you give feedback and challenge people...
Volunteering to be infected with COVID — for science! (with Josh Morrison)
06 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How can we develop vaccines more quickly? What kinds of study designs are used (or could be used) during vaccine d...
What we really mean when we say that something will "probably" happen (with Walt Hickey)
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. Graphic novels have been around for a long time, so why have graphic novel sales skyrocketed suddenly in the last ...
Why is self-compassion so hard? (with Kristin Neff)
23 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is self-compassion? Why do people struggle so much to show themselves the same kind of compassion that they r...
Why it's so hard to have confidence that charities are doing good (with Elie Hassenfeld)
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. How does GiveWell's approach to charity differ from other charitable organizations? Why does GiveWell list such a ...
Shovelgloves and extreme moderation (with Reinhard Engels)
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is "extreme" moderation? What is the "No S" diet? What is a "shovelglove"? Why be a luddite only on the weeke...
Mental models that apply across disciplines (with Blas Moros)
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read the full transcript here. What is a mental model? What are "the three buckets"? How can Galilean relativity and alloying apply to non-scienc...