Bob Froehlich-Retired Chemist, Counselor, Psychology Professor and Julia Minton-Technology Consultant
In this age of fake news, alternative facts and information overload, this podcast offers cognitive self-defense strategies and topics that will help you unders...
#102-Worldviews and How they Guide our Beliefs-with guest Annick de Witt
This episode takes a deep dive into the concept of “worldview”, based on the research and work done by Annick de Witt: researcher, writer, teacher, and founder of the organization Worldview Journeys. Topics discussed include: conceptualizing the idea of worldview; how our worldview might affect our beliefs and behaviors; examples of types of worldviews; methods of uncovering our own worldview and the worldviews of others we communicate with; how an awareness of worldviews can help us examine our own beliefs while also improving our dialogues with others.
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59:12
#101-The Virtues of Evidence-Based Policy Making-with guest Robert MacCoun
Even though they affect all of our lives, most of us know almost nothing about how policies are made, especially policy made by our state and federal governments. So, Julia and Bob learned a lot from this conversation with guest: Robert MacCoun, Law Professor at Stanford University. With a Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD degree in Psychology, professor MacCoun has long worked at the nexus between law and psychology and specialized in bringing evidence-based policy making into policy decisions, including controversial areas such as military policy debates about allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the US military and drug policy. His book, "Drug War Heresies" is considered a landmark scholarly analysis of the drug legalization debate.
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59:06
#100-Foundations and Future of Critical Thinking-with guest Kevin deLaplante
This discussion with philosopher, former tenured professor at Iowa State University, and now independent critical thinking educator and consultant, Kevin deLaplante, revisits the importance and benefits of critical thinking in today’s post-truth world, reviews the basic skills involved with critical thinking and understanding of human cognitive vulnerabilities, while also introducing more recent ideas about human cognition like the Predictive Processing Model and Extended Mind Theory. The resources for learning and practicing critical thinking, found at Kevin’s Argument Ninja Dojo membership program, are also discussed.
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59:03
#99-How internet influencers, algorithms and crowds are altering our politics, our society and our very relationship to reality-with guest Renée DiResta.mp3
Researcher, author and former Research Manager of the Stanford Internet Observatory, Renée DiResta, discusses how numerous internet-savvy individuals (influencers) are causing a profound shift in power and influence over our politics, beliefs and behavior, as outlined in her recent book: Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality. She also discusses: what can be done to mitigate the negative effects of this influence while harnessing the power of the internet to bring us together to thrive as we reestablish the trust and cooperation needed to meet our future global challenges.
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59:07
#98-The Nature of Curiosity and it’s implications for Critical Thinking-with guest Jacqueline Gottlieb
Professor Jacqueline Gottlieb, Principal Investigator at Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute and former head of the Research Cluster on Curiosity at Columbia University’s Center for Science and Society, brings her research experience and deep thinking about the human brain's higher cognitive functions—including decision making, memory, and attention—to discuss that wonderful and invaluable human capability that we call curiosity.
In this age of fake news, alternative facts and information overload, this podcast offers cognitive self-defense strategies and topics that will help you understand and master critical thinking in forming your claims beliefs and opinions.