Exploring the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior | Team: Host and Executive Editor Shankar Vedantam & Executive Producer @taranoelleboyle
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“You can see the same person behaving more or less unethically on different days based in part on how much and how well they slept the night before.”
Millions of us move through our days without getting enough sleep. This week, sleep researcher Chris Barnes explains how chronic exhaustion can impair our judgment and make small problems feel like major crises. He explores the forces that keep us from getting the rest we need and offers practical strategies for better sleep.
Plus, psychologist Rachel Zoffness returns to answer your questions about the experience of pain, in our latest installment of "Your Questions Answered."
hiddenbrain.org/podcast/do-y…
You've probably told a lie today. Maybe a few. You agreed with someone you thought was wrong. You called the food great when it wasn't.
It feels like politeness. But it's why you keep saying yes to things you don't want. And so does everyone else in the room. 🧵
But in reality, only the host had fun. And since everyone agreed with the plan, they figured the whole group loved it.
So they suggest another movie night. And another. Nobody speaks up, and a night that no one enjoyed slowly becomes a tradition no one wanted.
Scale that up from a movie night to a whole country, and you get people marching along with a belief almost no one actually holds.
So the next time you bite your tongue in a room where your opinion really matters, remember the person beside you may holding back as well. Say what you really think, and you may find you were never alone.
This is what makes a hollow thing look solid. It hides how weak it really is.
Governments are just one example. A workplace, a friendship, a marriage can appear harmonious, while under the surface there are major fault lines.
East Germany looked like one of the most loyal, unified nations on earth. Right up until the Berlin Wall came down.
The moment it did, almost no one would admit they'd ever supported the Communist regime. 🧵
For decades, everyone performed the same belief. Anyone who spoke against the system was crushed.
So each person kept quiet, sure they were the only one who had doubts.
Why is lasting happiness so difficult to achieve? Psychologist George Loewenstein explores the forces within our own minds that can undermine our well-being. He explains why satisfaction fades so quickly, while negative emotions can distort the way we see our lives. He also offers ways to better understand these forces and lessen their power over us. open.spotify.com/episode/1qy…
All through the month of October, we’re bringing you some of the stories that have deeply resonated with us over the past five years.
This week: Four years after his mother's death, Brad returned to the Manhattan diner where he'd last seen her and found unexpected comfort in a group of strangers.
hiddenbrain.org/unsunghero/p…
You know the fantasy: Quit the job. Move somewhere new. Finally become the person you were always meant to be.
We're all sure that a radical change will fix whatever feels wrong. A Stanford professor says that belief is a trap. 🧵
A few months in, they wake up in the new place and slowly realize they are still exactly who they were, carrying the same restlessness and the same questions they thought they'd left behind.
We all make ourselves the same promise: once I get the house, once I land the job, once the number in the bank is finally big enough, then I'll be happy.
But then we finally grab the brass ring we'd been reaching for — and we're still not happy.
A Stanford professor named Dave Evans calls this the "all will be well" fallacy. 🧵
That mindset keeps you moving. Just get the next thing, you tell yourself, and everything will click into place.
But then you do so, and there is no perfect life waiting on the other side.