236: Nick Chater | Perceptual Limitations And Mental Depth Illusion In “The Mind Is Flat”

Does the mind have less depth to it than is readily assumed? Are we able to multitask at all? Professor Nick Chater joins on episode 236 to discuss the qualities of the brain that give it depth or the illusion of mental depth.

Professor Chater is Professor of Behavioral Science at Warwick Business School, has over 200 publications, and has been editor for Cognitive Science and Psychological Review journals.

His research focuses on the cognitive and behavioral sciences, including reasoning, decision-making, and language. He has done experimental, computational, and mathematical studies of basic mental processes.

Show notes:

• Professor Chater’s research and past content, as well as his educational history
• how the myth of unconscious thought is not applicable
• why multitasking is not the way that the brain is built to handle projects and tasks
• the way that the material in Professor Chater’s book connects with the interpreter concept from past episodes
• how little we can see with our eyes at any one time
• risk-seeking qualities versus risk-averse nature in decision-making
• how feelings are invented in response to physiological base responses and other processes underneath
• the way that some are able to have a sense of other’s feelings, like Gary from a past episode
• if it is reasonable to look at what we do in a stimulus-response form of maneuvering

I was glad to have Professor Chater on the show. You can check out his faculty page to see his breadth of publications.