In this episode, Wendy speaks with social neuroscientist Lasana Harris about his work on flexible social cognition—the variable ways that we perceive others. This conversation covers many topics, including:
- his accidental entry into psychology;
- what flexible social cognition is;
- schemas and predictions about others' minds;
- dehumanization and why we do it;
- the role of propaganda and implications for the war in Ukraine;
- how these processes scale up from individuals to societies;
- bias and prejudice, and the key roles of threat and safety;
- the inseparability of cognition and emotion;
- how contemplative practice might help reduce dehumanization;
- information overload and echo chambers, and what to do about them;
- and looking at the concept of self to change social bias.
Full show notes and resources
