Shows
Humanity At Scale: Redefining LeadershipThe Myth of Deep Beliefs: Leading in a World of Improvisation with Nick ChaterWhat if your mind isn’t a warehouse of beliefs, but a live improvisation happening moment to moment?In this episode of Humanity at Scale, host Bruce Temkin speaks with Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioral Science at Warwick Business School, about why human preferences are constructed on the fly, and what that means for leadership. Drawing on ideas from The Mind Is Flat, Chater challenges fixed models of motivation, engagement, and culture. The conversation reframes leadership as direction-setting rather than belief-installation, explains why surveys reveal context, not truth, and shows how shared norms outperform rigid rules. A sharp, li...
2026-02-1246 min
The Next Big Idea DailyThe Case Against Personal ResponsibilityNick Chater and George Loewenstein are behavioral scientists who've spent decades studying decision-making, and their new book is called It's on You: How Corporations and Behavioral Scientists Have Convinced Us That We’re to Blame for Society's Deepest Problems. Nick joins us to explain why blaming individuals for society's problems is not just wrong — it's exactly what powerful interests want us to believe.
And stick around, because later in the show we'll hear from Stanford professor Brian Lowery, whose book Selfless makes a fascinating companion argument: that the whole idea of the independent, self-contained individual might be a my...
2026-02-0922 min
Watson-Howland#69: How Corporations Manipulate You Into Blaming Yourself | Nick Chater (pt. 2)Stop blaming yourself. Corporations spent billions making you think environmental collapse is your fault. Here's the systemic truth.Corporations like BP invented the concept of the "carbon footprint" to shift climate responsibility onto individuals and away from systemic change, reveals Professor Nick Chater, one of the UK's leading behavioral scientists.Professor Chater is a Fellow of the British Academy, former member of the UK government's Climate Change Committee, and co-founder of the Behavioural Insight Team (the original "Nudge Unit"). This is his second time on the show!...
2026-02-0354 min
Book Friends ForeverIt's on You by Nick Chater and George Loewenstein Read by Mike LenzTwo leading behavioral scientists argue we should reject “nudge” policies and stop blaming personal failure for society’s failures
“Excellent. A master class on how to blend individual psychology with institutions, so that people are encouraged to get involved and develop solutions to our urgent problems via the democratic process.” —Daron Acemoglu, Nobel Laureate and author of Power and Progress
Two decades ago, behavioral economics burst from academia to the halls of power, on both sides of the Atlantic, with the promise that correcting individual biases could help transform society. The hope was that governments could deploy a new approach to addressing...
2026-01-2704 min
Keen On AmericaThe Myth of Willpower: It's not YOU. It's THEMIn his new co-authored book It’s On You, the English behavioral scientist Nick Chater exposes how the rich and powerful - the THEM - have convinced us that we're to blame for society's deepest problems. Can't lose weight? That's because YOU lack willpower—or so THEY would have you believe. But willpower, Chater argues, is a convenient myth. And that means the behavioral economists got it wrong too. Nudge theory doesn't work because human beings are far messier than the utilitarians assume. The answer isn't self-discipline. It's systemic change—and that requires politics, not self-help or even s...
2026-01-1741 min
Watson-Howland#24 - Cognitive Scientist: Brain Secrets, Subconscious Myths, AI & Consciousness - Dr Nick Chater Nick Chater, a leading cognitive scientist and author of The Mind Is Flat, offers profound insights into how the brain truly works, debunking widespread myths and revealing the complex, improvisational nature of human thought and behaviour.He explains:1 The myth of rational planning—why our actions are often improvised rather than premeditated.2 The limits of conscious awareness and why the subconscious is more illusion than reality.3 The pitfalls of excessive introspection and the importance of forward-looking habits and storytelling.4 Th...
2025-08-251h 05
Revise and Resubmit - The Mayukh ShowThe Social Contract in Miniature (Zeitoun et al 2023) | FT50 AMREnglish Podcast Start at 00:00:00Bengali Podcast Start at 00:25:22Hindi Podcast Start at 00:33:04Welcome to “Revise and Resubmit” 🎙️✨Hey there, brilliant minds and curious hearts—welcome to Revise and Resubmit! 🌟 Today, we’re diving into an idea that thinks like a philosopher, moves like a startup, and works like a well-tuned jazz quartet. 🎷🧠This episode spotlights a standout piece from the prestigious Academy of Management Review—yes, an FT50 journal, the platinum tier of scholarly impact. 💎📚 Published in July 2023 by Academy of Management, the paper is titled: “The Social Contract in Miniature...
2025-08-1443 min
Through ConversationsOn Noam Chomsky, The Mind, and Free Will - Nick ChaterIn this conversation, Professor Nick Chater discusses the concept of a 'flat mind' and how it relates to our understanding of decision-making, storytelling, language, and the nature of human thought.Chapters00:00 The Concept of a Flat Mind02:55 Improvisation in a Complex World05:23 The Shift from Depth to Flatness08:17 The Nature of Human Decision Making11:11 The Role of Storytelling in Identity13:58 Navigating the Complexity of Life16:29 Reinterpreting Negative Patterns19:22 The Balance of Agency and Randomness22:19 Cynicism vs. Optimism in Human Nature25:10 Free Will and Practical Decision Making27:28 Exploring the Nature of Free Will29:50 Chomsky, Language and Its Complexities36:23 Challenging Chomsky...
2025-08-1153 min
The Jim Rutt ShowEP 293 Brendan Graham Dempsey on Cosmic Teleology and Emergence VectorsJim talks with Brendan Graham Dempsey, picking up on a disagreement they had on Facebook about the teleology of the universe. They discuss Aristotle's influence on the topic, Terrence Deacon's work on naturalizing teleology, the distinction between purpose & goal-directed behavior, cosmic teleology, Teilhard de Chardin's "Omega Point," Whitehead's relational teleology, Ilya Prigogine's dissipative structures, energy efficiency comparisons between organisms & stars, the cosmic imperative of entropy production, energy rate density as a complexity measure, whether entropy is the goal or a byproduct of complexification, origin of life as contingent or necessity, Alexander Bard's emergence vectors, questioning of the heat death hypothesis...
2025-03-251h 15
2024-11-2813 min
Intelligence SquaredArchive: The Psychology of Language, with Morten Christiansen and Nick ChaterThis is an archive discussion first aired in early 2022. Morten Christiansen is Professor of Psychology at Cornell University and Nick Chater is Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School. Together, they've written The Language Game, a new book which explores the science and psychology of language and some of its mysteries too. Hosting the discussion is journalist Christine Ro, whose work covers areas ranging from science and culture to international development.Let us know your thoughts! Take a moment to fill in our Intelligence Squared Audience Survey and be in with the chance...
