CLEARER THINKING

with Spencer Greenberg
the podcast about ideas that matter

About

Clearer Thinking is a podcast about ideas that truly matter. If you enjoy learning about powerful, practical concepts and frameworks, wish you had more deep, intellectual conversations in your life, or are looking for non-BS self-improvement, then we think you'll love this podcast! Each week we invite a brilliant guest to bring four important ideas to discuss for an in-depth conversation. Topics include psychology, society, behavior change, philosophy, science, artificial intelligence, math, economics, self-help, mental health, and technology. We focus on ideas that can be applied right now to make your life better or to help you better understand yourself and the world, aiming to teach you the best mental tools to enhance your learning, self-improvement efforts, and decision-making.

We take on important, thorny questions like:

What's the best way to help a friend or loved one going through a difficult time? How can we make our worldviews more accurate? How can we hone the accuracy of our thinking? What are the advantages of using our "gut" to make decisions? And when should we expect careful, analytical reflection to be more effective? Why do societies sometimes collapse? And what can we do to reduce the chance that ours collapses? Why is the world today so much worse than it could be? And what can we do to make it better? What are the good and bad parts of tradition? And are there more meaningful and ethical ways of carrying out important rituals, such as honoring the dead? How can we move beyond zero-sum, adversarial negotiations and create more positive-sum interactions?

Clearer Thinking is a podcast about ideas that truly matter. If you enjoy learning about powerful, practical concepts and frameworks, or wish you had more deep, intellectual conversations in your life, then we think you'll love this podcast!

