Because you think that saying, I don't know, makes you not enough, like you're missing something, you're not adequate.

But that's because there's this kind of, this dogma that you've fallen for, that makes you think that, you know, if I don't know what I think,

you know, I have to have all the right opinions on Ukraine and Russia, or else like, I'm stupid, or I'm like, it's like, it's just so misguided.

Hello, and welcome to the Psychology Podcast. Today I have an eclectic chat with the great Tim Urban. Tim is the writer and illustrator of one of my favorite blogs called Weight But Why, which he co-founded with Andrew Finn in 2013.

With Rye stick figure illustrations and occasionally epic prose, Weight But Why has garnered millions of unique page views, thousands of patrons, and famous fans like Elon Musk.

His long-form blog covers a range of subjects, including artificial intelligence, outer space, and procrastination. Tim earned his A.B. from Harvard University, graduating cum laude with a major in government.

In this episode, I talked to Tim about the complex relationship between identity and critical thinking. Tim cautions against blind loyalty to specific ideologies for it can lead to an echo chamber of tribal minds.

Instead of dogmatic maxims, Tim suggests we uphold basic core principles that guide our thoughts and behavior.

In this way, Tim believes we engage in high-rung thinking, all the while cultivating ideal labs within our culture. We also touch on the topics of dating, education, politics, writing, morality, and tech. So that further ado, I bring you Tim Urban.

Just chewing nicotine gum so I can get some energy.

Does nicotine gum give you energy? Does that work? I know that that's great.

Biohackers, I love it. I've never smoked a cigarette. But nicotine gum, when used in moderation, if you use it a lot, you get addicted and also loses this potency, you have to take more and more.

What if you take the half-dose two milligrams and maybe two or three of those max on a day and take a day off a couple of days a week? It's great. It's a little boost. It's like a sharper caffeine boost.

It's like a caffeine boost, but sharper, better focus, and it doesn't last as long. Sure, half-light.

I want to ask you a question, Tim. Someone told me that you said that you have ADHD. Is that true?

I don't know if you've been diagnosed. I don't know if I've ADHD. I've never been diagnosed. It's hard to know what ADHD exactly is.

Is it one of those things where it's just a label for what a lot of people have with or is it like a specific condition where people can't sit still?

I never had problems taking an exam in school. I wasn't unable to focus.

I don't know whether it's like a specific diagnosis of people who literally can't focus when they need to, in which case I don't have that.

Or if it's like, yeah, the kind of personality profile of mine is what we call ADHD.

Yes, then I probably have that. I don't know. I hear you. I often say I have intellectual ADHD.

I love lots of different topics. I feel like I get a sense of you do too.

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