Todd Rose Talks Collective Illusions

On today’s podcast, Sarah and Steve talk with Todd Rose, author of Collective Illusions: Conformity, ...

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On today’s podcast, Sarah and Steve talk with Todd Rose, author of Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity, and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions. How much of our thinking about each other is informed by false assumptions? What are the consequences of a society this mistrustful? And what are we to do about it?

Show Notes:

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  1. Avatar photo
    WKDawson

    I'm late to listening to this one, but it is really good, and I really thank Sarah and Steve for stumbling on this one and inviting Todd Rose. I'll have to find time to read this book.

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    Holly

    Many of us were taught that to "talk politics" is impolite and that keeping ones political views private is part of good etiquette. Many people (the vast middle, in my opinion) maintain this habit even online. That is an important metric when you consider collective illusions and why people don't speak up.

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  3. Lori Meldrum

    I almost scrolled through the comments, to see if anyone else had the same response to this podcast. But not worth my time to listen to collectivist ramblings, so I'm out on this one.

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  4. Norm St Cyr

    Loved the topic, bought the book. Have a request: Sarah, the 3 minute long meandering questions are uber irritating. Get to the point, allowing the guest to explain themselves. Many times, half way through your questions, I lose track of the point of the question

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    Chris Jenkins

    I just started listening during my lunch break and only got a couple of minutes into it, but I have a question now that I know that Steve's brother Dan does amazing things over at FreeThink Media - why has Kmele Foster not made any appearances here at The Dispatch, whether as a writer or as a guest on a podcast? Both Jonah and David have appeared on The Fifth Column podcast, David has co-authored things with him, and Steve's brother co-founded a company with him - there's no lack in connections. Anyway, this Dispatch member would love to see Foster contribute something here.

    I am looking forward to finishing this episode, though.

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  6. Payette

    Excellent podcast!!!

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    Ben Connelly

    Sarah, I have not read Adam Grant’s books, and to answer the question you posed at the beginning: I listened to this podcast because I want to get the full value of my Dispatch membership, which means I read or listen to everything the Dispatch produces (I sometimes skim some things but reading in full is the norm). By the way, thank you for asking about the replication crisis at the end! That was my first thought when I started listening to the podcast. Rose had a satisfactory answer.

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    John A. Daly

    Fellow Scorpio here. Great episode!

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    Chad Kirvan

    Farbeit from me to superimpose synergy between podcasts *cough* advisoryopinions *cough*, but during the first half (or so) of this pod, I found myself mentally screaming “This is how you get Palin vs. NYT!!!” Collective Illusions are basically Exhibit A in the case for increased responsibility for factual accuracy in media.

    I feel better now. Dispatch content never disappoints. Keep up the superior work!

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  10. GregS

    American voters' collective illusions in 1890 or in 1960 may have allowed some social cohesion, but it was, by definition an illusory cohesion right? That cohesion did not include women and black people - "we" were only cohesive for some limited definitions of "we".
    As such, I'm sympathetic to Todd's thesis here.
    However, the counterpoint is that on many topics, I would argue most people don't have a strong opinion of their own. They simply adopt the view they think their tribe holds. So it's not as much an issue of people speaking their minds as it is the leaders of the tribe having some responsibility to ensure they aren't pushing completely crazy viewpoints - because their tribesmen *will* adopt those views.

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