461: SPEED AND POLITICS (Part One - Rules For Radicals)

What is wrong with John Oliver? What's wrong with Donald Trump? What's wrong the anti-Trump anti-reality protestors? What was wrong with me the other day when I suddenly felt impelled to hatch a conspiracy theory about Trump's election being part of a "larger plan" with no evidence? What's wrong with an alarming number of the interactions in School Sucks Facebook group lately? Political thinking is often quick thinking. Thinking quickly is is an evolution-driven feature that was once necessary for our survival. But in a vastly more complex world than the one our species grew up in, this mode of thought is often dangerous and destructive. Look around. Sometimes some people, even libertarians, use mental shortcuts to arrive at faulty conclusions, and then engage in a process of rationalization for those conclusions. This series will combine observations of the left and pro-Trump right over the last year with the valuable lessons from Daniel Kahneman's book Thinking, Fast and Slow. The goal is utilize examples of thinking errors to avoid making them ourselves, often without even noticing. OPENING: John Oliver blows up 2016 - an analysis. DISCUSSION: -Tom Woods: Don't waste Your Breath Reasoning With the left -Rules For Radicals: learn to take advantage of mental shortcuts -Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman -Heuristics -System One: thinking that operates automatically, intuitively, involuntary and almost effortlessly -System Two: thinking that requires slowing down, deliberating, reasoning, computing, focusing, considering other data Look Closer: Please Support School Sucks Our Amazon Wish List Donate With Bitcoin Or Join the A/V Club Support Us On Patreon Shop With Us At Amazon Your continued support keeps the show going and growing, which keeps us at the top of the options for education podcasts and leads to new people discovering this message. This subscription also grants you access to the A/V Club, a bonus content section with 200+ hours of exclusive audio and video. If you are a regular consumer of our media, please consider making a monthly commitment by selecting the best option for you... A/V Club - Basic Access - $8.00/Month AP Club - "Advanced" Access - $12.00/Month Sigma Sigma Pi - Full Access - $16.00/Month