Are you an idea junkie?

I am, and since you listen to a show like this, you probably are too.

It's exciting to hear about ideas, especially new ones.

There's a progression that happens when you hear a new idea.

You run it through your brain, try to envision where it might lead, who'll benefit from it,

who'll it hurt, will it be worth the cost?

Is it legal? Is it morally defensible? Is it, in fact, a good idea?

Today's episode is about ideas.

But we run that progression in reverse, rather than asking if a new idea is a good one.

We ask, well here, you can tell if me answers what we ask.

The idea that I believe is ready to retire.

I think an idea that is really bad.

That's detrimental to society. He's the idea.

The scientific idea, I believe, is ready for retirement, is the Apes.

That's right. We are asking a bunch of people to name an idea that should be killed off.

An idea that's commonly accepted, but which, in fact, is impeding progress.

Would you like, for instance?

My lab's research focuses on the development of the adolescent brain.

That's Sarah Jane Blakemore. She's a professor of cognitive science at University College London.

The idea that she'd like to kill off is the idea that people are either right-brained or left-brained.

When people say left-brained, apparently what they tend to mean is a mode of thinking

which is more kind of logical and analytical and accurate.

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