The Dissenter

Explore the intriguing world of mating systems in primates, from social and genetic monogamy to pair bonding dynamics. Delve into cooperative breeding behaviors, dispersal patterns, and the evolution of parental care in primates. Learn from Dr. Eduardo Fernandez-Duque's research on male-female relationships and paternal care in humans and non-human primates.

Explore how languages reveal differences in thinking and perception, from time and numbers to social relationships and colors. Dr. Caleb Everett discusses linguistic diversity and the influence of environment on language evolution. Discover the correlation between arid climates and complex tones in languages, along with the challenges of studying grammatical patterns. Uncover the uniqueness of thought diversity through languages and numbers.

Dr. Daniel Simons discusses cognitive psychology behind deception, truth bias, cognitive tendencies, and deception tactics. He explores how focus, prediction, commitment, and deficiency make us susceptible to scams. The episode emphasizes critical thinking, questioning assumptions, and staying vigilant against manipulation tactics.

Exploring the history of multiverse concepts from ancient thinkers to modern physics theories, including Einstein and string theory. Discussing the Big Bang, counterfactuals, and the origins of our universe. Delving into the implications of multiple universes, dimensions beyond the known four, and the anthropic principle. Exploring the future of the universe, potential collapses, and the role of artificial intelligence. Touching on time travel, simulations, and how the multiverse is portrayed in pop culture.

The podcast delves into cultural neuroscience, debates the scientific validity of race and ethnicity, warns against racialized medical info, and explores empathy in human-robot interactions. It challenges traditional views on race, genetics, and health disparities, advocating for precision in scientific research.

Discussing epistemic responsibility and strategic ignorance, the podcast delves into how people assign responsibility based on knowledge and intentions. It explores the impact of relevant information on decision-making and the concept of strategic ignorance in real-life scenarios. The discussion highlights the ethical implications of choosing to remain ignorant for self-preservation and the importance of considering the welfare of others in decision-making.

Discussion on regime instability in democracies and autocracies, importance of support for democracy, fluctuating levels of satisfaction with democracy in Western nations, effectiveness of civic education in fostering democratic values, impact of economic crises on regime stability, and the guest's work promotion and show appreciation.

Exploring the alliance theory of political belief systems, the podcast discusses the formation of alliances, the divide between Democrats and Republicans, and the origins of political belief systems. It challenges conventional explanations for political ideologies, highlighting inconsistencies within them. The episode also touches on moral foundations theory, moral systems, and the influence of alliances on political conflicts.

In this podcast, Dr. Liuba Papeo discusses social perception, focusing on what we pay attention to when perceiving others, interpreting cues from faces, minimal social scenes, distinguishing interacting vs. non-interacting dyads, decoding social cues like positioning and mimicry, exploring embodied cognition and social interactions, brain processing of social information, and concluding with contact info and sponsor acknowledgements.

The podcast explores the integration of ecological psychology and neuroscience, discussing the historical split between the two fields. It contrasts biological and abstract views in neuroscience, delves into complexity science, and advocates for a holistic understanding of cognition. The challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration in academia are also addressed.