2024-09-1544 min
New Books in NeuroscienceNick Chater, "The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain" (Yale UP, 2019)Psychologists and neuroscientists struggle with how best to interpret human motivation and decision making. The assumption is that below a mental “surface” of conscious awareness lies a deep and complex set of inner beliefs, values, and desires that govern our thoughts, ideas, and actions, and that to know this depth is to know ourselves. In the The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain (Yale UP, 2019), behavioural scientist Nick Chater contends just the opposite: rather than being the plaything of unconscious currents, the brain generates behaviors in the moment based entirely on our past experiences. Engaging the...
2024-08-241h 39
New Books in ScienceNick Chater, "The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain" (Yale UP, 2019)Psychologists and neuroscientists struggle with how best to interpret human motivation and decision making. The assumption is that below a mental “surface” of conscious awareness lies a deep and complex set of inner beliefs, values, and desires that govern our thoughts, ideas, and actions, and that to know this depth is to know ourselves. In the The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain (Yale UP, 2019), behavioural scientist Nick Chater contends just the opposite: rather than being the plaything of unconscious currents, the brain generates behaviors in the moment based entirely on our past experiences. Engaging the...
2024-08-241h 39
New Books in Big IdeasNick Chater, "The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain" (Yale UP, 2019)Psychologists and neuroscientists struggle with how best to interpret human motivation and decision making. The assumption is that below a mental “surface” of conscious awareness lies a deep and complex set of inner beliefs, values, and desires that govern our thoughts, ideas, and actions, and that to know this depth is to know ourselves. In the The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain (Yale UP, 2019), behavioural scientist Nick Chater contends just the opposite: rather than being the plaything of unconscious currents, the brain generates behaviors in the moment based entirely on our past experiences. Engaging the...
2024-08-241h 39
New Books in Science, Technology, and SocietyNick Chater, "The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain" (Yale UP, 2019)Psychologists and neuroscientists struggle with how best to interpret human motivation and decision making. The assumption is that below a mental “surface” of conscious awareness lies a deep and complex set of inner beliefs, values, and desires that govern our thoughts, ideas, and actions, and that to know this depth is to know ourselves. In the The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain (Yale UP, 2019), behavioural scientist Nick Chater contends just the opposite: rather than being the plaything of unconscious currents, the brain generates behaviors in the moment based entirely on our past experiences. Engaging the...
2024-08-241h 42
New Books in PsychologyNick Chater, "The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain" (Yale UP, 2019)Psychologists and neuroscientists struggle with how best to interpret human motivation and decision making. The assumption is that below a mental “surface” of conscious awareness lies a deep and complex set of inner beliefs, values, and desires that govern our thoughts, ideas, and actions, and that to know this depth is to know ourselves. In the The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain (Yale UP, 2019), behavioural scientist Nick Chater contends just the opposite: rather than being the plaything of unconscious currents, the brain generates behaviors in the moment based entirely on our past experiences. Engaging the...
2024-08-241h 42
Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)Prof. Murray Shanahan - Machines Don't Think Like UsMurray Shanahan is a professor of Cognitive Robotics at Imperial College London and a senior research scientist at DeepMind. He challenges our assumptions about AI consciousness and urges us to rethink how we talk about machine intelligence.
We explore the dangers of anthropomorphizing AI, the limitations of current language in describing AI capabilities, and the fascinating intersection of philosophy and artificial intelligence.
Show notes and full references: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ICtBI574W-xGi8Z2ZtUNeKWiOiGZ_DRsp9EnyYAISws/edit?usp=sharing
Prof Murray...
2024-07-142h 15
Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)Prof. Nick Chater - The Language Game (Part 1)Nick Chater is Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School, who works on rationality and language using a range of theoretical and experimental approaches. We discuss his books The Mind is Flat, and the Language Game.
Please support me on Patreon (this is now my main job!) - https://patreon.com/mlst - Access the private Discord, networking, and early access to content.
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2024-03-011h 43
Radio Free PizzaThe Midnight of MythIn a heterogeneous culture comprising a variety of communities with different traditions, languages, and histories, shared symbols and iconography in the narratives available in public entertainment encourage social cohesion and shared identity. Our narratives act as a universal language, allowing individuals from various cultural backgrounds to communicate and understand each other with reference to common stories and symbols, fostering empathy and breaking down barriers between different groups. With collective ethical principles encapsulated in shared narratives and iconography, public touchstones like superhero sagas help in transmitting cultural values intended to guide a society’s members, in providing an ideological framework th...
2024-02-0438 min
El podcast de Enso MoversEl Podcast de Enso Movers #15 - Por qué creemos en mierdas y cómo cambiar tu conducta con Ramón NoguerasLinks y libros de Ramón Nogueras:
- Web: https://sesgodeconfirmacion.com/
- Substack: https://sesgodeconfirmacion.substack.com/
- ¿Por qué creemos en mierdas?: https://www.amazon.es/Por-Que-Creemos-Mierdas-Psicolog%C3%ADa/dp/8417248730/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_es_ES=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=1MBU73SHWAV91&keywords=Ram%C3%B3n+Nogueras&qid=1700552299&s=books&sprefix=ram%C3%B3n+nogueras%2Cstripbooks%2C65&sr=1-1
- ¿Por qué compramos la burra?: https://www.amazon.es/Por-qu%C3%A9-compramos-burra-persuadimos/dp/8418345098/ref=sr_1_2?__mk_es_ES=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=1MBU73SHWAV91&keywords=Ram%C3%B3n+N...
2023-11-211h 12
What If?What if…you could brainwash staff?What if… you could brainwash staff? Whether deployed knowingly or not, ‘choice architecture’ is everywhere in the workplace, from encouraging people to move about more, to reminding them to practise better cyber security. But is application of nudge theory always ethical? And do rapid advances in neurotechnology – or mind reading – complicate the issue? Academics Nick Chater and Nita Farahany discuss. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2023-09-2126 min
Nada Que GanarE31 - Confianza en la era de la IA, la cultura de lo barato y una diosa egipciaUn capítulo en el que nos asomamos a la disrupción de la confianza que puede suponer la IA y divagábamos sobre por qué en España reina la cultura de lo barato. Cuñadismo en estado puroRECOMENDACIONES DEL CAPÍTULO:📚 LibrosErnest Cline - Ready Player OneAustin Kleon - Steal Like an ArtistCarlota Pérez - Revoluciones tecnológicas y capital financieroLyn Alden - Broken MoneyTracey Follows - The Future of YouKwame Anthony Appiah - The Lies That BindTheresa Runstedtler - Black BallNick Chater - The mind is flat💥 CómicLewis...
2023-09-201h 03
Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)STEPHEN WOLFRAM 2.0 - Resolving the Mystery of the Second Law of ThermodynamicsPlease check out Numerai - our sponsor @
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The Second Law: Resolving the Mystery of the Second Law of Thermodynamics
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The Language Game: How Improvisation Created Language and Changed the World by Morten H. Christiansen and Nick Chater
Buy here: https://tinyurl.com/35bvs8be
Stephen Wolfram starts by discussing the second law of thermodynamics - the idea that entropy, or disorder, tends to increase over time. He talks about how this law...
