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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · 15d

My first morning as the writer-in-residence at Ernest Hemingway's house. Info about this place: comlib.org/hemingway/he...

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Reposted by David McRaney

David Mair @davidmair4.bsky.social · 29d

Great case for knowing your most cherished identities to recognise when your misinformation radar is likely to fail.

@davidmcraney.bsky.social
@matthewfacciani.bsky.social

podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/y...

320 - Misguided - Matthew Facciani

Podcast Episode · You Are Not So Smart · 18/08/2025 · 1h 9m

podcasts.apple.com

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Sep 7

Some states require a verification process to access social media for which BlueSky would need to spend an enormous amount of money to add to its platform. For this reason, and for stated privacy concerns, the company has chosen not to comply, thus blocking the site for users in those states.

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Sep 7

It took me too long to tell you "thank you!" but, also, thank you!

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Sep 7

Thank you!

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Sep 7

Had to use a VPN to get on BlueSky to let you know that I drank chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast out of a Mason jar for lunch before writing about the role of hermeneutics in the pursuit of intellectual humility when avoiding the fallacy of reification concerning abstractions like "genius" 👋

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Reposted by David McRaney

Eli Finkel @elijfinkel.bsky.social · Aug 4

A big THANK YOU to @davidmcraney.bsky.social for featuring the #LoveFactually podcast on #YouAreNotSoSmart!

The episode delves into #TheNotebook, figuring out what the movie gets right -- and what it gets wrong -- about how relationships work.

Enjoy!

youarenotsosmart.com/2025/08/04/y...

YANSS 319 – What movies often get wrong about romantic love, relationships, and human mating in general

Two psychologists who study love, relationships, and human mating behavior pick apart the movie “The Notebook” and tell us what it gets right and what it gets wrong when it comes to por…

youarenotsosmart.com

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Jul 31

I think this is super rad and want you to know about it: I am headed to Chicago right now to attend a conference of scientists who study disagreement at the Center for Enlightened Disagreement at Northwestern. Article about the launch of this place: www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/news/blog/20...

‘Center for Enlightened Disagreement’ launches at Northwestern University and the Kellogg School of Management

Novel center will attract top academics and thought leaders across sectors to develop better ways to engage across diverse perspectives

www.kellogg.northwestern.edu

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Jul 27

More capable when so motivated, not more inclined

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Reposted by David McRaney

Ben Jackson @jacksobc.bsky.social · Jul 25

@davidmcraney.bsky.social talking to Britt Frank is one of my favourite things. I loved this episode both times I listened to it. I just hope it won’t take a third time before I put into practice some of the really useful advice that Britt doles out. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/y...

318 - The Intention Action Gap - Britt Frank (rebroadcast)

Podcast Episode · You Are Not So Smart · 21/07/2025 · 1h 10m

podcasts.apple.com

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Reposted by David McRaney

kentropic @kentropic.bsky.social · Jul 18

As this episode of one of the best podcasts around explains, people who believe in conspiratorial narratives are often intelligent, & their retreat into dangerous nonsense like Q can be seen as a rational (but flawed & fearful) attempt to make sense of an irrational world. @davidmcraney.bsky.social

YANSS 151 – What we can learn about our own beliefs, biases, and motivated reasoning from the community of people who are certain the Earth is flat

In this episode we sit down with the director and producers of the documentary film, Behind the Curve, an exploration of motivated reasoning and conspiratorial thinking told through the lives of pe…

youarenotsosmart.com

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Jul 9

Reminder: The smarter a person is and the more education they earn, the better they will become at rationalizing and justifying their incorrect beliefs if so motivated..

Critical thinking is a skill, like playing guitar. It must be learned and practiced (and the person must want to do both).

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Jun 10

Seems a good time to re-share this episode of YANSS about why civil resistance is incredibly powerful and how that works (scientifically), but also what it takes to make it work after the soldiers and police arrive. Guest: @chenoweth.bsky.social - Links: youarenotsosmart.com/2025/05/14/y...

YANSS 313 – Why the number of people needed to make a protest movement successful is much lower than you might assume

If you want to overthrow a dictator, resist an authoritarian regime, or create a movement that can change the national status quo, you don’t need half the country to join, you only need 3.5 p…

youarenotsosmart.com

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Reposted by David McRaney

David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · May 14

Why civil resistance works, and why the number of people needed to reach a protest movement's goals is much lower than you might assume: New episode with Erica Chenoweth -
@chenoweth.bsky.social - youarenotsosmart.com/2025/05/14/y...

