November 5, 2018 9:24 pm

Tuesday, Learn to Think Like a Skeptic

Who can you trust? Can you trust someone or something and then quickly change your mind? Who decides who you can trust? On this episode of StarTalk All-Stars, host and neuroscientist Heather Berlin, PhD, sits down with a group of top-rate skeptics to discuss the science of skepticism.

Heather is joined by first-time comic co-host Ari Shaffir, and Cara Santa Maria and Dr. Steven Novella of “The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe,” to answer fan-submitted Cosmic Queries on how to use skepticism to help guide your interactions with the daily world.

We start things off by discussing why skepticism gets a bad reputation for being opposed to everything when in reality it’s just “checking the math” as Arri says. Find out how science and critical thinking blend to make skepticism what it is, and how Cara and Steven are trying to rehabilitate skepticism’s “brand.”

You’ll learn why people are prone to conspiracy theories. You’ll also learn why most people are “opportunist conspiracy theorists” and how to check one’s own cognitive biases. Heather tells us about her appearance on Ancient Aliens and how the science she used was correct but the final show spun it differently.

We also try and find hope in the face of climate change, war, and the rise of the anti-intellectual movement. On the other hand, Cara explains why the only reason things seem so bad is because of the progress we’ve made. Discover more on how much the way you are has to do with how you were raised. Explore how the internet can help you venture outside of your close bubbles – and also how it can create virtual echo chambers. All that, plus, we ponder whether skepticism is, itself, a form of religion.

Please join us tomorrow night for Think Like a Skeptic, with Cara Santa Maria and Dr. Steven Novella at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on our All-Stars channels on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. And if you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Ian Mullen