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Something You Should Know

Dangers of Collective Illusions & The Inadequacy of Language - SYSK Choice

Something You Should Know

Mike Carruthers | OmniCastMedia

Science, Self-improvement, Social Sciences, Health & Fitness, Education

4.5 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2024

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You have likely noticed that in meetings, there are often 1, 2 or 3 people who tend to dominate the meeting and eat up a lot of time. In fact, did you know that the larger the number of people attending a meeting, the fewer of them actually say anything or participate. This episode begins by exploring why this happens and to get more people involved and to participate in important meetings. Source: Kevin Coyne author of Brainsteering (https://amzn.to/36pCqc1). People tend to conform to a group. That’s just human nature. We want to peacefully coexist with the members of our tribe. However, conforming to a group can be problematic according to Dr. Todd Rose, Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and author of the book Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity, and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions (https://amzn.to/3CZz6AF). One of the problems is, you may think you are part of the majority on certain issues when you are not. You see, we are wired to believe that the loudest voices represent what most people believe. That is where the trouble begins. This fascinating conversation will get you thinking… Have you ever wondered why there are so many different languages? What do languages have in common and how do they differ? And why do they differ? Does our language actually do an adequate job in communicating what we are trying to say? Here to explore this and to explain how language has helped humans thrive is N.J. Enfield, a professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney and author of the book, Language vs. Reality: Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists (https://amzn.to/3way7vK). Cover letters for a job application can be hard to write. And in the back of everyone’s mind who writes one is – Is anyone actually going to read this? Well, there is a little trick that will increase the odds of your letter being read by as much as 75%! Listen as I explain how this works. Source: Skip Freeman, author of Headhunter Hiring Secrets (https://amzn.to/3JjsJdM). PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Indeed is offering SYSK listeners a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to get your jobs more visibility at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING We love the Think Fast, Talk Smart podcast! https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/business-podcasts/think-fast-talk-smart-podcast Go to https://uscellular.com/TryUS and download the USCellular TryUS app to get 30 days of FREE service! Keep you current phone, carrier & number while testing a new network! NerdWallet lets you compare top travel credit cards side-by-side to maximize your spending! Compare & find smarter credit cards, savings accounts, & more https://NerdWallet.com TurboTax Experts make all your moves count — filing with 100% accuracy and getting your max refund, guaranteed! See guarantee details at https://TurboTax.com/Guarantees Dell TechFest starts now! To thank you for 40 unforgettable years, Dell Technologies is celebrating with anniversary savings on their most popular tech. Shop at https://Dell.com/deals Always find what you love and love what you find at Total Wine & More ! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Dell Tech Fest starts now.

0:03.0

To thank you for 40 unforgettable years, Dell Technologies is celebrating with anniversary savings on their most popular tech.

0:12.0

For a limited time only, save on select next-gen PCs

0:16.0

like the XPS 13-plus,

0:18.0

where you can make the everyday easier with Windows 11.

0:22.0

Plus, curate your dream setup with day easier with Windows 11.

0:23.0

Plus curate your dream setup with great deals on select monitors,

0:27.0

mice, and more must-have electronics and accessories.

0:31.0

When you shop online at Dell.com slash deals, you'll have access to leading edge technology

0:38.3

and free shipping on everything. Again, that's Dell.com slash deals.

0:45.0

Today on something you should know, how to get more people to participate in important meetings. Then we think we know what other people

0:55.7

think and what the majority consensus is and yet we're often dead wrong.

1:00.8

The way your brain figures out what group consensus is is a pretty flimsy shortcut.

1:07.3

Your brain assumes the loudest voices repeated the most are the majority.

1:12.4

So you can kind of already see the problem with that, right?

1:14.8

Also, how to make sure your cover letter on your job application actually gets read?

1:20.8

And language, it's how we communicate. It's one of our greatest inventions and it's often inadequate.

1:27.0

The thing about language is that it's not really designed to be a complete picture of what somebody is thinking or what exactly they

1:36.0

believe. We like to say about language that it's not perfect but it's good enough.

1:41.2

All this today on something you should know.

1:47.0

No matter what moves you made last year,

1:50.0

TurboTax experts make them count.

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