2023-08-151h 24
Question EverythingMastering the "yes, and" mentality with Kelly Leonard, VP of Creative Strategy @ Second City, Pt. 2On this episode of the QE podcast, listener-favorite Kelly Leonard is taking a well-earned victory lap. After dropping countless stories and lessons from his time at The Second City, he's ready to once again face our gameboard and humor us with his industry wisdom for a second installment. His first episode is a must-listen, so if you missed it, be sure to check it out on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you're new to Kelly, here's a reintroduction: Kelly Leonard is the VP of Creative Strategy, Innovation, and Biz Dev @ The Second City where he's h...
2023-07-3152 min
The Behavioral Design PodcastProduct Deep Dive: Autonomous Vehicles 🚗Welcome to the latest Product Deep Dive! 🚗
In this fun bonus series of the Behavioral Design Podcast, we take a closer look at products discussed in past episodes of the show. In this episode, we are discussing the product "Autonomous Vehicles", following up on our conversation with Nick Chater from last week.
Tune in to learn more about how we would re-design Autonomous Vehicles, our own behavioral considerations, and what we can learn from this as behavioral designers. Happy listening!
–
PS. The If books could kill podcast episode on nudging can be fo...
2023-05-3139 min
The Behavioral Design PodcastBehavioral Public Policy with Nick ChaterIn this episode, we're thrilled to host Nick Chater, an esteemed Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School. Nick is a leading figure in his field, focusing his research on the cognitive and social foundations of rationality. He is the co-founder and Director of the research consultancy Decision Technology Ltd, and has written engaging books like "The Language Game: How Improvisation Created Language and Changed the World" and "The Mind is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain".
Join us as we delve into a captivating conversation with Nick on the application of behavioral science...
2023-05-2550 min
El Submarino SubversivoEpisodio 15 (Primera parte) - Detrás del veloEn esta entrega comenzamos metiéndonos un rato con el malnacido de Sigmund Freud. Después, durante la primera hora de travesía, lanzamos unos cuantos apuntes en torno a temas diversos de gran trascendencia: El nacimiento de criaturas libres en el hogar, el papel de la degenerada agenda de género en la hoja de ruta transhumanista, o el estudio de la historia distorsionada, entre otros. Seguidamente, por fin y con más vergüenza que miedo, nos lanzarnos a las simas abismales del ocultismo e intentamos discernir qué leches podría haber detrás del velo que cubre los culto...
2023-05-106h 02
Warwick Business School's Core InsightsApplying behavioural science to businessCore Insights podcast host Trevor Barnes is joined by award-winning author Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School, and Ed Gardiner, Director at Innovation firm Cogco, which uses behavioural science, data science and design to build new products and services.The pair reveal how research from behavioural science can be applied to many different businesses, from marketing agencies to finance companies. Gardiner and Professor Chater delve into how 'nudges' and robust findings about human behaviour can be used to improve an organisation's performance, from operational efficiency to boosting sales.Professor Chater is author of...
2023-03-2725 min
Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)#104 - Prof. CHRIS SUMMERFIELD - Natural General Intelligence [SPECIAL EDITION]Support us! https://www.patreon.com/mlst
MLST Discord: https://discord.gg/aNPkGUQtc5
Christopher Summerfield, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford and a Research Scientist at Deepmind UK. His work focusses on the neural and computational mechanisms by which humans make decisions.
Chris has just released an incredible new book on AI called "Natural General Intelligence". It's my favourite book on AI I have read so so far.
The book explores the algorithms and architectures that ar...
2023-02-221h 28Intelligence SquaredHow Improvisation Created Language and Changed the WorldLanguage is perhaps humanity's most astonishing accomplishment but one that remains poorly understood. On this episode of the podcast we were joined by Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School, and Morten H. Christiansen, Professor of Psychology at Cornell University. Together in their latest book "The Language Game," they upend our traditional understanding of language, arguing that it's not based on a set of fixed rules, but on a constantly evolving series of flexible conventions. Our host for this episode was journalist Christine Ro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices...
2023-02-2041 min
The Jim Rutt ShowEP 175 Morten Christiansen and Nick Chater on The Language GameJim talks with Morten Christiansen and Nick Chater about their new book The Language Game: How Improvisation Created Language and Changed the World. They discuss the game of charades & its relevance to the evolution of language, the false myth of a pure language, language as self-organizing system, Captain Cook's encounter with indigenous South Americans, pidgins & creoles, gesture & vocalization, language & tool construction, the communication iceberg metaphor, misunderstandings in relationships, the now-or-never bottleneck, language understanding vs language production, genetic capacity for sequence-action-sequence tasks, chaotic improvisation as the core, the complaint that the young are ruining the language, the unbearable lightness of meaning, t...
2023-02-101h 33
Brain InspiredBI 159 Chris Summerfield: Natural General IntelligenceSupport the show to get full episodes, full archive, and join the Discord community.
Check out my free video series about what's missing in AI and Neuroscience
Chris Summerfield runs the Human Information Processing Lab at University of Oxford, and he's a research scientist at Deepmind. You may remember him from episode 95 with Sam Gershman, when we discussed ideas around the usefulness of neuroscience and psychology for AI. Since then, Chris has released his book, Natural General Intelligence: How understanding the brain can help us build AI. In the book, Chris makes the case that i...
2023-01-271h 28
The Innovation ShowThe Language Game - Nick Chater and Morten H. ChristiansenThe story of language is the story of humanity; the new understanding of language that our guests outline in this book radically revises our conception of ourselves.
In today’s book, our guests outline a revolutionary perspective that overhauls almost everything we thought we knew about language.
We will hear how the game of charades reveals deep insights into how language works.
We’ll hear how our brain can improvise linguistic ‘moves’ at an astonishingly rapid rate.
We’ll hear how languages are in continual flux, how people without a common tongue can rapidly create a language from scratch, and why it’s l...
2023-01-111h 38The Innovation ShowThe Language Game - Nick Chater and Morten H. ChristiansenThe story of language is the story of humanity; the new understanding of language that our guests outline in this book radically revises our conception of ourselves.
In today’s book, our guests outline a revolutionary perspective that overhauls almost everything we thought we knew about language.
We will hear how the game of charades reveals deep insights into how language works.
We’ll hear how our brain can improvise linguistic ‘moves’ at an astonishingly rapid rate.
We’ll hear how languages are in continual flux, how people without a common tongue can rapidly create a language from scratch, and why it’s l...
2023-01-111h 38
The Innovation ShowThe Language Game - Nick Chater and Morten H. ChristiansenThe story of language is the story of humanity; the new understanding of language that our guests outline in this book radically revises our conception of ourselves. In today's book, our guests outline a revolutionary perspective that overhauls almost everything we thought we knew about language. We will hear how the game of charades reveals deep insights into how language works. We'll hear how our brain can improvise linguistic 'moves' at an astonishingly rapid rate. We'll hear how languages are in continual flux, how people without a common tongue can rapidly create a language from scratch, and...
