Podcasts · Science

Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg

Spencer Greenberg

300 episodes · Explicit

Clearer Thinking is a podcast about ideas that truly matter. If you enjoy learning about powerful, practical concepts and frameworks, wish you had more deep, intellectual conversations in your life, or are looking for non-BS self-improvement, then we think you'll love this podcast! Each week we invite a brilliant guest to bring four important ideas to discuss for an in-depth conversation. Topics include psychology, society, behavior change, philosophy, science, artificial intelligence, math, economics, self-help, mental health, and technology. We focus on ideas that can be applied right now to make your life better or to help you better understand yourself and the world, aiming to teach you the best mental tools to enhance your learning, self-improvement efforts, and decision-making. • We take on important, thorny questions like: • What's the best way to help a friend or loved one going through a difficult time? How can we make our worldviews more accurate? How can we hone the accuracy of our thinking? What are the advantages of using our "gut" to make decisions? And when should we expect careful, analytical reflection to be more effective? Why do societies sometimes collapse? And what can we do to reduce the chance that ours collapses? Why is the world today so much worse than it could be? And what can we do to make it better? What are the good and bad parts of tradition? And are there more meaningful and ethical ways of carrying out important rituals, such as honoring the dead? How can we move beyond zero-sum, adversarial negotiations and create more positive-sum interactions?

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. The Race to Replace Us With AI (with Garrison Lovely)

    · 1 h 14 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Could AI simultaneously be an extraordinarily powerful technology and an economic bubble, and why would those possibilities not contradict each other? What does the history of the…

  2. Why we procrastinate, and what actually helps (with Itamar Shatz)

    · 56 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What exactly is procrastination, and how is it different from simply deciding to postpone something? Why is chronic procrastination so common, and why can it affect highly conscientious…

  3. Neurodiversity, Autism, Awe, and Religious Experience (with Jonathan Machnee)

    · 1 h 36 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What does “neurodivergent” actually mean, and has the term become too broad to be useful? Why might people grouped under the same neurodivergent umbrella have conflicting needs? Is…

  4. Can We End Factory Farming Without Giving Up Meat? (with Bruce Friedrich)

    · 1 h 08 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Why is producing meat so inefficient? How does animal agriculture contribute to hunger and malnutrition? How large are the environmental costs of meat production? How does industrial…

  5. Our relationship to chatbots (with Claire Boine)

    · 1 h 02 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What makes an attachment to AI meaningfully different from an attachment to a human, animal, or fictional character? If chatbot relationships are built around validation and adaptation,…

  6. The good advice you least want (with Cate Hall)

    · 1 h 05 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Why do people gravitate toward self-help that reinforces the strategies they already use well? How can we identify the default lens through which we interpret nearly every situation?…

  7. Why housing costs so much and what can be done about it (with Alex Armlovich)

    · 1 h 18 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. How large is the housing crisis, and why does it impose trillions of dollars in economic costs? Why has housing become especially unaffordable across English speaking countries and an…

  8. How To Pursue Goals without Striving (with Stephen Zerfas)

    · 1 h 32 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Why can the same meditation technique produce emotional openness in one person and dissociation in another? How can meditators tell whether they are cultivating equanimity or merely…

  9. Bicameral Minds and Leaderless Tribes (with Tor Parsons)

    · 1 h 20 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What happens to a community when no one has the formally recognized authority to punish, exclude, or forgive? Are written rules a constraint on freedom, or are they sometimes the very…

  10. How Small Actions Rewrite Identity (with Eric Zimmer)

    · 1 h 18 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What changes when we stop imagining transformation as a single breakthrough and start seeing it as thousands of small, low-resistance actions? How do we know whether a small action is…

  11. The Twelve Levers for a better life (with Jeremy Stevenson)

    · 43 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Why is so much self-help useless, and why is some of it genuinely life-changing? What separates a powerful psychological technique from vague advice? Why is “love yourself” often less…

  12. The Hidden History of Evidence-Based Everything (with Helen Pearson)

    · 1 h 17 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. How do we know whether the things we do every day actually work? Why do so many practices in medicine, parenting, education, conservation, and public policy begin as intuition,…

  13. Is cash a better form of charitable aid? (with Nick Allardice)

    · 1 h 16 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. How much good is lost when charity optimizes only for what can be measured? When does a cost-effectiveness model clarify reality, and when does it create false confidence? Could the most…

  14. When painful thoughts feel true but aren't (with Christine Padesky)

    · 1 h 20 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Why do our minds sometimes need experiments more than insight? What changes when therapy becomes a way of practicing life outside the therapist’s office rather than explaining life…

