Very Bad Wizards

Episode 266: I Want to Half-Believe

Aug 8, 2023

01:22:56

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Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Behavior as the Best Metric of Belief

02:30

The Psychological Reasons Behind Superstitions and Weird Connections

01:24

The Role of Social Scripts in Recycling

01:24

Visual Thinker's Insights

02:31

Introduction

2min

How to Defend Your Right to Free Expression

2min

A Quantitative Examination of Half Belief in Superstition

2min

The Differences Between Internal Monologue and Mental Imagery

2min

The Importance of Conversations

2min

How to Talk to Yourself Internally

2min

How to Have a Good Night's Sleep

2min

The Power of Memories

2min

How to Memorize Written Material

2min

10.

Vocalize Thoughts in Your Mind

2min

11.

How to Be a Better Friend

3min

12.

How to Be a Better Listener

2min

13.

How to Talk to Yourself

2min

14.

The Problem With Thinking in Words

2min

15.

The Importance of Speaking Out Loud

2min

16.

The Importance of Beliefs in Life

4min

17.

How to Support David's Beats

5min

18.

The Relationship Between Belief and Behavior

2min

19.

The Importance of Half Belief

2min

20.

The Role of Belief in Superstitions

2min

21.

The Cost of Ensuring Our Baby's Safety and Health

2min

22.

The Power of Belief

2min

23.

The Overlooked Nature of Superstitions

4min

24.

How to Measure Your Superstitions

2min

25.

The Evil Eye

2min

26.

The Power of the Evil Eye

2min

27.

The Counterfactual of Good Luck

2min

28.

The Toxic Rationalist

2min

29.

The Importance of Being Called Believer

2min

30.

The Power of Believing in Sports

2min

31.

The Role of Social Scripts in Recycling

2min

32.

The Effect of Belief on Our Daily Behavior

3min

33.

The Power of Belief

2min

34.

Calibration and Belief in Superstitions

2min

35.

The Paradox of Calibration

2min

36.

The Importance of Belief

2min

37.

The Eight Circle of Analytic Philosophy

2min

38.

Very Bad Was It?

2min

Last December, with Argentina minutes away from a World Cup championship, friend of the show Yoel texted David “congratulations.” David was furious, and soon after (with less than 2 minutes left in extra time) France’s Mbappe scored a game-tying goal to send the match into penalty kicks. (Argentina ended up winning or Yoel might have become ‘former friend of the show.’) David says he doesn’t believe in jinxes at all but his actions suggest otherwise. We talk about a paper on this phenomenon of “half-belief”: when your behavior and your stated beliefs don’t align. Plus Tamler and David take a survey and discover that they lead radically different inner lives.

James Steele's Tweet

Caspi, A., Shmuel, E., & Chajut, E. (2023). A quantitative examination of half-belief in superstition. Journal of Individual Differences.