2023-01-111h 38
Podcast#98: A Cognitive Scientist Tries to Convince Me the Mind is Flat; I Don't Think He Succeeds (feat. Nick Chater)My guest today is Nick Chater, a Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School. Nick is an influential cognitive scientist with a wide-range of interests, which these days often tend toward public policy. But in 2018, he published a book, trying to draw some culminating insights from the disparate pieces of his own work in cognitive science as well as the field more broadly. He came to the conclusion that we have dramatically misunderstood important aspects about what the overall picture of the mind looks like. He called the book The Mind Is Flat.And by ‘we’ Nick...
2022-12-271h 11Cognitive Revolution#98: A Cognitive Scientist Tries to Convince Me the Mind is Flat; I Don't Think He Succeeds (feat. Nick Chater)My guest today is Nick Chater, a Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School. Nick is an influential cognitive scientist with a wide-range of interests, which these days often tend toward public policy. But in 2018, he published a book, trying to draw some culminating insights from the disparate pieces of his own work in cognitive science as well as the field more broadly. He came to the conclusion that we have dramatically misunderstood important aspects about what the overall picture of the mind looks like. He called the book The Mind Is Flat.And by ‘we’ Nick...
2022-12-271h 11
Localization TodayThe Language Game: How improvisation created language and changed the worldIn their book The Language Game, linguists Morten H. Christiansen and Nick Chater propose a series of novel concepts about the nature of language and how it’s developed. In his review of the book for MultiLingual Magazine, Stefan Huyghe wholeheartedly recommends the book to language lovers looking to learn a bit more about how we acquire our first languages.
2022-11-0109 min
The Dissenter#659 Nick Chater & Morten Christiansen - The Language Game; Language as a Game of Charades------------------Support the channel------------
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2022-08-011h 17
How to be WrongThe I and the S frameNick Chater is Professor of Behavioural Science at the Warwick Business School, and author with George Loewenstein of The i-Frame and the s-Frame: How Focusing on Individual-Level Solutions Has Led Behavioral Public Policy Astray. The i-frame refers to science and policy focused on changing individuals. The s-frame concentrates on everything around the individual. As Nick explains in this episode, our hunger in the last decades for the i-frame has diverted our attention from the benefits of the s-frame.
2022-07-2040 minRatio TalksThe I and the S frameNick Chater is Professor of Behavioural Science at the Warwick Business School, and author with George Loewenstein of The i-Frame and the s-Frame: How Focusing on Individual-Level Solutions Has Led Behavioral Public Policy Astray. The i-frame refers to science and policy focused on changing individuals. The s-frame concentrates on everything around the individual. As Nick explains in this episode, our hunger in the last decades for the i-frame has diverted our attention from the benefits of the s-frame.
References
DellaVigna and Linos (2022) evidence from 2 nudge units
Hagmann , Ho , and Loewenstein (2019) nudging out support for c...
2022-07-2040 min
Two Psychologists Four BeersThe Distracting Nature of NudgesOriginating within the behavioral sciences, "nudging" has received attention as a way to achieve broad societal change by promoting small, individual adjustments. We're told, for instance, that if we all do our part reduce our carbon footprints we can stave off climate change. In today's episode, Yoel and Alexa consider a critique of "nudging" offered by Chater and Loewenstein. These authors argue that individual-level interventions often fail to accumulate to impressive societal change, and meanwhile distract from much needed system-level solutions. Also, Yoel claims to be less relatable than Alexa.Sponsored By:FindingFive: Link and promo...
2022-05-181h 11
Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.52: The Language Game (with Morten Christiansen and Nick Chater)How is language like a game of charades? According to a new book, quite a lot. Charades players and language users improvise and work together to create meaning in a situation, and they get better at it as they reuse elements and build up patterns. Drs Morten Christiansen and Nick Chater explain their vision of language to Daniel and Hedvig on this episode of Because Language.
2022-05-111h 31Intelligence SquaredThe Psychology of Language, with Morten Christiansen and Nick ChaterMorten Christiansen is Professor of Psychology at Cornell University and Nick Chater is Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School. Together, they've written The Language Game, a new book which explores the science and psychology of language and some of its mysteries too. Hosting the discussion is journalist Christine Ro, whose work covers areas ranging from science and culture to international development. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
2022-04-2942 min
The VerbAncient and ModernIan McMillan is joined by poet Lucy Mercer whose latest collection is inspired by 16th-century emblems, behavioural scientist Nick Chater whose book The Language Game explores the development of language and conversation, debut novelist Tice Cin whose book Keeping the House tells the story of a Turkish Cypriot family in north London, and poet Glyn Maxwell with a newly commissioned work.
2022-04-2243 min
Dive Into Your Ears To A Riveting Full Audiobook.The Language Game by Morten H. Christiansen, Nick ChaterPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/2/audible/117544to listen full audiobooks.
Title: The Language Game
Author: Morten H. Christiansen, Nick Chater
Narrator: Peter Noble
Format: mp3
Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
Release date: 04-14-22
Ratings: 4 out of 5 stars, 1 rating
Genres: English
Publisher's Summary:
What is language? Why do we have it? Where does it come from? Why does that matter? Upending centuries of scholarship (including, most recently, Chomsky and Pinker) The Language Game shows how people learn to talk not by acquiring fixed meanings and rules, but by picking up, reusing and recombining countless linguistic fragments in novel ways.
2022-04-149h 50
BrainstormNår vi taler sammen, spiller vores hjerner i virkeligheden 'gæt og grimasser´Ordene har kun den betydning, vi er blevet enige om, og vores sprog er opstået ud af en avanceret omgang ‘Charades’ - eller ‘Gæt og Grimasser’ på dansk.
Sådan lyder teorien i den nye bog ‘The Language Game,’ der er skrevet af Morten H. Christiansen og Nick Chater.
Du kan altså ikke klandre din kæreste for ikke at forstå, hvad du siger, for en god samtale handler om, at vi sætter os ind i hinandens udgangspunkter, og sender hinanden de rigtige ledetråde - og dem finder vi i fællesskab.
I ugens afsnit får Jais og...
2022-04-0742 min
The Armen Show338: Morten H. Christiansen & Nick Chater | The Role Of Improvisation In “The Language Game”
Improvisation has taken language a far distance from its origination, with what we make up as we go adjusting the language over time. A delightful discussion on this topic ensues here with both past guest Professor N
2022-03-291h 04
Investering på hjernenVi forstår ikke risikoVi kan ikke lide tab, det overrasker formentlig ingen. Det er helt naturligt, at vi nødig vil miste noget. Men det påvirker også vores evne til at træffe beslutninger, hvis vi har risiko for at få tab.Det betyder for eksempel, at vi er hurtige til at tage gevinster – for tænk nu hvis de forsvandt igen? Omvendt er vi meget langsomme til at tage tab – for tænk nu hvis de var væk i morgen igen?2022 er startet rigtig træls (=jysk for rigtig dårligt, red.) for aktieinvestorer. Faktisk er det den dår...
