245 - The Conspiracy Theorist Who Changed His Mind - Tim Harford

You Are Not So Smart

Science, Psychology, Brain, Business, Mental Health, Culture, Neuroscience, Mind, Health

4.6 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 28 October 2022

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Here’s a special bonus episode featuring my recent conversation with Tim Harford, author, economic journalist, and host of the Cautionary Tales podcast. We discussed a story from my new book, How Minds Change, about a conspiracy theorist who was certain 9/11 was an inside job until he actually visited Ground Zero to meet architects, engineers and the relatives of the dead. Tim and I reflect on what Charlie can teach us about those who hold strong beliefs even in the face of damning, contrary evidence and why persuasion, especially if attempted poorly, isn't always the right answer. Hear more from Cautionary Tales at https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/ctsmart

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the You Are Not So Smart Podcast.
0:27.6	Episode 245
0:46.8	This episode will be a little different from some of the other ones.
0:50.0	Although we've done this a few times before, this will be a home for home or a pod for
0:54.0	pod as they say, this is what happens when a podcast that you listen to features an episode
1:00.5	from another podcast on that podcast.
1:03.2	The difference with this one is I was the guest on the episode that I'm about to play
1:07.4	for you.
1:08.4	This episode comes from cautionary tales, which is a great podcast hosted by Tim Hartford.
1:14.3	He is a financial times columnist, the BBC broadcaster, the author of nine books, including
1:19.9	Messi, the undercover economist, how to make the world add up, and others.
1:25.9	And Tim is just this great storyteller, great interviewer, and the podcast, cautionary
1:31.2	tales is one of those podcasts that I was already listening to.
1:34.1	So I was very excited and honored to get a chance to be on the show.
1:39.0	If you've never heard this, cautionary tales is a show where Tim takes you through the
1:44.5	streams that human behavior and nature can throw at people, but he looks at the big
1:49.4	mistakes that people make, the greatest mistakes and the tragic catastrophes from the past.
1:54.6	And uses that as a way to see the valuable lessons we can learn from them.
1:58.7	I dig that as an idea, and in this episode, Tim takes me through a couple of stories
2:05.8	from my new book, How Minds Change, that go with that theme.
2:11.4	At a great time talking with Tim, and in this episode, we reflect on stories from people
2:17.2	who hold strong beliefs in the face of contrary evidence, but refuse to give up those beliefs
	...

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