Oct 18, 2019
Science journalist David Robson, author of the brilliant The Intelligence Trap - Why smart people make dumb mistakes, takes us on a wild ride through the stupid things smart people do, and why.
We explore:
- Why real life human vampires are more deserving of compassion than scorn
- How the ancient study of wisdom (and how to live our best life) is having a resurgence and renewal through the lens of Evidence Based Wisdom
- How intellectual intelligence is different to rationality intelligence, and how this can be measured
- The frightening condition of DYSRATIONALIA - when smart people think and do dumb things
- How mindfulness is a step towards diminishing this trap
- Why we need to get analytical about intuition
- The importance of developing an emotional compass - this includes emotional awareness, differentiation, and regulation of emotions
- How Brexit is the perfect example of motivated reasoning by smart people that drives greater polarisation
- Benjamin Franklin’s moral algebra and its ability to immunise a little bit against motivated reasoning
- How finding common ground and assessing the quality of the evidence in someone’s argument is the best method to avoid being polarising
- If you are susceptible to “Pseudo-Profound Bullshit” (statements that sound profound but are really vacuous), you might need to take the cognitive reflection test
- Emotional intelligence can be a bridge between intelligence and avoiding some major biases
- Key tips to help avoiding the intelligence traps: curiosity, humility, considering the opposite viewpoint through the lens of evidence
- Maintain a child-like curiosity, wonder and awe at the world.
👉🏼 Want to share your experience? Ask a question? Share a resource? Jump on our podcast Facebook page here.
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Shownotes: www.zoerouth.com/podcast/davidrobson
Books recommended by David:
Cure - A journey into the science of Mind Over Body by Jo Marchant
Possessed - Why we want more than we need by Bruce Hood
About David Robson:
David is a senior journalist at BBC Feature. He writes in-depth features on medicine, psychology and neuroscience for the Atlantic, New Scientist, Mosaic, Aeon, and the Guardian. He is the author of The Intelligence Trap, published by Hodder and Stoughton (UK)/ WW Norton (USA & Canada) in 2019. A popular science book in the style of Malcolm Gladwell and Charles Duhigg, The Intelligence Trap explores cutting-edge psychological research on intelligence and decision making, to explain why even highly educated people are prone to error - and the ways they can protect themselves from those mistakes. Translation rights have been sold in 12 languages.
He has interviewed everyone from real-life vampires to the hyper-polyglots who have mastered more than 30 languages, and the scientists hunting for the elixir of life – in whale blubber.
David’s website
TWITTER: @d_a_robson
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Related episodes:
E6 - How to deal with the Trump Factor
E37 - How to change even the most stubborn bad habits -with Lisa Lahey
E109 - How to stop cockups, crackpots and conniptions
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About your host, Zoë Routh:
Zoë Routh is one of Australia’s leading experts on people stuff - the stuff that gets in our way of producing results, and the stuff that lights us up. She works with the growers, makers, builders to make people stuff fun and practical.
Zoë is the author of four books: Composure - How centered leaders make the biggest impact, Moments - Leadership when it matters most, Loyalty - Stop unwanted stuff turnover, boost engagement, and build lifelong advocates, and People Stuff - Beyond Personalities: An advanced handbook for leadership. People Stuff was awarded Book of the Year 2020 by the Smart WFM Australian Business Book Awards.
Zoë is also the producer of The Zoë Routh Leadership Podcast.