Understanding Semantic Variability and Concept Alignment

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The chapter explores the challenges of communication, revealing how differences in mental models lead to misunderstandings. It discusses research on concept alignment using examples like penguins, emphasizing how contextual factors influence categorization. The episode highlights the complexity of semantic cognition and the variability in how individuals interpret and represent concepts, shedding light on the impact of semantic disagreements on communication and understanding.

Is a hotdog a sandwich?

Well, that depends on your definition of a sandwich (and a hotdog), and according to the most recent research in cognitive science, the odds that your concept of a sandwich is the same as another person's concept are shockingly low.

In this episode we explore how understanding why that question became a world-spanning argument in the mid 2010s helps us understand some of the world-spanning arguments vexing us today.

Our guest is psychologist Celeste Kidd who studies how we acquire and conceptualize information, form beliefs around those concepts, and, in general, make sense of the torrent of information blasting our brains each and every second. Her most recent paper examines how conceptual misalignment can lead to semantic disagreements, which can lead us to talk past each other (and get into arguments about things like whether hotdogs are sandwiches).

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Why can’t we settle the “is a hot dog a sandwich?” debate?

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