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Episodes

134:
Separating the sinner from the sin (with Khomotso Moshikaro)
133:
The FTX catastrophe (with Byrne Hobart, Vipul Naik, Maomao Hu, Marcus Abramovich, and Ozzie Gooen)
132:
How to find out what people in rural communities really need (with Robert Chambers)
131:
Building healthy relationships (with Jayson Gaddis)
130:
Bringing rationality into politics (with Elizabeth Edwards-Appell)
129:
Sex workers — empowered, or victims? (with Melissa Broudo)
128:
What, if anything, do AIs understand? (with Ilya Sutskever)
127:
Forecasting the things that matter (with Peter Wildeford)
126:
Is the universe a computer? (with Joscha Bach)
125:
Inventions, stories, and ideas that don't matter (with Pablos Holman)
124:
Humble-bragging, counter-signalling, and impression management (with Övül Sezer)
123:
Ambition and expected value at extremes (with Habiba Islam)
122:
Career science, open science, and inspired science (with Alexa Tullett)
121:
Estimating the long-term impact of our actions today (with Will MacAskill)
120:
The differences between analytic and continental philosophy (with Alexander Prescott-Couch)
119:
Voting method reform in the US (with Aaron Hamlin)
118:
Critiquing Effective Altruism (with Michael Nielsen and Ajeya Cotra)
117:
How to form habits effectively (with Jim Davies)
116:
Are scientific journals just parasites? (with Chris Chambers)
115:
Human bias in the definition of intelligence (with Alene Anello)
114:
Guess culture vs. ask culture (with Will Eden and Sam Rosen)
113:
Are we all the heroes of our own stories? (with Cate Hall)
112:
Content moderation and its dis-content-moderators (with Ada Palmer)
111:
Exploring sex science and pseudo-science (with Mary Roach)
110:
The worst mistakes people make with diet and exercise (with Menno Henselmans)
109:
Communicating what you really mean (with Misha Glouberman)
108:
Taking pleasure in being wrong (with Buck Shlegeris)
107:
A philosophical theory of jerks (with Eric Schwitzgebel)
106:
How meanings get words and social sciences get broken (with Literal Banana)
105:
Dealing with our "groupstruckness" and "boundedness" (with Katja Grace)
104:
Math as a perspective on life (with Marcus du Sautoy)
103:
A former Al-Qaeda recruiter speaks (with Jesse Morton)
102:
Cognitive biases and animal welfare (with Leah Edgerton)
101:
Is it bad to coerce yourself to do unpleasant things? (with Matt Goldenberg)
100:
Our 100th episode! (with Uri Bram and Spencer Greenberg)
099:
Volunteering to be infected with COVID — for science! (with Josh Morrison)
098:
What we really mean when we say that something will "probably" happen (with Walt Hickey)
097:
Why is self-compassion so hard? (with Kristin Neff)
096:
Why it's so hard to have confidence that charities are doing good (with Elie Hassenfeld)
095:
Shovelgloves and extreme moderation (with Reinhard Engels)
094:
Mental models that apply across disciplines (with Blas Moros)
093:
Accessing pure consciousness at any moment (with Loch Kelly)
092:
Fight, flight, freeze, fawn (with Sasha Raskin)
091:
The science of addiction (with Crystal Dilworth)
090:
Evidence, reason, and compassion for all sentient beings (with Jamie Woodhouse)
089:
Can the economy grow indefinitely? (with Alyssa Vance)
088:
How many minds do you have? (with Kaj Sotala)
087:
Are you a wamb or a nerd? (with Tom Chivers)
086:
Behind the scenes of the online dating world (with Tom Quisel)
085:
The clash between social justice and anti-wokeness (with Amber Dawn and Holly Elmore)
084:
Tyler's three laws and twelve rules (with Tyler Cowen)
083:
Freezing to (not) death: cryonics and the quest for immortality (with Max Marty)
082:
The pre/trans fallacy, and why you should learn the skill of coaching (with Eben Pagan)
081:
What does humanity need to survive after a global catastrophe? (with David Denkenberger)
080:
To be successful, should you focus on your strengths or your weaknesses? (with Anna Paley)
079:
When is suffering good? (with Paul Bloom)
078:
What causes progress? And how can we stop it from slowing? (with Jason Crawford)
077:
Clearer paths and sharper ideas (with Lynette Bye)
076:
How to measure impact, and why we may have all been doing it wrong (with Michael Plant)
075:
Major and minor scales of consciousness (with Andrés Gomez Emilsson)
074:
The art of being a creative person (with Georgia Shreve)
073:
An interview with an A.I. (with GPT-3 and Jeremy Nixon)
072:
Beyond cognitive biases: improving judgment by reducing noise (with Daniel Kahneman)
071:
How to use your career to have a large impact (with Ben Todd)
070:
Why does psychotherapy work (when it works at all)? (with Scott Miller)
069:
How broken is social science? (with Matt Grossman)
068:
How to communicate better with the people in your life (with Sara Ness)
067:
How to hack your own brain (with Elizabeth Ricker)
066:
Why do civilizations collapse? And is ours next? (with Samo Burja)
065:
Utopia on earth and morality without guilt (with Joe Carlsmith)
064:
How do you leverage your limitations? (with Oliver Burkeman)
063:
The secrets of effective learning (with Andy Matuschak)
062:
Exploring your shadow and healing your traumas (with Aurora Quinn-Elmore)
061:
Dances with robots (with Catie Cuan)
060:
Heaven and hell on earth: a trip to the limits of human consciousness (with Anthony David Adams)
059:
How can we save the world? (with Toby Ord)
058:
Risk-Driven Development and Decentralization with Satvik Beri
057:
Statistics Intuitions and Social Science Reproducibility with Stuart Buck
056:
Genomics and Health Outcomes with Noor Siddiqui
055:
Rationality and Cognitive Science with Anna Riedl
054:
Self-Improvement and Behavior Change with James Norris
053:
Everyday Statistics and Climate Change Strategies with Cassandra Xia
052:
Conscious Processes and Intelligence with Richard Nisbett
051:
Educational Restructuring and Investing with Matt Greenfield
050:
Chinese Culture and Love Addiction with Ava King
049:
User Engagement and Expert Intuition with Rob Haisfield
048:
Psychological Models and Parenting with Divia Eden
047:
Productive Conversations and Feedback Loops with Julia Carvalho
046:
EA Efficacy and Community Norms with Stefan Schubert
045:
Explanatory Depth and Growth Mindset with Daniel Greene
044:
AI Safety and Solutions with Robert Miles
043:
Online and IRL Relationships with Steve Dean
042:
Utilitarianism and Its Flavors with Nick Beckstead
041:
Cults and Social Needs with Alice Mottola
040:
History and Longevity with Will Eden
039:
Knowledge Management and Deugenesis with Jeremy Nixon
038:
Crypto Pros and Cons with Sam Bankman-Fried
037:
Behavior Change and Interpersonal Connection with Ting Jiang
036:
Scout and Soldier Mindsets with Julia Galef
035:
Social Science and Science Journalism with Jesse Singal
034:
Search Data and Self-Improvement with Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
033:
Poker and Productivity with Chris Sparks
032:
Moral Discourse and the Value of Philosophy with Ronny Fernandez
031:
Superintelligence and Consciousness with Roman Yampolskiy
030:
Meditation and Ontology with Daniel Ingram
029:
Rationality Education and Dating with Jacob Falkovich
028:
Preference Falsification and Postmodernism with Michael Vassar
027:
Moral Foundations Theory and Constructive Dialogue with Caroline Mehl
026:
Past / Future Selves and Intrinsic Values with Simone Collins
025:
Happiness and Hedonic Adaptation with Rob Smith
024:
Decision-Making Under Uncertainty and Entrepreneurship with Miles Lasater
023:
Sexuality and Dominance Hierarchies with Malcolm Collins
022:
Self-Improvement and Research Ethics with Rob Wiblin
021:
Antagonistic Learning and Civilization with Duncan Sabien
020:
Worldviews and Framing with Elizabeth Kim
019:
Intelligence and Creativity with Scott Barry Kaufman
018:
Scientific Progress and the Replication Crisis with Geoff Anders
017:
Enlightenment and Sex Work with Aella
016:
Scientific Progress and Political Feedback Loops with Michael Nielsen
015:
52 Living Ideas and the Four Systems Model with Shrikant Rangnekar
014:
Learning and Governance with Emerson Spartz
013:
Liberalism and Conservatism with Cassandra Xia and Hank Racette
012:
Psychedelics and Comedy with Sarah Rose Siskind
011:
Comfort Languages and Nuanced Thinking with Kat Woods
010:
Education and Charity with Uri Bram
009:
Negotiation and Psychological Immune Systems with Julie Kheyfets
008:
Life Experiments and Philosophical Thinking with Arden Koehler
007:
Death and Story-Telling with A.J. Jacobs
006:
Spencer Greenberg @ THINKERS Workshop
005:
Lines of Retreat and Incomplete Maps with Anna Salamon
004:
Forgiveness and E-Prime with Josh Castle
003:
Meditation and Enlightenment with Jeremy Stevenson
002:
Aesthetics and Polyamory with Sam Rosen
001:
Learning and Goal-Setting with Michael Simmons

Contact Us

We'd love to hear from you! To give us your feedback on the podcast, or to tell us a story about how the ideas from the podcast have impacted you, send us an email at:

Credits

Host / Director
Spencer Greenberg

Producer
Josh Castle

Audio Engineer
Ryan Kessler

Factotum
Uri Bram

Transcriptionist
Janaisa Baril

Music
Lee Rosevere
Josh Woodward
Broke for Free
zapsplat.com
wowamusic
Quiet Music for Tiny Robots

Affiliates
Please note that Clearer Thinking , Mind Ease , and UpLift are all affiliated with this podcast.