Rationally Speaking #156 - David McRaney on "Why it’s so hard to change someone’s mind"

Rationally Speaking Podcast

New York City Skeptics

Society & Culture, Skepticism, Science, Philosophy

4.6 • 787 Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2016

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You're probably already aware that it's hard to change someone's mind with logical arguments and evidence, especially about emotionally charged topics. But are there exceptions? David McRaney, bestselling author of "You Are Not So Smart" (and host of the blog and podcast by the same name) describes his experiences with people who have done an about-face on some important topic, like 9/11 conspiracy theories. He and Julia discuss a technique for changing someone's mind with evidence, how individual mind-change mirrors scientific progress, and what happens when you confront Trump fans with facts that contradict their narrative.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Rationally Speaking is a presentation of New York City skeptics dedicated to promoting critical thinking, skeptical inquiry, and science education.
0:22.5	For more information, please visit us at NYCCEceptics.org.
0:31.0	Welcome to Rationally Speaking, the podcast where we explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense.
0:41.0	I'm your host, Julia Galef, and with me is today's guest, David McRaney.
0:45.5	David is the best-selling author of the books, You Are Not So Smart, and its follow-up, You Are Now Less Dumb.
0:52.4	Two books with a lighthearted approach to the study of biases,
0:55.9	fallacies, and the psychology behind them. He also runs the blog and podcast, You Are Not So Smart,
1:02.3	and he's written for many publications such as The Atlantic and Salon and Politico.
1:07.1	And today, he's joining us to chat about a new book he has in the works with the topic very near and dear to my heart, how people change their minds.
1:16.2	David, welcome to the show.
1:17.5	Oh, hey, thank you so much.
1:18.7	What an awesome intro.
1:19.5	I'd never believe any of that stuff when I actually hear it said out loud.
1:23.7	So, David, what got you interested in the topic of people changing their minds?
1:27.8	It's inherently interesting to me.
1:29.5	You know, well, I guess a million different things.
1:31.7	This was sort of, I think this is sort of the natural course of where I was headed with
1:35.7	the things that I'm making.
1:36.8	You know, with you are not so smart and you're now last dumb in the podcast and all the other
1:41.6	stuff that I do, which is about biases and fallacies and heuristics and critical thinking and the same sort of stuff that you're interested, that you're interested in there.
1:50.1	I feel like, you know, the next step is always, why can't I get the person across from me to give up their irrational belief?
1:59.4	Or why can I, why can't I get the person across from me to accept
	...

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