Welcome to the Making Sense Podcast. This is Sam Harris. Just a note to say that if you're

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Today I'm bringing you Nicholas Christakis. Nicholas is a sociologist and a physician. He

directs the Human Nature Lab at Yale University, where he is appointed as the

Saul Goldman family professor of social and natural science, and he's the co-director of the Yale

Institute for Network Science. His lab focuses on the relationship between social networks and well-being.

At his research engages two types of phenomena. The social mathematical and biological rules

governing how social networks form. This is referred to as connection in his work. And the biological

and social implications of how they operate to influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

And this is often referred to as contagion. His lab also does experiments in how to change

population level behavior related to health and cooperation and economic development.

So it's very interesting work. And I would have wanted to speak with Nicholas anyway about his work,

but another thing that reminded me of the need to speak with him was his experience at Yale,

which you may have seen on YouTube. And you should watch it now if you haven't.

But he was the professor a while back who was standing before a howling mob of students

and stood there with the imperturbability of a saint, really, as he was castigated by young men and

women who were properly unhinged by their identity politics and some of the crazy ideas about speech

...