  15. Could an international agreement protect us from dangerous AI? (with Malo Bourgon)

    · 1 h 28 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What are the world’s leading AI companies actually trying to build when they talk about superintelligence? Is the goal merely better chatbots, or systems that could outperform all humans…

  16. Is patriarchy gone or hiding in plain sight? (with Kate Manne)

    · 1 h 38 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. If progress is real but uneven, what metrics actually matter—outcomes, perceptions, or lived vulnerability? When we say “things are better,” who is included in that claim and who is…

  17. What's true and what's myth about trauma? (with George Bonnano)

    · 1 h 22 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What should count as trauma, and what gets lost when the word expands to cover ordinary distress? Why do some frightening events leave lasting psychological injury while others fade into…

  18. Is string theory BS or the most promising theory in physics? (with Christian Ferko)

    · 1 h 38 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. How do we tell the difference between a theory that is incomplete and a theory that is simply wrong? What should count as success in fundamental physics when direct experiments are…

  19. Are we in an honesty crisis? (with Christian B. Miller)

    · 1 h 15 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Is dishonesty best understood as a permanent feature of human nature or as a condition that worsens when incentives and tools change? When new technologies make cheating easier and…

  20. What impact will AI have on jobs and the economy? (with Anton Korinek)

    · 1 h 20 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Could AI trigger an economic break as large as the Industrial Revolution, or even larger? What changes when labor stops being the main bottleneck in production? If intelligence becomes…

  21. The seductiveness of secular gurus (with Christopher Kavanagh)

    · 2 h 01 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What makes broad, all-encompassing worldviews so attractive in periods of institutional distrust? Why do charismatic figures become especially persuasive when they present themselves as…

  22. What beats intuition when it comes to doing good? (with Marcus Davis)

    · 1 h 17 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. If you enjoy our podcast, we have some exciting news – we’ve just launched a new membership called Clearer Thinking Plus. Members get this podcast completely ad-free, as well as two…

  23. Can averages explain a human life? (with Steven C. Hayes)

    · 1 h 21 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. If you enjoy our podcast, we have some exciting news – we’ve just launched a new membership called Clearer Thinking Plus. Members get this podcast completely ad-free, as well as two…

  24. Should science stop worshiping statistical significance? (with Andrew Gelman)

    · 1 h 20 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. If you enjoy our podcast, we have some exciting news – we’ve just launched a new membership called Clearer Thinking Plus. Members get this podcast completely ad-free, as well as two…

  25. What happens when your co-workers are AIs? (with Evan Ratliff)

    · 1 h 22 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. If you enjoy our podcast, we have some exciting news – we’ve just launched a new membership called Clearer Thinking Plus. Members get this podcast completely ad-free, as well as two…

  26. Long COVID: what are the scientific facts? (with Carmen Scheibenbogen)

    · 1 h 25 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. If you enjoy our podcast, we have some exciting news – we’ve just launched a new membership called Clearer Thinking Plus. Members get this podcast completely ad-free, as well as two…

  27. Our 300th episode! - How to have better intellectual conversations (with Uri Bram)

    · 1 h 23 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. The Clearer Thinking Podcast listener survey is here! If you've ever listened to the Clearer Thinking podcast before, we'd love it if you'd take our listener survey so we can learn…

  28. How to use your career to help the world (with Devon Fritz)

    · 1 h 03 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. The Clearer Thinking Podcast listener survey is here! If you've ever listened to the Clearer Thinking podcast before, we'd love it if you'd take our listener survey so we can learn…

  29. Are personality types a statistical mirage? (with Colin DeYoung)

    · 1 h 25 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. The Clearer Thinking Podcast listener survey is here! If you've ever listened to the Clearer Thinking podcast before, we'd love it if you'd take our listener survey so we can learn…

  30. Ambitious goals for reducing animal suffering (with Jeff Sebo)

    · 1 h 28 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. The Clearer Thinking Podcast listener survey is here! If you've ever listened to the Clearer Thinking podcast before, we'd love it if you'd take our listener survey so we can learn…

  31. Live at EA Global - The future of U.S. foreign aid (with Dean Karlan)

    · 1 h 26 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What is the core public interest case for foreign aid beyond soft power? How should we define safety and prosperity? Why do many voters believe aid is a quarter of the budget when it is…