2022-03-2248 min
unSILOed with Greg LaBlancThe Mind is Flat: The Illusion of Mental Depth and The Improvised Mind feat. Nick ChaterWhen asked about what superpower they could have if possible, people often respond with mind reading. As humans, many of us are constantly thinking about what other people are thinking about us. Does their brain work the same way as mine? What's going on in their inner world? Well, what if I told you there is actually no inner world of thought?That is the basis of Nick Chater’s work. We all like to think we have a hidden inner life. Psychologists and psychiatrists have struggled to discover what lies below our mental surface. And Nick want...
2022-01-141h 02
COMPLEXITYSimon DeDeo on Good Explanations & Diseases of EpistemologyWhat makes a satisfying explanation? Understanding and prediction are two different goals at odds with one another — think fundamental physics versus artificial neural networks — and even what defines a “simple” explanation varies from one person to another. Held in a kind of ecosystemic balance, these diverse approaches to seeking knowledge keep each other honest…but the use of one kind of knowledge to the exclusion of all others leads to disastrous results. And in the 21st Century, the difference between good and bad explanations determines how society adapts as rapid change transforms the world most people took for granted — and sends human...
2021-11-241h 21
The Jim Rutt ShowCurrents 040: Jim Rutt Show Changes & ReflectionsJim Rutt Show producer, Jared Janes & Jim announce some changes to the podcast...
Jim Rutt Show producer, Jared Janes & Jim announce some changes to the podcast, preview upcoming guests, talk about the Jim Rutt Show (JRS) origin story, Jim's guest prep process, the evolution of JRS, its impact on Jim's reading habits, reading fiction, civilization collapse, contemporary influencers & counter cultures, curation as a service, what Jim likes the most about the podcast, core JRS themes, the art of yarning, stand out episodes & collaborations that came from the podcast, meditation, and more.
Episode Transcript
Mentioned Future Guests – Robin Dunbar, Heather E Hey...
2021-08-0249 min
Duck - RabbitWhy do you care if I have pineapple on my pizza?In this episode, Professor Paul Dolan looks at why we like to take opposite sides - from food to football clubs, and politics to pizza – and why we find it difficult to accept differences of opinion. He speaks to two people who know a lot about polarisation and how to help people see things from the other side. One of them is Lord Gus O'Donnell who was Cabinet Secretary under Labour and Conservative governments and who was instrumental in helping the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives form a coalition government. The other is Dr Nick Chater, who is a Pro...
2021-07-1243 min
The Environment Journal PodcastEpisode 5 - Professor Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business SchoolStephen Cirell speaks to Professor Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School. Sponsored by Vortex IoT.
2021-06-1827 min
Shaping the Post-COVID WorldWe Are All in This Together: has COVID-19 taught us how to save the world?Contributor(s): Dr Ganga Shreedhar, Professor Nick Chater, Sanchayan Banerjee, Dr Adam Oliver | Can the massive shift in the way we now relate to each other, and the rules we choose to live by, help us tackle other collective threats to humanity, like climate change?
We need coordinated and cooperative collective action. Experts in behavioural public policy and sustainability discuss how the experience of the pandemic can be leveraged to enable new, transformative behaviours and policies.
Meet our speakers and chair
Sanchayan Banerjee (@SanchayanBanerj) is a third-year doctoral candidate in Environmental Economics at LSE. He is an Associate Fellow of...
2021-03-0159 min
Philosophical NaturalismNick Chater on Bertrand Russell's Failed MarriageThis episode is also available as a blog post: http://kingdablog.com/2019/03/14/nick-chater-on-bertrand-russells-failed-marriage/
2021-02-2309 min
Call To ActionWhy ROI is rubbish with top data dog Andrew WillshireWe lurked in the waters of Loch Lomond to catch Strathclyde’s top dog in data for a natter; independent analytics consultant, Andrew Willshire.
Andrew is the Founder of Diametrical, a Strategic Analytics Consultancy. He has over a decade of experience in media analytics and his expertise includes marketing mix modelling, media optimisation, segmentation and market analysis.
This pod is packed with nuggets of golden insight as Andrew talks to us on his work with JP Castlin (and their argument over mint sauce), the state of analytics in media, data problems in The Long and the Short of it, murky metric...
2021-02-191h 02Shaping the Post-COVID WorldSHORTCAST | Behavioural Science and a Post-COVID WorldContributor(s): Professor Nick Chater, Professor Paul Dolan, Dr Grace Lordan, Professor Tali Sharot, Rory Sutherland | The impacts of COVID-19 on society post-COVID and how we deal with them hinge on how politicians, firms and the public respond. What valuable lessons can we learn from behavioural science in a post-COVID-19 world? These unique insights are crucial to mitigating the societal impacts of COVID-19.
Nick Chater (@NickJChater) is Professor of Behavioural Science, Warwick Business School. He is co-founder of Decision Technology Ltd, and is a member of the UK's Committee on Climate Change.
Paul Dolan (@profpauldolan) is Professor of Behavioural Science...
2021-01-2823 min
Current Directions in Psychological Science PodcastProbabilistic Biases Meet the Bayesian BrainInterview on November 16, 2020, with Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Warwick Business School, and cofounder of Decision Technology Ltd.
2021-01-1420 min
The Brainy Business | Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy | Behavioral EconomicsHow To Use Behavioral Science in Banking, Food Delivery and More–An Interview with Dr. Henry Stott, Co-founder of DectechToday I am very pleased to introduce you to Dr. Henry Stott, cofounder of Dectech, a behavioral science consultancy in the UK. As you'll hear on the show today, Dectech works with all sorts of companies and industries, from banks to insurance and food delivery. They use randomized controlled trials and other techniques to help companies understand behavior and properly apply it within their businesses. Dectech is not new to the space. It was founded nearly two decades ago in 2002, so they have lots of background and foundations they build upon. During our conversation, Henry...
2020-12-1141 minShaping the Post-COVID WorldBehavioural Science and a Post-COVID WorldContributor(s): Professor Nick Chater, Professor Paul Dolan, Dr Grace Lordan, Professor Tali Sharot, Rory Sutherland | The impacts of COVID-19 on society post-COVID and how we deal with them hinge on how politicians, firms and the public respond. What valuable lessons can we learn from behavioural science in a post-COVID-19 world? These unique insights are crucial to mitigating the societal impacts of COVID-19.
Nick Chater (@NickJChater) is Professor of Behavioural Science, Warwick Business School. He is co-founder of Decision Technology Ltd, and is a member of the UK's Committee on Climate Change.
Paul Dolan (@profpauldolan) is Professor of Behavioural Science...
2020-11-041h 22
Core Insights: Behavioural ScienceNick Chater on why autonomous vehicles will need their own roadsSelf-driving cars have been promised as the future for the last decade with various manufacturers experimenting with their own designs alongside tech giants Google, Uber and Apple. Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science, has been trying to model the trickiest task for autonomous vehicles of navigating the cluttered and narrow roads of the UK's towns and cities. But he admits to Core Insights host Trevor Barnes that it is an impossible task and he now believes self-driving vehicles will need their own roads rather than mixing with human controlled cars. Read more on the problems for autonomous vehicles here.
