Are You Thinking Your Thoughts, Or Are They Thinking You?
Selfish Genes, Idea Viruses, and the Illusion of Free Thought
You like to think of yourself as someone who thinks for themselves. But what if the ideas running through your head aren't really yours — what if they found you, infected you, and quietly rewrote your behaviour to help themselves spread?
In this episode, we take an unusual detour into evolutionary biology — because it turns out the science of genes, parasites, and natural selection explains more about your psychology than most self-help books ever will.
We cover why you are, in a very real sense, a vehicle built to carry ancient replicators. How social media, advertising, and even religion use the same cognitive vulnerabilities as a brain parasite that makes rats fall in love with cats. And why understanding the mechanism of influence is the first — and most underrated — step to genuine mental autonomy.
This is a preview of an episode from How to Change the World. See details below.
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Learn about the evolving story of the human species and our ideas told in chronological order. The podcast is full of fun facts, surprising stories and philosophical insights.
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Growth Mindset Psychology:
Sam Webster explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement.
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CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
02:24 You Are a Robot
04:12 Patterns of Nature
05:45 Act 1: Control
06:20 Nico Tinbergen and the Randy Fish
08:46 The Primordial Soup Starter Kit
10:04 Algorithmic Governance
11:24 Act 2: Co-operation
13:44 Moral Judgement and the Birth of Religion
15:25 Act 3: External Control
17:38 Remote Control
20:44 Act 4: Idea Vats
21:10 Consciousness
23:13 What Is a Meme?
24:14 Genes vs Memes Speed
26:03 Idea Propagation
28:29 Carrier Class
30:23 Act 5: Game Theory
31:00 Where to Find the Full Episode
TOPICS
Free will, cognitive bias, evolutionary psychology, memes, Richard Dawkins, selfish gene, mindset, belief systems, mental models, psychology of influence
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