The Brain Is a Storyteller

3min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

David Irving is fascinated by why people believe crazy things. He says the brain wants to make us a hero in the story of our lives. When they have unorthodox information, they think it really must spread - whether it's about vaccines or anything else, politics. 'The brain isn't particularly interested in the truth,' he writes. "It's much more interested in motivating us"

Sam Harris speaks with Will Storr about the role that status plays in human life and culture. They talk about the taboo around caring about status, egalitarianism, the perpetual insecurity of status, how we play multiple status games simultaneously, identity, social connection, dominance, virtue, success, status as an evolved mechanism, gossip, status and health, the consequences of humiliation, the role of social media, status and politics, conspiracy thinking, moral panics, status and philanthropy, and other topics.

If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.

Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.