Beautiful Illusions

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 3:33 - Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aaronson 4:51 - See the entry for “Seasonal Affective Disorder” from John Hopkins Medicine 6:38 - Listen to Beauti...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 4:37 - See more on Daniel Kahneman, “The Father of Behavioral Science,” at The Decision Lab 6:31 - Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett 6:44 - In his book, The Happiness Hypothesis , psychologist Jonathan Haidt character...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 8:56 - At 4,975 feet above sea level Black Mesa is the highest point in Oklahoma 17:00 - See the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list (Rolling Stone, 2023) 18:58 - Listen to “Just Breathe” by Pearl Jam (YouTube) 20:38 - See the Hollow...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 3:00 - Emerson: The Mind on Fire by Robert D. Richardson 7:32 - Listen to Mindscape Episode 300 - Solo: Does Time Exist? from January, 2025 7:36 - From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time by Sean Carroll 7:38 - The Order of...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 13:07 - Read “Why I Hope to Die at 75” by Ezekiel J. Emmanuel (The Atlantic, 2014) 15:21 - For more see “'Why I hope to die at 75,' revisited” (Advisory Board, 2019) and the “Dr. Emanuel discusses his personal perspective on aging” page of his pers...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 33 - The Post-Entertainment Culture of Addiction from June 2024, in which we discuss issues raised in “The State of the Culture, 2024” by Ted Gioia ( The Honest Broker , 2024) Listen to Beautiful Illusions Epis...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 33 - The Post-Entertainment Culture of Addiction from June 2024,  in which we discuss issues raised in “The State of the Culture, 2024” by Ted Gioia ( The Honest Broker , 2024) Listen to Beautiful Illusions Epi...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:10 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 33 - The Post-Entertainment Culture of Addiction from June 2024,  in which Dopamine Nation (2021) by Anna Lembke, MD is referenced and the idea of a “dopamine fast” is discussed. 8:28 - See “The State of...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:25 - “The State of the Culture, 2024” by Ted Gioia ( The Honest Broker , 2024) 4:10 - Gioia cites Huxley’s Brave New World , which takes place in a future dystopia where the populace is essentially oppressed by their addiction to amusement, as th...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:26 - See “Something Went Terribly Wrong With Online Ads” ( The Atlantic , 2024) and “Uber’s Ad Network Continues To Grow” ( Marketing Brew , 2023) 4:00 - Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human by Harold Bloom 4:15 - See “The Western Canon” Wikip...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:30 - Listen to “ Now And Then ” by The Beatles (YouTube) 3:24 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 22 - What is Life? from March 2022 6:44 - Bruce Springsteen at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, September 3, 2023 10:57 - boygenius at Westville M...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 5:40 - See the toxic masculinity Wikipedia entry 6:04 - Listen to the August 7, 2023 episode of The Gray Area podcast, “The New Crisis of Masculinity,” and the May 12, 2023 of The Bulwark podcast, “Richard Reeves: The Trouble with Boys and Men” 6:0...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 4:12 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 26 - Vacation: The Pedantics & Semantics from November 2022 8:40 - Sometimes vacations are the opposite of fun, for more see this definitely NSFW clip from National Lampoon’s Vacation 15:39 - Avatar Flig...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:30 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 10 - Craft Beer Culture: A Personal History from January 2021 3:07 - Listen to Sean Carroll’s Mindscape Episode 160 - Edward Slingerland on Confucianism, Daoism, and Wu Wei from 2021 3:13 - Drunk: How We...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:05 - See “What is Celiac Disease?” and “What is Gluten?” ( Celiac Disease Foundation ) 9:24 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 16 - Partisan Pizza from July 2021 17:45 - See “Confirmation Bias And the Power of Disconfirming Evidence” ( Farna...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:50 - The “Hunting House” is in Clarendon, VT 7:10 - See “Are Burgers and Hot Dog Sandwiches?” ( The Daily Meal , 2021) 7:40 - See “It Was Shoes On, No Boarding Pass Or ID. But Airport Security Forever Changed On 9/11” ( NPR , 2021) 10:23 - Walt D...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 7:28 - See “Negativity Bias” (The Decision Lab) and the abstract of “Not all emotions are created equal: The negativity bias in social-emotional development” ( Psychological Bulletin , 2008) 8:52 - See “Teacher Salary Benchmarks” ( National Educati...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:00 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 15 - The Mind of Gatsby: A Look Through the Cognitive Lens from June 2021 2:16 - Watch Carol Tavris and Elliot Aaronson describe “ The Pyramid of Choice ” and how it leads to justification of actions, le...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:07 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 22 - What is Life? from March 2022 (but recorded in January 2022) 3:48 - Listen to Luciano Pavarotti sing Ave Maria (YouTube) 7:39 - The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt 7:54 - The Secret of Our Success...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:20 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 21 - The Myth of the Desert Island Self from January 2022 4:30 - Listen to the excellent Strong Songs podcast which is created, recorded, and produced by Kirk Hamilton , the specific episode referenced h...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:47 - Jeff’s 5 old desert island “favorite” books: Visions of Gerard by Jack Kerouac , Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins , Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut , Immortality by Milan Kundera , and The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway 3:29 - Dar...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:43 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 10 - Craft Beer Culture: A Personal History from January 2021 5:10 - Athletic Brewing Company 6:43 - Listen the Beautiful Illusions Episode 19 - How We Learn Like A Scout: Critically Thinking About Criti...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:15 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 18 - Making Progress Better from September 2021 8:36 - AP English Language and Composition ( College Board ) 12:23 - The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't by Julia Galef...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:12 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 17 - BI Book Club 1: The Reality Bubble from July 2021, where we discuss Ziya Tong ’s 2019 book The Reality Bubble 4:07 - Published in 1739, book 3 of philosopher David Hume ’s Treatise of Human Nature ,...

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode Selected References: 2:23 - Listen to Mindscape Episode 133: Ziya Tong on Realities We Don’t See for an overview and discussion of ideas Tong presents in her 2019 book The Reality Bubble 4:36 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 04 - Too Cultured from October 2020 6...