Cognitive Biases
195 episodes · Page 5 of 9
#3697: How to Reclaim Your Social Life After Friend Inheritance
Feeling like a tenant in your partner’s social circle? Here’s what research says about building independent friendships.
#3687: How Curiosity Shapes Specialists and Generalists
Why some brains crave novelty while others seek depth—and how both types fit together in society.
#3607: The Empathy Mixing Board: 3 Neural Systems Explained
Empathy isn't one dial—it's three independent neural systems. How they combine determines everything from burnout to manipulation.
#3605: Can You Retain Audio While Doing Dishes?
Does folding laundry while listening to a podcast help or hurt retention? The science is surprisingly clear.
#3575: What Barney the Dinosaur's Giggle Actually Does
A deep dive into the unsettling psychology behind Barney's giggle and what a T. rex teaching toddlers really means.
#3570: How Your Brain Builds a Philosophy
Where do your beliefs really come from? The surprising science of how humans build personal philosophies.
#3502: How Margin Prevents Collapse
Why slack in time, money, and emotions is essential — and how to build it before you break.
#3472: The Car Preflight Checklist Aviation Never Built
What if every car had a laminated aviation-style checklist in the glove box? Two minutes could prevent a blowout.
#3467: How to Actually Read People (It’s Not What You Think)
Thin-slice judgment, microexpressions, and why introverts may have an edge in spotting lies.
#3463: How to Find Your Own Style After a Lifetime of Parental Control
When your parents always chose your clothes, how do you discover what you actually want to wear?
#3448: How ACT Therapy Breaks Fusion with Your Thoughts
Cognitive fusion explained: when beliefs consume identity, and how defusion techniques create space between you and your thoughts.
#3444: Is Boredom Essential or a Bug to Fix?
Boredom triggers creativity, but only if you don't fill every gap with a screen. What the science actually says.
#3414: How to Actually Intervene in a Violent Attack
What the research says about the five tiers of intervention—from calling 999 to physical confrontation.
#3379: Why Airports and War Zones Both Feel Strangely Calm
The science behind feeling oddly relaxed in transit—and why national emergencies trigger the same response.
#3375: Does Expressiveness Actually Make Us Happier?
Mediterranean hand gestures vs. Finnish silence — which culture is actually happier? The data may surprise you.
#3373: What Feral Cats and Goldfish Reveal About Animal Minds
From feral cats in Jerusalem to goldfish memory myths—what do we actually know about animal inner lives?
#3363: Why the Teletubbies Sun-Baby Makes Infants Cry
The Teletubbies was engineered for pre-verbal brains. Here's why adult discomfort is a feature, not a bug.
#3357: Reading Silence Like a Sailor Reads Clouds
How to read a city's noise floor, spot anomalies, and stay relaxed but primed—without looking paranoid.
#3295: Why Strangers Drain Your Brain
The neuroscience behind why meeting new people exhausts you — and why it's not just in your head.
#3291: The 80% Job Spec Gap: Why You Should Apply Anyway
68% of recruiters accept 70% matches. Only 22% of candidates believe it. The data changes everything.
#3279: Frozen Desserts After Gallbladder Removal
How to get indulgence from frozen treats when your body can't handle fat.
#3239: Why the Brain Doesn't Fight Back Against Vyvanse
How SSRIs and Vyvanse trick the brain’s homeostatic machinery into healing instead of resisting.
#3204: The Expectation Cascade: How to Live Your Own Life
Bronnie Ware's deathbed research reveals the #1 regret: not living true to yourself. How to escape the expectation cascade.
#3198: Why Architects Still Use 1963 Pens
Why architects still use isographic pens and parallel rules in 2026 — and what that teaches us about thinking through our hands.