Michael Shermer with Dr. Andrew Shtulman - Scienceblind (Science Salon # 12)

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Why do we catch colds? What causes seasons to change? And if you fire a bullet from a gun and drop one from your hand, which bullet hits the ground first? In a pinch we almost always get these questions wrong. Worse, we regularly misconstrue fundamental qualities of the world around us. In Scienceblind, cognitive and developmental psychologist Dr. Andrew Shtulman, a professor of psychology and cognitive science at Occidental College, where he directs the Thinking Lab, shows that the root of our misconceptions lies in the theories about the world we develop as children. They’re not only wrong, they close our minds to ideas inconsistent with them, making us unable to learn science later in life.
So how do we get the world right? We must dismantle our intuitive theories and rebuild our knowledge from its foundations. The reward won’t just be a truer picture of the world, but clearer solutions to many controversies-around vaccines, climate change, or evolution-that plague our politics today.
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This event was recorded on April 23, 2017 at Science Salon, hosted by The Skeptics Society, in California.
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[@deeliciousplum]

Thank you for sharing this interview. I am now bitten and wish to explore Dr. Andrew Shtulman's writings and talks.

[@lkorcho6743]

@ the 47 min mark, the part of the digital copy of you, looking back at you (in this case from heaven) instantly reminded me of the White Christmas episode from the Black Mirror series. The show does exaggerate this concept of the idea of duplicating a conscience self, but it does mirror the logical issues Dr. Shtulman points out with which 'you' is actually you.

[@DAVIDPETERS12C]

If you're curious about the ancestral lineage of any of 1200 fossil and extant animals (specific snakes, birds, whales, bats, frogs, dinosaurs, etc.) all the way back to Devonian pre-tetrapods check out www.ReptileEvolution.com

[@magottyk]

Very interesting opening with reference to climate change, because as we all know the science is settled because consensus says so. Only there are narratives that place climate change as only being catastrophic regarding Anthropogenic Climate Change, these people also refuse to look at any facts that might counter that narrative and usually retort that it's the pace of change that's catastrophic. But then we get the issue of just what is the pace of change, because 20 ft sea rises haven't happened as predicted, the temperature rise has momentarily tapered and now there are reports that for the next few decades the minimum activity of the sun will produce low temperatures. The climate may be changing and humans might well be affecting that, but where is the catastrophe and when will it be upon us. I find it amusing that consensus is used to justify the alarm, but is consensus really consensus and is consensus actually right in the conclusions. Science by consensus is being scienceblind, which is why I find the opening amusing regardless of who may turn out to have the correct assessment of the dangers.