2020-11-0328 min
The Jim Rutt ShowCurrents 012: Andrew Taggart on Narcissism, Culture & DyingAndrew Taggart talks to Jim about philosophy, our psychotherapeutic culture, the good life & virtue, narcissism, community living, dying well, and more...
In this Currents episode, Jim talks to Andrew Taggart about what philosophy is & once was, the impacts of our psychotherapeutic culture, the good life & virtue, narcissism, friends of utility, changing family dynamics, GameB, close community living, what polling tells us about meaning & happiness, promoting & scaling the good life at the right times in the right ways, possible COVID-19 impacts, what it means to die well, and much more.
Episode Transcript
Andrew's Website
Andrew's article, The Uninvited Confession, The New Confe...
2020-09-2359 min
Core Insights: Behavioural ScienceNick Chater on why searching for your true 'self' is pointlessWe assume that below a mental “surface” of conscious awareness lies a deep and complex set of inner beliefs, values, and desires that govern our thoughts, ideas, and actions, and that to know this depth is to know ourselves. But Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School, reveals to Core Insights host Trevor Barnes how this is in fact all an illusion. The pair discuss the latest research in psychology and neuroscience detailed in Professor Chater's book The Mind is Flat, where Professor Chater argues that rather than being the plaything of unconscious currents, the brain gene...
2020-09-1731 minNew Books in ScienceNick Chater, "The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain" (Yale UP, 2019)Psychologists and neuroscientists struggle with how best to interpret human motivation and decision making. The assumption is that below a mental “surface” of conscious awareness lies a deep and complex set of inner beliefs, values, and desires that govern our thoughts, ideas, and actions, and that to know this depth is to know ourselves. In the The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain (Yale UP, 2019), behavioural scientist Nick Chater contends just the opposite: rather than being the plaything of unconscious currents, the brain generates behaviors in the moment based entirely on our past experiences. Engaging the...
2020-09-171h 39New Books in PsychologyNick Chater, "The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain" (Yale UP, 2019)Psychologists and neuroscientists struggle with how best to interpret human motivation and decision making. The assumption is that below a mental “surface” of conscious awareness lies a deep and complex set of inner beliefs, values, and desires that govern our thoughts, ideas, and actions, and that to know this depth is to know ourselves. In the The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain (Yale UP, 2019), behavioural scientist Nick Chater contends just the opposite: rather than being the plaything of unconscious currents, the brain generates behaviors in the moment based entirely on our past experiences. Engaging the...
2020-09-171h 38
The Jim Rutt ShowEP77 Kamal Sinclair on Science, Storytelling & VRKamal Sinclair talks with Jim about fiction & science, the power of storytelling, new media & tech, VR, augmented & mixed reality, and much more...
Kamal Sinclair talks with Jim about being an art doula, the role of fiction in science, the power of storytelling, impacts of new media & technology, mind & perception, the Question Bridge project's view into the lives of black men, storytelling in VR, the challenges of creating & funding VR content, the promise of augmented & mixed reality, artistic impacts of postmodernism, archetypes vs stereotypes, the Guild of Future Architects, the upcoming Collective Wisdom Platform, and much more.
Episode Transcript
Mentions & Recommendations
Kama...
2020-09-141h 35
The Jim Rutt ShowEP75 Nick Chater: "The Mind Is Flat"Nick Chater talks to Jim about his flat mind theory, depth psychology, the grand illusion, memory, emotion, confabulation, and much more...
Nick Chater talks with Jim about his bold argument that the human mind is a lot flatter than we think. That what we think of as “answers from our mental depths” are an illusion. When we report on our “depths” what we say sounds like an explanation – but really it is a terrible jumble that we are making up as we go along. Nick uses the examination of fictional characters to illuminate his flat mind theory while attacking depth psychology...
2020-08-311h 39
LSE PodcastsBehavioural Science in the Context of Great Uncertainty [Audio]Speaker(s): Professor Nick Chater, Professor Liam Delaney, Professor Paul Dolan, Professor Ulrike Hahn, Dr Grace Lordan | The impacts of COVID-19 and how we deal with them hinge on how politicians, firms and the public respond. What lessons can we learn from behavioural science about how we act in a time of crisis characterised by great uncertainty? What lessons can behavioural science learn about how it can be best placed to provide guidance in an uncertain world? Answers to these questions are crucial to not only mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 but also to dealing better with future crises, not...
2020-05-131h 28
Pint of SciencePint of Science Podcast E13: Professor Nick Chater - Professor of Behavioural ScienceWe're very excited to have Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School, from a safe social distance. Nick is the author of The Mind is Flat: The Illusion of Mental Depth and The Improvised Mind, and an advisor to the UK Government’s Behavioural Insights team (‘The Nudge Unit’). He's also scientist in Residence for BBC Radio 4’s The Human Zoo.
This week, Callam and Jim talk to Nick about the psychology of lockdowns around the world - not why we need to distance, but how we convince people it's a good idea and something...
2020-05-0539 min
Core Insights: StrategyThe biases that afflict leaders in the Coronavirus crisisCore Insights host Trevor Barnes talks to Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science, author of award-winning book The Mind is Flat and star of BBC Radio 4's The Human Zoo, about the biases and heuristics that leaders suffer in a time of crisis. Professor Chater also suggests the tactics leaders can use to resist these very understandable biases that we often fall prey to, but can lead to taking wrong turns or a false sense of security. Read more on these biases here and find out more about Professor Chater here.
2020-04-2128 minThe Jim Rutt ShowEP37 Jared Janes on SpiritualityJared Janes talks with Jim about spiritual language, altered states vs traits, suffering, the confabulated self, embodiment, concentration practices, metaphysics, and more...
Meditator & thinker Jared Janes talks with Jim about why he still uses the word ‘spiritual’, altered states vs altered traits, the equation & dynamics of suffering, understanding our own intentions, the confabulating mind, embodied intuition, the value & limits of conceptuality, what the self is & its usefulness, attention & awareness, the pleasure of concentration, metaphysics, and more.
Episode Transcript
Mentions & Recommendations
Jared’s Website
Jared on Twitter
Waking Up by Sam Harris
The Science of Enlightenment by Shinzen Young
The Mind is Fla...
2020-01-231h 27
Punk CX: Customer Experience Insights with Adrian SwinscoeBehavioural science offers insight how customer experience can be improved - Interview with Prof. Nick ChaterToday’s interview is with Nick Chater, who is Professor of Behavioural Science, Warwick Business School and co-founder of the research consultancy Decision Technology. Nick joins me today to talk about behavioural science, how our brains are hot-wired to make us all storytellers and how we can apply lessons from behavioural science to help us deliver better customer service and a better customer experience.
This interview follows on from my recent interview: It’s not about the channels in your support, it’s about the support in your channels – Interview with Girish Mathrubootham of Freshdesk – and is number nin...
