Common Sense, with Dannagal Young

Dec 1, 2024

Dr. Dannagal Young, a Professor of Communication and Political Science at the University of Delaware, dives into the murky waters of how 'common sense' is exploited in political discourse, particularly by figures like Donald Trump. She discusses the psychological traits influencing our political beliefs and how these affect climate change perceptions. Young emphasizes the need for relatable communication in addressing complex issues, especially in combating misinformation and psychological reactance among resistant audiences.

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INSIGHT

Common Sense in Populism

Populist leaders, like Trump, often champion "common sense," which distrusts institutions and data.
This resonates with people who rely on intuition and gut feelings for understanding the world.

INSIGHT

Paths to Truth

People determine truth through intuition/gut feelings or faith in science/data.
Those relying on intuition are more likely to support Trump and believe misinformation.

INSIGHT

Heuristics and Decision-Making

People often make decisions without much thought, relying on heuristics.
Even those who claim to trust data often use heuristics based on source credibility.

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Common sense? Ain't nothing common about it.

Populists - like Donald Trump - love to appeal to 'common sense', while pushing ideas as contentious as they come. But what does Trump get right about how he talks to people about big ideas - and what can everyone else learn from it? And what does all this mean for how to talk about something as complex and polarised as climate change?

In this episode I'm joined by Dr Dannagal Young, Professor of Communication and Political Science at the University of Delaware. Danna is the author of 'Wrong: how Media, Politics, and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation'. We talk about her amazing work on the psychological underpinnings of political tribes, including how much any of us actually like to think about complicated things at all.

These new-format episodes take a long time to record, script, and edit. If you like it - that'll make me happy.

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Owl noises = references:

07:15 - Here's a paper by Danna about lay epistemology.
10:45 - Sophia Rosenfeld's book, Common Sense: A Political History
12:17 - Wikipedia entry on Thomas Paine's Common Sense.
24:27 - Alex Bellos sets puzzles every week in the Guardian.
25:58 - Want to measure your own need for closure? Check out the Kruglanski scale.
44:25 - Awful lot of stuff written about using fear in climate messaging. Here's a decent piece from Scientists for Global Responsibility.
47:28 - If you've liked this episode and you haven't read Kahneman's seminal Thinking Fast and Slow, you better get on it.
52:09 - Numberphile2 on YouTube explains the Monty Hall problem (with visuals, which really helps).

Your Brain on Climate is a podcast about human psychology vs the climate crisis. Contact the show: @brainclimate on Twitter, or hello@yourbrainonclimate.com.

Support the show on Patreon: www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.

The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell, who you can find @powellds on Bluesky and X/Twitter, although I don't use the latter any more.

YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me. Lots of other lovely bed music in this episode by Rockot. Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.