Two Psychologists Four Beers

Researcher, professor, and former Division III football player Nick Epley joins the show to talk about why we underestimate the benefits of social connections. We are a social species, and yet many of us choose to avoid connecting with others. Nick and I talk about his research on this, and about his new book, A Little More Social, which is all about how we can change our behavior to connect more with others.
Special Guest: Nick Epley.

Instead of a new episode this month, we have one from the vaults that many newer listeners might not have heard (because it came out almost 7 years ago). But, especially since Paul has a new baby (see first link), re-releasing this one seemed fitting. And it's always been one of my favorites. We'll be back with new episodes in the coming months.

Original Episode Description

Yoel and Mickey welcome Paul Bloom to the podcast, who is not only a returning guest but also the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of Psychology at Yale University. We first give terrible advice on parenting. Does parenting affect happiness, relationship satisfaction, and meaning? Does parenting screw with prospective decision making because it leaves the decision maker utterly transformed? We next discuss perversity. Why do we enjoy doing transgressive things? Who is likely to be perverted? Is perversion ever a good strategy?

Bonus: How would Paul rate Yoel on a scale of 1 to 5?
Special Guest: Paul Bloom.

Many academics care about diversity in faculty hiring, but why? Azim Shariff joins the show to talk about his new paper where he describes rationales for diversity in hiring, and an as-yet unpublished study where he asked department chairs how much they actually care about those rationales. We also talk about the empirical evidence for the diversity rationales (it's mixed!), Paul Bloom's argument against viewpoint diversity, and the future of DEI policies in the U.S.

Plus, Azim deviates from his long-standing practice of not drinking beer.
Special Guest: Azim Shariff.

Mickey and Yoel talk about Canada's controversial euthanasia law (called MAID: medical assistance in dying). Since its introduction in 2016, an increasing number of Canadians are choosing euthanasia (in recent years, more than 5% of deaths in Canada were the result of MAID). We talk about the history of the law, criticism of it in Canada and abroad, and our own discomfort (or lack of) with legal euthanasia.

Separately, we also discuss a new paper that claims to show robust ego depletion effects--but is it just showing fatigue by another name?

Paul Litvak joins the show to talk about how AI tools can help us measure research quality and assess evidence in the scientific literature. His first project is a way to extract test statistics and p-values from papers automatically, with no manual coding needed. We also talk about Paul's non-profit dedicated to improving the reliability of scientific research, the legendary judgment and decision making scholar Robin Dawes (whose entirely algorithmic approach to graduate student selection once went terribly awry), and Paul's exit from academia. Plus, Yoel reveals a shameful secret about his use of AI.
Special Guest: Paul Litvak.