Playback is currently unavailable for S3 E1 · The Cognitive Tradeoff Hypothesis. Episode details remain available below.
Mind Field
Explore the surprising things we know (and don’t know) about why people are the way they are through expert interviews, rare footage from historical experiments, and brand-new, ground-breaking demonstrations of human nature at work.
- Created by:
- Michael Stevens
- Cast:
- Michael Stevens
- Language:
- English
- Country:
- United States of America
- Network:
- YouTube Premium, YouTube Red
Episode guide
Seasons
Season 3
Episodes
E01
Episode 1
★ 9.0The Cognitive Tradeoff Hypothesis
2018-12-05 · 30mHumans are the only Earthlings with complex language. But at what cost was that ability acquired? In this episode, Michael Stevens visit Tetsuro Matsuzawa to learn about his influential cognitive tradeoff hypothesis.
Current episode
E02
Episode 2
★ 7.0Moral Licensing
2018-12-05 · 30mHow are our moral decisions influenced by factors we’re not aware of? A phenomenon known as Moral Licensing claims that when we do something good, we often subconsciously allow ourselves to then do something bad. In this episode, Michael Stevens takes a look at whether those who donate money to charity become more likely to let a kid take the blame for a crime they know they committed.
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E03
Episode 3
The Stilwell Brain
2018-12-12 · 30mThere are 100 billion individual neurons in the human brain. Working together, they allow us to make sense of, and move through, the world around us. Scientists have built replicas of the human brain with computers, but no one has ever successfully made a brain out of humans. On this episode, Michael Stevens travels back to his hometown of Stilwell, Kansas, and turn it into a working brain!
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E04
Episode 4
The Stanford Prison Experiment
2018-12-19 · 30mNormal people can become monsters, given the right situation. That’s the standard narrative of the Stanford Prison Experiment, one of the most famous psychological experiments of all time. But what if the cause of its participants’ cruel behavior wasn’t what we’ve always been told?
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E05
Episode 5
Should I Die?
2018-12-26 · 30mIf I could live forever, should I? How does being reminded of our own mortality affect us psychologically? In this episode I speak with mortician and death positivity activist Caitlin Doughty and visit a cryonics facility trying to extend human life indefinitely. Will I take them up on their offer, or will I choose to die?
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E06
Episode 6
How to Talk to Aliens
2019-01-02 · 30mAre we alone in the universe? Even if we could contact aliens, what would we say? How would we say it? And, most importantly, should we even be trying to make contact at all? This episode takes me on a journey to compose and send my own personal message into outer space.
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E07
Episode 7
Behavior and Belief
2019-01-09 · 30mHow can a lie become true? In this episode, Dr. Aaron Blaisdell and I create a game show that is actually a giant "human Skinner Box" to observe the formation of superstitious beliefs. And Dr. Samuel Veissière helps me design and perform a placebo reverse exorcism, harnessing the power of belief in both science and religion to convince normal people that a spirit has possessed their bodies.
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E08
Episode 8
Mind Reading
2019-01-16 · 30mIn this episode I visit a researcher who is studying memory by using machine learning and neuroimaging to detect and predict people's brain states. I also travel to Japan to meet with a team working on ways to record the content of peoples’ dreams.
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Michael Stevens
Self - Host