2020-01-1136 minPunk CX: Customer Experience Insights with Adrian SwinscoeThe changing world of B2B customer experience and what the future looks like - Interview with Charlie Peters of EmersonToday’s interview is with Charlie Peters, who is Senior Executive Vice President of Emerson, a diversified global manufacturing and technology company that is working to solve the world's most complex engineering challenges. Emerson has a market capitalisation of$45 billion, approximately 135,000 employees and 235 manufacturing locations worldwide.
Charlie is a 40+ year veteran of Emerson and his main responsibility is to develop innovative global business models that build the company’s capabilities and create added value for Emerson’s customers. Commonly known as Emerson’s “innovation guru”, Charlie joins me today to talk about the changing world of B2B customer e...
2020-01-1136 min
The Armen Show236: Nick Chater | Perceptual Limitations And Mental Depth Illusion In “The Mind Is Flat”
Does the mind have less depth to it than is readily assumed? Are we able to multitask at all? Professor Nick Chater joins on episode 236 to discuss the qualities of the brain that give it depth or the illusion of mental depth.
Professor Chater is Professor of Behavioral Science at Warwick Business School, has over 200 publications, and has been editor for Cognitive Science and Psychological Review journals.
His research focuses on the cognitive and behavioral sciences, including reasoning, decision-making, and language. He has done experimental, computational, and mathematical studies of basic mental processes.
...
2019-11-1800 min
Better KnownMichael BlastlandJournalist Michael Blastland discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. You can find out more about Michael at https://profilebooks.com/michael-blastland.html.
The myth of nurture v nature https://www.nature.com/articles/421806a
The uncertainty of public data https://medium.com/wintoncentre/has-uk-employment-gone-down-maybe-and-maybe-not-7b2e8fbdc7c5
Science’s replication crisis https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-016-0021
The fallibility of medicines https://www.nature.com/news/personalized-medicine-time-for-one-person-trials-1.17411
Unknown impact of government’s policies https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/our-work/policy-making/all-change
The Mind is Flat, by Nick Chater https://www...
2019-10-1328 min
APG PodcastNick Chater | APG Podcast | Episode 9Series Two of APG's Podcast continues looking at how to put people back into planning. Eminent psychologist and author of the Mind is Flat, Nick Chater spoke to Bogdana Butnar on behalf of the APG. This is a riveting 45 minutes of conversation with some profound and provocative implications for the way we think about value, consumer decision making and the 'false' god of intuition.
2019-07-0246 min
Experience: This Best-Selling Full Audiobook For Story Seekers.The Mind Is Flat by Nick ChaterPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/2/audible/98138to listen full audiobooks.
Title: The Mind Is Flat
Author: Nick Chater
Narrator: Nick Chater
Format: mp3
Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
Release date: 11-06-18
Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars, 47 ratings
Genres: Consumer Behavior & Market Research
Publisher's Summary:
Psychologists and neuroscientists struggle with how best to interpret human motivation and decision making. The assumption is that below a mental "surface" of conscious awareness lies a deep and complex set of inner beliefs, values, and desires that govern our thoughts, ideas, and actions, and that to know this depth is to know ourselves. In this profoundly...
2018-11-067h 26
Intriguing Beings PodcastIntriguing Beings Podcast - Episode 01 - Nick JacobsenWelcome to Episode 01 of Intriguing Beings, a new podcast featuring interesting conversations with Rou Chater. My first guest is Nick Jacobsen, one of the world's most impressive kiteboarders.
We talk about that first crane jump and how it changed his life to the more recent jump off the hotel in Dubai. Discover how seriously Nick takes safety when he does these tricks and how he deals with the fame it has brought him. We also talk about his relationship with Richard Branson, dealing with injuries and missing out on the King Of The Air. Ultimately though this conversation underlines...
2018-09-1349 min
Start the WeekWho Am I? The Brain and PersonalityBrain damage can radically change a person's character - but does that mean they are no longer themselves? Consultant neurologist Jules Montague works with people suffering dementia and brain injuries. She tells Tom Sutcliffe what happens when the brain misbehaves. Memories may fade and names disappear - but does that mean a person no longer has the same identity? Behavioural scientist Nick Chater is sceptical about whether we have an inner self at all. His book The Mind is Flat exposes what he calls the 'shocking shallowness' of our psychology, and argues that we have...
2018-02-2641 min
MusicalTalk - The UK's Independent Musical Theatre Podcast545: Piers Chater Robinson on writing Peter Pan - The British MusicalOnce upon a time, Nick saw a musical of Peter Pan at the Cambridge Theatre starring Ron Moody. This musical was written by composer, lyricist and bookwriter - Piers Chater-Robinson. Hear how this musical, originally written for a school, started out and made its way to the West End... whilst being published all over the world.
2017-11-1352 min
The Human ZooThe Olympics: Why We're Hardwired To WatchThe series that looks at current events through the lens of psychology. Michael Blastland explores the quirky ways in which we humans think, behave and make decisions.In this programme, the Zoo team are watching people, who are watching people, who are often as not going round in circles. And trying to work out what it is in the mind that makes that so compelling. It's time for the Olympics, and we're investigating the psychology of being a sports spectator. Even if you're not watching the Rio Games, you might be curious why so many...
2016-08-0227 minThe Human ZooNews of an Atrocity: The Psychology of Rare EventsThe series that looks at current events through the lens of psychology. Michael Blastland explores the quirky ways in which we humans think, behave and make decisions.In this episode - why do we tend to be more attuned to the dangers posed by rare, exceptional events, such as acts of terrorism, than we are to more everyday threats such as car crashes, which are a more immediate and real risk? Why do rare events sometimes feel more frightening?People are continually alert to the odd - we have a better memory for things that...
2016-08-0127 minThe Human ZooDisruptionThe series that looks at current events through the lens of psychology - Michael Blastland explores the quirky ways in which we humans think, behave and make decisions.In this episode - disruption and how it affects us. Cancelled trains or political and economic turmoil - when things happen beyond our control, how do we react psychologically? Not well, usually. We don't like uncertainty. We tend to avoid a change to the status quo, almost at all cost. But are there cases when a bit of disruption has benefits? The Human Zoo team explores everything...
2016-07-2027 minThe Human ZooDemocracy and the Wisdom of CrowdsThe series that looks at current events through the lens of psychology. Michael Blastland explores the quirky ways in which we humans think, behave and make decisions.At a time when questions are being asked both of democracy, and of how Donald Trump continues to rise in the US, the Human Zoo team investigates the so-called wisdom of crowds - the idea that collective judgments lead to the right solution.Sometimes, how we learn from one another results in human progress. Elsewhere, our tendency to copy each other's behaviour has irrational outcomes.When...
2016-07-1327 minThe Human ZooTrust me... I'm an expertThe series that looks at current events through the lens of psychology. Michael Blastland explores the quirky ways in which we humans think, behave and make decisions.In this week's programme, a question of trust - why do people have a tendency to distrust experts and expertise? It has been made much of in the UK's Brexit campaign to leave the European Union. 'People in this country have had enough of experts,' claimed Leave campaigner Michael Gove. What's behind this lack of faith in authority?The Zoo team discover that the difficulty of evaluating...