YANSS 313 – Why the number of people needed to make a protest movement successful is much lower than you might assume

If you want to overthrow a dictator, resist an authoritarian regime, or create a movement that can change the national status quo, you don’t need half the country to join, you only need 3.5 p…

youarenotsosmart.com

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · May 17

Sure thing. Right here, fourth clickable button thing: www.davidmcraney.com

David McRaney

www.davidmcraney.com

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · May 14

Why civil resistance works, and why the number of people needed to reach a protest movement's goals is much lower than you might assume: New episode with Erica Chenoweth -
@chenoweth.bsky.social - youarenotsosmart.com/2025/05/14/y...

YANSS 313 – Why the number of people needed to make a protest movement successful is much lower than you might assume

If you want to overthrow a dictator, resist an authoritarian regime, or create a movement that can change the national status quo, you don’t need half the country to join, you only need 3.5 p…

youarenotsosmart.com

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Reposted by David McRaney

Skeptical Inquirer @skepticalinquirer.bsky.social · May 1

@davidmcraney.bsky.social introduces a special critical thinking issue—featuring @critikid.bsky.social, @thinkingpowers.bsky.social, @quackwatch.bsky.social, and more.

Explore the intro and full issue: skepticalinquirer.org/2025/04/teac...

#CriticalThinking #ScienceEd

Quote from David McRaney that reads: "Because as long as people are still thinking, we must encourage people to keep thinking about thinking," from Skeptical Inquirer May/June 2025. Visit SkepticalInquirer.org to read the full issue.

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · May 1

Why the people who are most likely to suggest that you “do your own research” are also the least likely to do their own research: youarenotsosmart.com/2023/08/19/y...

YANSS 267 – Why the people who are most likely to suggest that you “do your own research” are also the least likely to do their own research

Sedona Chinn, a researcher who studies how people make sense of competing scientific, environmental, and health-related claims, joins us to discuss her latest research into doing your own research.…

youarenotsosmart.com

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Apr 6

Hey everyone wondering if you can ever get through to people stuck in cult-like thinking and change their minds (spoiler - you can).

How Minds Change is, right now, a Kindle Daily Deal on Amazon. You can grab the ebook for $1.99

Limited time, ends at midnight, here's a link: a.co/d/gMmjgU0

How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion

How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion - Kindle edition by McRaney, David. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion.

a.co

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Mar 30

Saved a turtle. Found him in the garage, took him to a pond. Put down 1,000 words in the manuscript for my next book (about the cognitive linguistic beauty of difficult to define words). Edited tomorrow’s podcast about psychology of parts work. Now learning Money for Nothing on guitar. Good day.

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Mar 3

New episode: The science behind how our propensity for magical thinking can lead us to deceive each other by first deceiving ourselves – youarenotsosmart.com/2025/03/03/y...

YANSS 308 – The science behind how our propensity for magical thinking can lead us to deceive each other by first deceiving ourselves

In this episode, the story of Clever Hans, the horse who changed psychology for the better. We also sit down with psychologist and magician Matt Tompkins. Matt is the author of The Spectacle of Ill…

youarenotsosmart.com

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Feb 28

That’s true for the famous image, not the one above or just about any other photo of The Dress. The original was ambiguously overexposed, and the brain dutifully attempts disambiguation via your overexposure priors.

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Feb 28

The more you’ve seen objects overexposed in natural light over your lifetime, the more likely your brain will assume it is overexposed in natural light and remove the blue tint, resulting in white and gold. The more artificial Iight, it removes the yellow tint: black and blue.

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David McRaney @davidmcraney.bsky.social · Feb 28

On the 10th anniversary of The Dress, I checked in on Pascal Wallisch, one of the NYU psychologists whose research revealed why we see it differently. He told me he considers it “the ultimate temporal touchstone” of the before COVID times. He was also wearing the dress (will post to YANSS Patreon):

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Reposted by David McRaney

Michael Schwalbe @mschwalbe.bsky.social · Feb 27

Thrilled to talk #misinformation and what we can do about it with @davidmcraney.bsky.social on his wildly popular ‘You Are Not So Smart’ podcast. I was joined by co-authors @katiejoseff.bsky.social and Samuel Woolley—check out the episode here!”

youarenotsosmart.com/2025/02/20/y...

YANSS 307 – Why resistance to true news that you would rather not believe can be stronger than susceptibility to fake news that you wish was true

In this episode, we sit down with three disinformation researchers whose new paper found something surprising about both our resistance (and our susceptibility) to both true news we wish was fake a…

youarenotsosmart.com

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