Science Fictions

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.comEither there are massive differences between the brains of men and women, or there aren’t any notable differences at all - and people who think differences exist are “neurosexists”. It’s easy to find well-qualified scientists making each of these arguments. They can’t all be right. What’s going on? What do the biggest and best MRI studies of brain sex differences tell us? Do we know what causes them, or how they might affect our psychology? And what does “sexual dimorphism” even mean, anyway? In this paid-only episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart try to sort through some of the diametrically-opposed scientific claims.To listen to the full version of this episode and see the show notes, you’ll need to be a paid subscriber to The Studies Show podcast on Substack. Go to www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe to see the options. If you’re already a paid subscriber: thank you!

Why do some people love parties and others prefer to stay at home with a book? Why do some people worry endlessly about all the bad things that might happen, while others breeze through life with supreme confidence? Why is Stuart such a nice guy and Tom far less so?In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart discuss personality and the personality tests that are supposed to measure it. They discuss whether it might be the Big Five or the Big Six, what measuring personality is good for, and whether “Grit” is even a thing. Not only that, but for the many, many people who are desperate to know, they both reveal their own personality test results.The Studies Show is sponsored by Works in Progress magazine. We absolutely love reading its beautifully-written, well-researched essays on science, technology, and human progress, and if you’re a listener to this podcast, we’re pretty sure you will, too. Take a look at the whole collection of articles—all available for free—right here.Show Notes* Free site to calculate your Big Five personality profile* Free site to calculate your Big Six (HEXACO) personality profile* Tom’s Big Five personality profile:* Stuart’s Big Five personality profile:* Is it the Big Five or the Big Six? An example of a paper that supports the latter option* Razib Khan’s podcast interview with personality psychologist Brent Roberts* Example of a study on personality and job performance* Paper by Christopher Soto testing the replicability of personality’s associations with life outcomes* Paper showing how “Grit” is really just a re-description of “Conscientiousness”* Severe critique of the Big Five by “a literal banana” (also read the comments!)* Story of the Hans Eysenck personality-and-health fraud (also see this meta-analysis of personality and health)* Meta-analysis of how personality factors change over time* Meta-analysis of interventions that can change personality factorsCreditsThe Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com/subscribe

The podcast discusses statistical significance and p-values, exploring misconceptions and ways to prevent p-hacking. It also covers the problem of false positives, the controversy around power posing, and the link between reading on an e-reader and delayed sleep onset. The hosts highlight the importance of interpreting p-values correctly and consider potential solutions such as pre-registration and Bayesian statistics.

In this special end-of-year episode, the hosts of The Studies Show discuss the positive science news from 2023, including the approval of a new malaria vaccine and a game-changing affordable prevention drug. They also touch upon the potential downsides of the slim fit diet, the exponential growth of electric vehicles, advancements in battery technology and solar energy, and the exciting advancements in medical science, particularly in the treatment of cancer.

The hosts delve into the controversy surrounding falling sperm counts, exploring various studies and their limitations. They discuss potential causes including endocrine-disrupting chemicals and cultural factors. The chapter also touches on vaccine perception, improvements in the world, and the challenges of studying sperm count decline.

The podcast discusses the hyped microbiome, its impact on health including mental health disorders, challenges in measuring the microbiome, questioning the claim of eating 30 different plants, benefits of fecal microbiome transplants for C diff infections, the gut-brain connection and mood disorders, controversy surrounding force-feeding animals for foie gras, and confident claims about the microbiome.

The podcast discusses the intersection between science and politics, debating whether it's appropriate for scientists and scientific journals to express political opinions. They explore the potential impact on scientific credibility and address the concept of publication bias. The hosts also examine the moral implications of eugenics and selective breeding. Overall, they stress the importance of maintaining objectivity in scientific research and separate personal politics from scientific discourse.

In this adults-only episode, the podcast explores the motivations behind 'No Nut November' and the negative consequences of pornography. It also discusses culture-bound syndromes affecting men's perception of sexual health.

Teaching children to read using systematic phonics is the best approach, but a prominent phonics skeptic's arguments are compelling. The podcast explores the debate between phonics and whole language learning, the controversy surrounding meta-analysis, and the effectiveness of phonics teaching in English schools. The hosts also discuss the challenges of teaching reading and the flaws and inconsistencies in research studies on systematic phonics.

The podcast discusses the errors made in previous episodes, including cultural references and location descriptions. It also covers the reanalysis of a meta-analysis on cash transfers and the link between football and dementia. The importance of correcting mistakes in scientific papers is highlighted.