Leslie talks with David McRaney (@davidmcraney) about his book, “How Minds Change”. They explore how social context is critical when people form their opinions. People don’t change their minds in a vacuum, and David describes how network effects lead to social cascades, such as how widespread resistance to equal marriage flipped to widespread acceptance in an astonishingly short period. David quizzes Leslie about the most recent movie he watched as a demonstration of how to get people to think differently. They discuss the role of truth in persuasion, and the utter failure of the “information deficit hypothesis”. You can learn more from David via his podcast You Are Not So Smart and on his website at davidmcraney.com.
Podcast for Inquiry is brought to you by the Centre for Inquiry Canada. Hosted by Leslie Rosenblood. Produced by Lee Shields, Zack Dumont, and Martin Zielinski. Graphic design by Nikolay Nikitushkin. Music by Anthony Lazaro. Please contribute to Podcast for Inquiry at https://centreforinquiry.ca/donate. Send your thoughts and feedback to podcast@centreforinquiry.ca.