315 - May Contain Lies - Alex Edmans

You Are Not So Smart

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

4.6 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 9 June 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Alex Edmans, a professor of finance at London Business School, tells us how to avoid the Ladder of Misinference by examining how narratives, statistics, and articles can mislead, especially when they align with our preconceived notions and confirm what we believe is true, assume is true, and wish were true.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You can go to Kitted K-I-T-T-E-D dot shop and use the code Smart50, S-M-A-R-T-5-0 at checkout,
0:09.0	and you will get half off a set of thinking superpowers in a box.
0:14.4	If you want to know more about what I'm talking about, check it out.
0:17.0	Middle of the show. The Welcome to the You are not so smart
0:47.0	Episode
0:48.8	Episode 315
0:50.8	315
0:50.8	Episode 315.
1:14.3	So when Alfred Sloan was CEO of GM, he closed a meeting by asking, are there any objections to my decision?
1:15.8	There were no objections.
1:25.5	So he said, well, then I propose that we postpone the decision until the next meeting so that you have opportunities to come up with concerns.
1:37.1	My name is David McCraney. This is the You Are Not So Smart podcast. That was economist Alex Edmonds. And Alex Edmonds is a professor of finance at London Business School. He serves
1:43.7	on the World Economic Forum. He is a fellow of finance at London Business School. He serves on the World Economic Forum.
1:46.0	He is a fellow of the British Academy, the author of several books, and he once delivered
1:52.5	a TED Talk that has been viewed more than two million times titled What to Trust in a Post-Trust
2:00.4	World. He has a new book out titled, What to Trust in a Post Trust World.
2:01.9	He has a new book out titled, May Contain Lies.
2:06.2	And in it, he outlines something called the Ladder of Mis inference, which is why he is joining
2:13.2	us on this episode.
2:14.8	I wanted to ask him, Alex Edmonds, about this ladder. And I will do that. I will do
2:21.8	that very thing in just a moment. Because first, I feel like this is a great opportunity to lay some
2:30.4	psychological foundations not only for his ladder of misinference, but for something
	...

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