We're diving into the fascinating world of cognitive science, exploring the ideas from Chapter 6 of Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson's book, "The Elephant in the Brain."

Prepare to question your understanding of your own motives and actions. Are we truly the rational decision-makers we believe ourselves to be? Or are we more like a press secretary, spinning narratives to justify decisions made by a hidden "king" within our brains?

Key topics in this episode include:

●Counterfeit Reasons: We often make up reasons for our behavior, not consciously lying, but creating stories to explain our actions. These "reasons" are not necessarily the real "motives". This is something J.P. Morgan pointed out, saying "A man always has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason".

●The Press Secretary: The brain contains a module, called the "interpreter module" or the "Press Secretary", that explains our actions to ourselves and others6. This module often operates by creating narratives that may not accurately reflect our true motives.

●Rationalization: We will look at how easily we rationalize our behavior by creating fabricated stories without the intention to deceive. Neuroscientists call this confabulation.

●Split-Brain Studies: We'll examine groundbreaking experiments by Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga with "split-brain" patients that revealed how the left hemisphere of the brain can create explanations for actions that it had no part in making, demonstrating how easily we can rationalize our behavior. One example is how patients made up reasons for pointing to a shovel when shown a snowy field. Another example is how a patient said they stood up to get a coke, even though they were asked by researchers.

●Strategic Ignorance: This episode will explore how our brains, like a press secretary, can strategically remain ignorant of our darker motives in order to avoid acknowledging our selfish behaviors.

●Real-World Examples: We will discuss how rationalization appears in everyday life, from toddlers stalling bedtime to adults using half-truths. We'll examine common examples like parents enforcing bedtimes "for their own good" or people making excuses for not going to work or declining meetings.

Get ready to delve into the surprising ways our brains work and how we often deceive even ourselves about the true reasons behind our actions. You might find that you are, in fact, a stranger to yourself!

Source: The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life by Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson

This episode explores the long history of energy use as told by Vaclav Smil in Energy and Civilization: A History⁠, starting with the basic power of human and animal muscles and moving toward the harnessing of wind and water.

We will look at how these traditional power sources were essential for early agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing.

The episode also examines the transition to the use of fossil fuels like coal, which greatly expanded the availability of energy and enabled the Industrial Revolution.

We will see how innovations like the steam engine and the development of electricity transformed societies, and also look at the human cost of these developments, for example in coal mining.

Finally, we will consider how the concentration of power in modern technologies requires new safety precautions and how energy use continues to evolve and impact our civilization.

Source: Energy and Civilization: A History by Vaclav Smil

This Week in Healthcare, Jan 10, 2024

In this week’s episode of The Intersect, we dive into the latest headlines reshaping the healthcare industry.

From CVS’s bold move to "cost plus" pharmacy pricing to Transcarent’s $621 million acquisition of Accolade, strategic shifts in healthcare delivery and benefits are taking center stage.

We also explore the FDA’s efforts to tackle bias in AI-powered medical devices, a new rule wiping medical debt from credit reports, and updates on UnitedHealth’s delayed $3.3 billion merger.

Plus, we break down the VA’s timeline to resume its electronic health record rollout and what’s next in the ongoing reassessment of state Certificate of Need laws.

Tune in for insightful analysis and discussions on the stories that matter most in This Week in Healthcare!