  32. Improving your skill of emotional regulation (with Shireen Rizvi)

    · 1 h 09 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. How can we distinguish “real CBT” from supportive talk - does it include homework, clear goals, or a manualized plan? When therapy “doesn’t work,” is it the modality, the match, or weak…

  33. When voting fails (with Nicholas Gruen)

    · 1 h 35 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Which decisions should be made by election and which by random sampling? Where is competition healthy for choosing leaders, and where must rule-setting be unitary and impartial? What…

  34. Why aren't we relying on nuclear power? (with Isabelle Boemeke)

    · 1 h 23 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What explains fearing nuclear more than the harms we tolerate from fossil fuels? Can we judge energy risk by evidence rather than headlines? What mix of firm power and renewables…

  35. A conversation with a person with OCD (with David Adam)

    · 1 h 18 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Where is the line between ordinary intrusive thoughts and an OCD pattern that hijacks the day? How do obsessions and compulsions condition each other so that brief relief entrenches the…

  36. What, if anything, will save the environment? (with Dan Stein)

    · 1 h 11 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Are we going to solve climate change with technology rather than personal sacrifice? If most offsets fail on additionality, should we stop pretending they meaningfully cut emissions? Can…

  37. Are markets rational or is sentiment contagious? (with Alex Imas)

    · 1 h 16 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Are stock prices set by cash flows or crowd vibes? Why do bubbles last if “smart money” can short them? What should retail traders learn from GameStop and zero-commission options? When…

  38. Can you do 100x more good? (with Sjir Hoeijmakers)

    · 1 h 23 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What does “100x more good” mean relative to your current giving? How can your giving more closely align with your pre-existing values? If cost-effectiveness is the denominator we forget,…

  39. What is psychosomatic illness? (with Suzanne O'Sullivan)

    · 1 h 49 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Note: Please note that in this episode, Spencer and Dr. O'Sullivan discuss a controversial and complex medical topic where the science is still in development and there is a lot of…

  40. What causes mass shootings? (with Ragy Girgis)

    · 1 h 21 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What do we miss when we treat public shootings as the whole story of mass murder? If public events are a small slice, how should prevention and attention shift? Does saturation coverage…

  41. Contempt-free public discourse (with Robert Rosenkranz)

    · 1 h 11 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What makes a forum truly open-minded rather than performative? When does listening change minds instead of just hardening identities? Are we teaching citizens to separate facts from…

  42. Beyond the assumption that humans are rational (with Barry Schwartz)

    · 1 h 22 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What does rationality mean when life won’t fit a spreadsheet? If models demand one common scale, what happens to values that can’t be compared? Are we optimizing choices, or narrowing…

  43. Will AI superintelligence kill us all? (with Nate Soares)

    · 1 h 24 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Are the existential risks posed by superhuman AI fundamentally different from prior technological threats such as nuclear weapons or pandemics? How do the inherent “alien drives” that…

  44. Do facts have an expiration date? (with Samuel Arbesman)

    · 1 h 16 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What does it mean to treat facts as drafts rather than monuments? If truth is something we approach, how do we act while it’s still provisional? When definitions shift, what really…

  45. From prisoner to escaping inner prisons (with Shaka Senghor)

    · 1 h 17 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What changes when we treat violence as a human problem rather than a demographic story? Are fear, anger, and shame the real levers behind sudden harm? How much agency can we ask of…

  46. A new paradigm for psychology research (with Slime Mold Time Mold)

    · 1 h 27 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. What changes when psychology stops naming traits and starts naming parts - can “entities and rules” turn fuzzy labels into testable mechanisms? If the mind is a web of governors with set…

  47. Beyond saving lives: happiness and doing good (with Michael Plant)

    · 1 h 12 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Are we trying to maximize moment-to-moment happiness or life satisfaction? Can self-reports really guide policy and giving? What happens to quality of life metrics when we judge impact…

  48. Darwinian Demons: Climate Change and the AI Arms Race (with Kristian Rönn)

    · 1 h 18 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Are existential risks from AI fundamentally different from those posed by previous technologies such as nuclear weapons? How can global cooperation overcome the challenges posed by…

  49. Seeing through cognitive traps (with Alex Edmans)

    · 1 h 32 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. How do we distinguish correlation from causation in organizational success? How common is it to mistake luck or data mining for genuine effects in research findings? What are the…

  50. The most important century (with Holden Karnofsky)

    · 1 h 48 min · Explicit

    Read the full transcript here. Has society reached ‘peak progress’? Can we sustain the level of economic growth that technology has enabled over the last century? Have researchers plucked the last of science's…

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