Government, Human Nature, and What AI Misses

Your brain isn’t as rational as you think, and that blind spot can wreck your decision-making, relationships, and even your health. In this episode, you’ll learn how to spot the hidden cognitive traps that even the smartest people fall for, and how to upgrade your thinking so you can perform better, live longer, and make choices that actually serve you. 

Watch the condensed video highlight version of this episode (and much more!) on YouTube: 

https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR 

Host Dave Asprey sits down with Steven Pinker, a world-renowned cognitive psychologist, Harvard professor, and bestselling author whose research reshaped how we understand language, bias, social norms, and rationality. Pinker’s decades of scholarship make him a trusted guide to the mechanics of the mind and the behaviors that either elevate or derail human performance and longevity. 

Together they break down how the brain actually reasons, why smart people still fall for tribal thinking, what current AI gets wrong about human intelligence, and how “common knowledge” quietly governs cooperation, law, and civility. This is a masterclass in brain optimization through better thinking, built for people who care about biohacking, hacking mental models, neuroplasticity, and high-performance decision-making.  

You’ll learn: 

• How to recognize and counter the “my-side bias,” even if you’re highly intelligent 

• Why common knowledge creates and sustains social norms and coordination 

• The art of indirect speech and tact, and how to calibrate your words to reduce social risk 

• Simple upgrades that make video calls feel closer to real eye contact and why that boosts trust 

• What today’s AI gets wrong about minds and why models hallucinate 

• Rational habits that work in the real world: steelmanning, probabilistic thinking, adversarial collaboration, and making bets as a tax on bad arguments 

• Why liberal democracy fits human nature better than autocracy and how norms erode or hold 

• How to rebuild face-to-face social skills in a screen-first culture to improve resilience and performance 

This is essential listening for fans of biohacking, brain optimization, human performance, neuroplasticity, and longevity who want clear, usable frameworks to think better and live better with Dave Asprey. 

Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights in health, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, biohacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living. 

New episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday (audio-only), and Sunday (BONUS). Dave asks the questions no one else will and gives you real tools to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient. 

Keywords: Steven Pinker, cognitive psychology, rational thinking, my-side bias, human nature, common knowledge, cognitive bias, AI and human intelligence, democracy and human behavior, social norms psychology, decision-making hacks, brain optimization, biohacking the mind, mental performance, neuroplasticity, rationality movement, bias and longevity, functional intelligence, Human Upgrade podcast, Dave Asprey, thinking traps, steelmanning, epistemic humility, outrage economy, psychology of power, critical thinking upgrade, hacking human performance 

Thank you to our sponsors!  

• KILLSwitch | If you’re ready for the best sleep of your life, order now at https://www.switchsupplements.com/ and use code DAVE for 20% off. 
• Timeline | Head to https://www.timeline.com/dave to get 10% off your first order. 
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**Order Steven’s new book WHEN EVERYONE KNOWS THAT EVERYONE KNOWS...: COMMON KNOWLEDGE AND THE MYSTERIES OF MONEY, POWER, AND EVERYDAY LIFE: HTTPS://TINYURL.COM/V685EVZR 

Resources:  

• Steven’s Website: https://stevenpinker.com/ 

• Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/DAVE15 

• Dave Asprey’s BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com

• Dave Asprey’s New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated 

• Upgrade Collective: https://www.ourupgradecollective.com 

• Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com 

• 40 Years of Zen: https://40yearsofzen.com 

Timestamps: 

0:00 — Trailer 

0:59 — Introduction 

1:58 — Human Nature 

3:30 — Cognitive Psychology 

5:46 — Academia Path 

7:32 — Canada vs. U.S. 

8:42 — College Value 

12:08 — Curiosity 

15:25 — Government & Humans 

19:56 — AI & Cognition 

24:45 — Fairness & Justice 

32:56 — Social Norms 

47:12 — Communication Skills 

55:32 — Virtual Society 

57:20 — Personal Biases 

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