Hacking Your Mind

You are not quite who you think you are — and neither is anyone else. We all like to imagine that we know why we make the decisions we do, like what to buy, where to eat and who to vote for. But scientists have discovered we make most of our decisions so fast, we’re not even aware of it. Most of the time, we’re operating on autopilot.

Oregon Public Broadcasting produced “Hacking Your Mind”, a four-part PBS television series delving into these new scientific discoveries.

This companion podcast explores some of the documentaries’ key concepts. In the five podcast episodes, we’ll address police bias, how we form habits and why we are so drawn to polarization in politics. We’ll also learn where our personal biases come from, and how we are influenced by our social circles.

CREDITS:

Producer/Writer: Tess Novotny
Script Consultants and Editors: Allison Frost, David Davis, Sage Van Wing, Dave Miller
Engineer: Steven Kray
Music: Christopher Hedge
Funded by the National Science Foundation

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Hacking Your Mind

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Introducing Hacking Your Mind

9 SET 2020 · You are not quite who you think you are — and neither is anyone else. We all like to imagine that we know why we make the decisions we do, like what to buy, where to eat and who to vote for. But scientists have discovered we make most of our decisions so fast, we’re not even aware of it. Most of the time, we’re operating on autopilot. Oregon Public Broadcasting produced “Hacking Your Mind”, a four-part PBS television series delving into these new scientific discoveries. This companion podcast explores some of the documentaries’ key concepts. In the five podcast episodes, we’ll address police bias, how we form habits and why we are so drawn to polarization in politics. We’ll also learn where our personal biases come from, and how we are influenced by our social circles.

1 min. 22 sec.
Hacking Your Mind Ep: 1 - Unconscious bias and policing

9 SET 2020 · A group of Stanford researchers combed through thousands of hours of police body camera footage to look for differences in how officers treated people of different races in similar circumstances. Their findings shed light on a new way to approach racism in policing and help officers overcome their biases.

5 min. 32 sec.
Hacking Your Mind Ep: 2 - How to build new habits

9 SET 2020 · Our lives are full of habits. Some habits, like plans with friends and exercise routines, can make us feel good. But it’s also easy to develop unhealthy habits, like drinking too much or smoking cigarettes. University of Southern California social scientist Wendy Wood has researched the origins of human habits. She has also figured out a “recipe” for building new ones.

4 min. 59 sec.
Hacking Your Mind Ep: 3 - How bias takes root in children's brains

9 SET 2020 · It’s all too apparent that people of different genders and races are often treated differently. But how and when do those biases start? Harvard Psychologist Mahzarin Banaji and Yale psychologist Yarrow Dunham have studied bias in young children. Their findings suggest that bias is ingrained much deeper in our minds than we may realize.

5 min. 17 sec.
Hacking Your Mind Ep: 4 - How social networks affect our decisions

9 SET 2020 · You might think your behaviors and opinions are totally unique to you. But you might be surprised to learn how much influence social networks exert. Scientists say our friends and our friends’ friends are often much more powerful than we think. Yale psychologist Laurie Santos has looked into why animals trust and follow information from others. And University of Pennsylvania psychologist Coren Apicella spent six months living with the Hadza, a hunter-gatherer community in east Africa. She studied how and why people choose the friends they do in the environment where our brains originally evolved.

6 min. 17 sec.
Hacking Your Mind Ep: 5 - Why we divide ourselves into polarized groups

9 SET 2020 · If you are looking for evidence about how divided our country is, you just have to scroll through your social media feed. Why does it seem so hard for people to talk and understand others outside their political groups? Scientists say that our tendency toward an “us vs. them” mindset is actually an evolutionary trait meant to keep us safe. Yale psychologist Laurie Santos studied monkeys to understand how and why they make fast judgments about each other. And University of Chicago psychologist Sendhil Mullainaithan looked into how humans make similar snap judgments.

5 min. 18 sec.