2016-07-1327 minThe Human ZooThat Post-Referendum FeelingThe series that looks at current events through the lens of psychology. Michael Blastland explores the quirky ways in which we humans think, behave and make decisions.In this episode, that morning-after feeling - the aftermath of the EU referendum. We put our 'X' in a box and, one way or the other, committed. What happened in that moment and what are the consequences? Are we different now? Do we have doubts or regrets, or will we stubbornly stick to our decision? The Zoo team investigate the curious psychology of being consistent and how we...
2016-06-2827 minThe Human ZooShort Cuts to the Simple LifeThe series that looks at current events through the lens of psychology - Michael Blastland explores the quirky ways in which we humans think, behave and make decisions.In this episode, we explore success and failure, and how easily we attribute acclaim or the blame. Too easily? For example, football managers - we can expect a few casualties during Euro 2016, but is the failure of a team one man's fault? At the same time, the boss of the eventual cup-winner is lauded as a genius. Surely it's more complicated than that? The Human Zoo team...
2016-06-2127 minThe Human ZooAs a matter of fact...The series that looks at current events through the lens of psychology - Michael Blastland explores the quirky ways in which we humans think, behave and make decisions.In this first episode of a new series, we look at facts and the EU referendum. We are bombarded with statistics and projections about how the UK will benefit or suffer, depending on whether or not we are in or out of Europe. And we, the public, clamour for even more. How do we respond and use these facts, if at all, to formulate a reasoned opinion?...
2016-06-1527 minThe Human ZooThe Strangeness of TraditionIt's the time of year when we fall into the familiar, the traditions we've recycled since childhood. But why do we do it? Michael Blastland examines the psychology of how we behave around Christmas.Mistletoe, gift-giving, decorated evergreen trees - irresistibly or unthinkingly, we all act out this time of year in a similar way. Do we simply copy each other? Is it about reinforcing group identity? Or do we fear the consequences if we transgress tradition?In fact, how traditions arise and take hold - and more widely, what becomes conventional behaviour - is...
2015-12-2227 minThe Human ZooThe Lives of ThingsStorms rage and floods take their toll - is this nature taking its revenge? Michael Blastland turns the lens of psychology on how we treat objects and other entities as if they are 'alive'.Not just the weather - we rail against a crashed laptop, dote on our cars and have conversations with our pets. Why do we anthropomorphise the things around us?In fact, we tend to exaggerate what psychologists call 'agency' in all kinds of ways - as if there's a mind behind what goes on in the world, with feelings and intentions...
2015-12-1527 minThe Human ZooThe OtherAmidst public anxiety over any number of threats to British interests, Michael Blastland turns the lens of psychology from 'us' to 'them', and perceptions of 'the other'. From sports teams to supermarkets, politics to religion, we define ourselves partly by the other. And with the news full of fear of terrorist attacks, talk of war and immigration, the question of how we perceive groups outside our own is increasingly relevant. How do we see 'them', whoever they are? Are we naturally fearful of those who aren't like us? What is the morality of otherness? Can...
2015-12-0827 minThe Human ZooThe Tide Is With UsThe series that looks at current events through the lens of psychology. From scandals to markets, elections to traffic jams, discover the nuts and bolts of human behaviour that link public life to our most private thoughts and motivations.Are people led by the head or by the heart? How rational are we? And how do we perceive the world? All human behaviour could turn up in The Human Zoo - including yours.In this episode, Michael Blastland explores why so many people - be they the leaders of political parties, or people who drink...
2015-12-0327 minThe Human ZooA Word of AdviceThe Human Zoo is the programme that looks at current events through the lens of psychology. From scandals to markets, elections to traffic jams, discover the nuts and bolts of human behaviour that link public life to our most private thoughts and motivations.
Are people led by the head or by the heart? How rational are we? And how do we perceive the world? We like to say that all human behaviour could turn up in The Human Zoo, including yours.
In the last episode of the series - how does advice work? The government tells us to cut...
2015-07-1427 minThe Human ZooPerfect PeopleThe Human Zoo is the programme that looks at current events through the lens of psychology. From scandals to markets, elections to traffic jams, discover the nuts and bolts of human behaviour that link public life to our most private thoughts and motivations.
Are people led by the head or by the heart? How rational are we? And how do we perceive the world? The programme blends intriguing experiments that reveal our biases and judgements, explorations and examples taken from what's in the news and what we do in the kitchen - all driven by a large slice of...
2015-07-0727 minThe Human ZooThe Improvising MindThe Human Zoo is the programme that looks at current events through the lens of psychology. From scandals to markets, elections to traffic jams, discover the nuts and bolts of human behaviour that link public life to our most private thoughts and motivations. Are people led by the head or by the heart? How rational are we? And how do we perceive the world? The programme blends intriguing experiments that reveal our biases and judgements, explorations and examples taken from what's in the news and what we do in the kitchen - all driven by a large...
2015-06-3027 minThe Human ZooMorals and NormsThe Human Zoo is a place to learn about the one subject that never fails to fascinate - ourselves. In this episode, morals and norms. Naked tourists on Malaysian mountains? Professional footballers sprawling on the streets of Tenerife? The team turns the lens of psychology on news of bad behaviour.How do we know about the unwritten rules that govern us? And why does it cause such outrage when we get them wrong?
Michael Blastland investigates with resident Zoo psychologist Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick University, and roving reporter Timandra Harkness.Special...
2015-06-2327 min
CIPDPodcast 97: Look Ahead To 2015Welcome to the first podcast for 2015! In this podcast Chief Executive Peter Cheese explains the key themes the CIPD will be focusing on in the coming year and introduces 4 important thinkers discussing what they think is significant and cutting edge for the profession right now. First we speak to Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at the Warwick Business School, about the science of human behaviour and its relevance to HR issues. Next we hear from James Rule, Director of HR Solution Effectiveness at Thomson Reuters who describes a scheme called ‘partnering for performance’ that embodies the idea of aligning tale...
2014-12-1721 min
AnalysisPrecedents or Principles?We firmly believe that our choices - about what we eat and how we vote - reflect the inner core of our being. But do those choices originate in principle - or simply because of what we have done in the past? Psychologist Nick Chater asks if precedent matters more than principles and discovers a complex interplay between the two forces which govern the choices we make.
Producer: Simon Coates.
2014-11-1728 minAnalysisDo Leaders Make a Difference?Do Leaders make a Difference?We talk much of personal leadership being the key to change in, say, politics or business. But how much can such figures really influence events? Do we overattribute power to individuals such as a prime minister or a media mogul? Have we lost sight of the overall importance of collective action and attitudes, or the trends and events that no individual can resist? Michael Blastland investigates. Producer: Chris Bowlby
Editor: Innes BowenContributors:Nick Chater
Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business SchoolProfessor...
2011-11-0728 min