Exploring the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior | Team: Host and Executive Editor Shankar Vedantam & Executive Producer @taranoelleboyle

Washington, DC
Joined July 2009
“Very often the world presents us with ambiguity, and what we do is we try to connect the dots in a way that tells a compelling narrative. And that allows us to have a sense that there's order.” Why is my friend late? How does nuclear fission work? What can I do to help my baby sleep through the night? We all feel the need to understand the people and events that shape our lives. Some researchers think the drive to explain the world is a basic human impulse, similar to thirst or hunger. Psychologist Tania Lombrozo joins us to discuss how explanations can lead to discovery, delight, and disaster. And on Your Questions Answered, psychologist Jon Rottenberg responds to your questions about new ways to view depression. hiddenbrain.org/podcast/the-…
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Someone with eighteen times more money than you might spend only twice as much on their house, their car, their watch. The truly rich barely play the status game. Here's why. 🧵
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The people quietly building real wealth rarely advertise it. They spend far below what they could. So the flashier the display, the less it tells you about the money behind it.
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Real wealth rarely needs an audience. So before you make a big purchase, ask yourself whether you're trying to prove something, and to whom.
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Think about a high-pressure moment that you flubbed. An interview. A presentation. A game. You already knew what to do. So why couldn't you do it?
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There are techniques you can use to break that chain. Count backwards. Sing a song to yourself. Take deep breaths. All these strategies give your mind something to do other than telling a story of failure.
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The next time you worry about choking, remember: you never lost your skills. You lost your attention, and that’s something that you can regain.
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In a medieval court, one person could tell the king the truth to his face without losing his head: the jester. That’s because everyone agreed a joke didn't count. We still use this trick today. Here's why. 🧵
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And a shared laugh does something strange. In one moment, a thing everyone had been keeping to themselves becomes something they all know they share. Once the whole room laughs together, no one can pretend they didn't know.
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So the jokes a group can't stop laughing at are a map of what it's most afraid to say. It works on you, too. The joke that hits you the hardest may be pointing at something you already believe, but have never said out loud.
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Two groups were coached to save money. The first got standard advice about budgeting and compound interest. They saved twenty-two percent more. The second group did something that had nothing to do with money. They saved more than three times as much. 🧵
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We don't save for a spreadsheet. We save for a person, a place, a life we are quietly working toward. When money points at something you love, saving stops feeling like a loss.
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So the next time you try to force yourself to save and find yourself struggling, stop reaching for another budgeting app. Ask instead what the money is for. The thing you love, named clearly, may incentivize you more than any spreadsheet ever could.
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