Two Psychologists Four Beers

Andy Masley joins Yoel and Mickey to talk about a claim that's made him (in)famous: using AI chatbots doesn't meaningfully affect your carbon footprint or water usage. We ask Andy what data centers actually do with water, why "ten times a Google search" is not a useful metric, and why people really don't want data centers built near them.

Paul and Yoel talk about whether it's a problem that psychologists seem to be no better than laypeople at predicting behavior. We also cover a recent controversy in anthropology.

Cognitive scientist Molly Crockett joins the show to talk about what it's like to be known in the field as an "AI skeptic." We talk about where Molly is actually skeptical, but also what she thinks that label gets wrong.

Researcher, professor, and former Division III football player Nick Epley joins the show to talk about why we underestimate the benefits of social connections—and how we can change our behavior to connect more with others.

Yoel and Mickey welcome many-time guest Paul Bloom to the podcast to dispense terrible advice. We first talk about parenting—its impact on happiness and meaning, its transformation of the person; and then discuss perversity, including the enjoyment of doing transgressive things for no good reason.