Dr. Alan Levinovitz is an Associate Professor of Religion at James Madison University, and author of Natural: How Faith in Nature's Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science. In this episode we talk about Alan’s book Natural, and attempt to understand why people gravitate towards assuming what is natural is good, what is unnatural is bad, and how people come up with ideas of naturalness in the first place. We contrast examples such as “unnatural” foods and medicines improving our lives, and “natural” diseases harming us, to make the case that what is natural may not be good, and what is unnatural may not be bad. We discuss historical and evolutionary reasons, including reducing uncertainty, for why humans tend to deify the natural and associate it with the good, as well as the philosophical implications of these differing worldviews, and how to cope with uncertainty.

Dr. Frans de Waal is a primatologist and the C. H. Candler Professor in the Psychology Department of Emory University and Director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. He has been elected to the (US) National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences. He’s the author of several bestsellers including Chimpanzee Politics, Good Natured, Our Inner Ape, The Age of Empathy, Mama’s Last Hug, and most recently, Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist. In this episode, we talk about Dr. de Waal’s most recent book, Different, comparing and contrasting sex and gender differences amongst humans, chimpanzees, and bonobos. Chimpanzees are patriarchal, competitive, and aggressive; while bonobos are matriarchal, peaceful, and highly sexual. Humans are somewhere in-between. We talk about how the field of primatology evolved over the decades, especially during the feminist revolution, and how old views of human and primate evolution focusing on male-dominance and violent competition, rather than egalitarian cooperation, have gone out of fashion. We talk about the role human moral values play in shaping the behavioral sciences, both for good and for bad. Lastly, we talk about how understanding which gender differences are natural and which are socially constructed allows us to reduce sexism and discrimination.

Dr. Kim Meidenbauer is a social, cognitive, and environmental neuroscientist, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Chicago, and incoming Assistant Professor at Washington State University. Her research focuses on how the physical environment influences brain development, and in turn, our cognition, emotion, and social behavior.    In this episode we talk about Kim’s research on how physical environmental stressors, such as heat exposure, influence our brains and predict social behavior, including crime rates. Additionally, we talk about the positive effects of greenspace, spending time in nature, on development and mental health, and how these effects can be measured using data gathered from smartphones and social media posts.   We talk about the question of free will: how free are we really, if our brains and behaviors are shaped by environmental and genetic influences? Lastly, we talk about the important policy implications of Kim’s research, especially as climate change accelerates and as we become more aware of the influence of the physical environment on our mental well-being.

Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar is a psychologist, best-selling author of the books Happier and Being Happy, and co-founder of the Happiness Studies Academy. In this episode we talk about the science of happiness, its roots in positive psychology, and what psychology commonly gets wrong about happiness. We talk about how happiness is neither synonymous with pleasure nor the “just fine” state of not being unhappy. We talk about mismatches between our current environment and our ancestral environment, and how lack of exercise, poor nutrition, and poor social bonds contribute to the epidemic of unhappiness. We talk about anti-fragility, meaning, delay of gratification, and how an optimal level of stress and scarcity is necessary for happiness. Lastly, we talk about how Tal founded the Happiness Studies Academy, and how happiness studies has emerged as an interdisciplinary new science.

Dr. Sofie Valk is a neuroscientist, Head of the Cognitive Neurogenetics Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, and Research Group Leader at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behavior (INM-7), Research Centre in Jülich, Germany, where she studies the interplay of genetic factors and social behavior on brain structure. In this episode, we talk about Sofie’s background in neuroscience and cognitive science, her PhD research on how brain structure relates to empathy and theory of mind, and her current research on genetic factors relating to brain development and social cognition. Additionally, we discuss the nature and nurture debate in the context of neurogenetics research, and how genetic influences can be modeled by comparing twins, siblings, and non-related strangers for similarity.

Dr. Courtney Hilton is a cognitive scientist and postdoctoral research fellow at The Music Lab at Harvard University. In this episode we talk about Courtney’s background as a musician and transition into cognitive science, and how musical cognition is studied in humans. We discuss evolutionary theories of whether music evolved for socially adaptive purposes or as a byproduct of language, how certain universal acoustic patterns such as higher pitch during play and in speaking to children, and lower pitch to signal dominance during conflict, may have given rise to the different emotions music can elicit, and how we find an optimal level of complexity in enjoying music. Additionally, we talk about Courtney’s recent work on cross-cultural patterns of music, such as singing to infants, as well as how music and musical cognition differs across cultures.

In this episode, we talk about all things narcissism: from its manifestations (grandiose vs. vulnerable), behavioral patterns, personality traits, status and reward seeking, genetic and social determinants of narcissism, the role of technology and social media use in fueling narcissism, and narcissism as an evolutionary adaptation to certain ecological niches. We also discuss Dr. Campbell’s research on “geek culture” and how this relates to status seeking and narcissism, and how narcissism relates to the hero’s journey and costly fitness indicators in evolutionary theory. Lastly, we discuss the inverse of narcissism, imposter syndrome and intellectual humility, how arousal theory and affect relate to one’s ego, and how understanding narcissism can help foster a healthy sense of self.

Dr. Mark Ho is a Cognitive Scientist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Princeton University. His research provides insights into human planning and social cognition by developing computational theories (e.g., using probabilistic models, reinforcement learning, neural networks) and testing those theories experimentally with people. Learn more about Mark’s work at: https://markkho.github.io/ In this episode we discuss Mark’s recent research on value-guided construals (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04743-9), and how the problem of navigation relies not just on devising a path to your destination, but also how detailed to construct your mental map. Value-guided construals refer to dynamically adjusting the detail of our mental representations necessary to achieve our value-guided goals. We then talk about mental representation more broadly, both in humans and artificial intelligence, and discuss the role of intentionality and agency in humans and machines, using examples such as natural language processing algorithms and autonomous vehicles. Lastly, we talk about free will and how value-guided construals may also be utilized in social cognition, how our value-guided construals relate to other aspects of cognition such as attention, and Mark’s future research plans.

Dr. Isabelle Brocas is an economist, neuroscientist, Professor at the University of Southern California, and co-director of the Los Angeles Behavioral Economics Laboratory and the Theoretical Research in Neuroeconomic Decision Making Institute. In this episode we discuss, broadly, how neuroeconomics emerged as an interdisciplinary field combining economics and neuroscience in order to better explain what makes humans rational or irrational in different situations. We discuss game theory, the concept of rationality, Isabelle’s own research on neurodevelopment and strategic decision-making in children, the nature and nurture debate in the context of the development of economic reasoning, and finally, intervention studies which may help improve education and well-being in disadvantaged youth. Learn more about Isabelle’s work at: https://isabellebrocas.org/

Dr. Andy Norman is a philosopher, Director of the Humanism Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University, Founder of the Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative, and author of Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think. In this episode we discuss Andy’s book and the concept of mental immunity, the evolved system in our mind used to combat mind-parasites, much like the body’s immune system combats physical pathogens. We cover a variety of topics including mental heuristics, ingroup-outgroup bias, cultural selection of memes, conspiracy thinking, truth seeking, fixed vs. growth mindsets, and the role of science and rationality in public discourse.