The Problem With Trying To Be Rational - Steven Pinker - #424

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello, friends, welcome back to the show. My guest today is Steven Pinker. He's a cognitive psychologist at Harvard University, a psycholinguist and a bestselling author. It would be nice to always make the right decision, to escape the prison of human emotions and biases and operate from a purely rational place. Steven's new book breaks down rationality into its component parts and attempts to understand just why we're all missing something from our mental makeup. Expect to learn why betting websites are the most accurate forecasters of the future, why learning lists of cognitive biases won't always make you more effective, whether smart people are more or less rational on average, whether politics makes you dumber, how to balance rationality with a desire to be intuitive and present and much more. If you haven't already joined the Modern Wisdom Locals Community, then get your face and take it to modernwisdom.locals.com. You can join over 2000 other people who all listen to the show. It is a community where we can post memes, thoughts, insights, other podcasts and pieces of content that we found engaging. And I'm doing regular Q&A live streams only for local supporters. That's modernwisdom.locals.com. In other news, this episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. We all need help at some point in our lives. Whether it's because of stress at home or work or loneliness, it can be invaluable to know that there's someone professionally trained who can help us get through whatever we're facing. Over 2 million people have taken charge of their mental health with BetterHelp's online service. It removes all of the hassle and awkwardness that can be involved in finding a therapist and gives you some essential simplified steps instead. There are a broad range of experts available categorized by their specialty or combination of specialties like addiction, social anxiety or relationships. You can go and read the testimonials on BetterHelp's website to read hundreds and hundreds of reviews which are added every day and can help you to choose the right therapist. You wouldn't find anywhere near this many testimonials for regular therapists and if you're lonely or struggling, there are people who you can talk to that can help. The service is available for clients worldwide. You can log in to your account at any time and send a message to your counselor. Plus, you don't even have to leave the house. You can get a 10% discount off your first month by going to betterhelp.com/modernwisdom. That's better, help.com/modernwisdom to join over a million people who have taken charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional. Take a free quiz, see what they can do for you. Have a look at all of the different counselors on there and their reviews, betterhelp.com/modernwisdom.
In other other news, this episode is brought to you by Element. First thing in the morning, no one has coffee anymore. It's 2022 and I've been talking about this for ages. No one has coffee. It's uncool. No one does it. What you do have is Element in water, your adenosine system that caffeine acts on isn't active for the first 90 minutes of the day. Your adrenal system is and salt acts on your adrenal system. Element contains a science backed electrolyte ratio of sodium, potassium and magnesium. It'll optimize your hydration. It'll help you to reduce muscle cramps and fatigue whilst optimizing brain health, regulating your appetite and curbing cravings. There's no sugar, no coloring, no artificial ingredients, no gluten, no fillers and no BS. Also, I have a favorite new flavor. I've moved off from the mango chili. It's nice, but I've gone on to orange. Orange is elite tier element flavor now. So if you're part of orange club, you're in with me. It's the exclusive hydration partner to Team USA weightlifting and relied on by tons of Olympic athletes, FBI sniper teams and Marines plus tech leaders and everyday athletes around the world. Also, you can get a free sample pack. All that you need to do is cover the cost of the shipping and pay nothing for the pack. You can have eight, all eight flavors, including my favorite new one, orange, all eight flavors. So you can try it out for a week and a day. It's $5 shipping in the US or £3.84 to the UK. Head to drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom to go and claim your free pack right now. drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom. But now, it's time to learn about rationality with Steven Pinker.
Steven Pinker, welcome to the show.

**Steven Pinker** (4:36)
Thank you, nice to be here.

**Chris Williamson** (4:38)
There was a time not long ago when I thought that reading another Eliezer Yukowski blog post or another Shane Parrish mental model definition about some cognitive bias that I didn't realize that I had, there was a period where I was adamant that that was going to be the solution to all of my problems in life. And then I found out that it wasn't. Why is it that I need a glossary mental models toolkit in order to be able to function? Has making sense of the world always been this difficult?