Michael Blastland's guest appearances

Michael Blastland

EconTalk

Education Bookcast

Instant Genius

Better Known

Guy Leschziner

Jim Al-Khalili

Angela Saini

Richard Wiseman

David Spiegelhalter

Gaia Vince

Meg Jay

Ryan North

Jane McGonigal

Kristin Neff

Brené Brown

Bobby Duffy

James Tooley

Oliver Sacks

Josh Waitzkin

OwlTail

When we ask the question of whether something is "nature or nurture", we are implicitly suggesting a dichotomy, or excluded middle - it is either nature, or nurture, or a mix of both, but not a mix of both plus something else. In The Hidden Half, Michael Blastland takes us on a journey of skepticism which somehow magically reveals the presence not only of a "third factor", but shows, startlingly, that such a factor has been known to account for as much as half (!) of the variation in some traits. References to dark matter immediately spring to mind. After reflecting on a paradigm-shifting species of parthenogenic crayfish, the author discusses, among other things, how you only have a 50% chance of developing the same mental disorder as your identical twin you were raised with is already suffering from (shared genes and environment, remember - shouldn't this be close to 100%?); the mysterious inability to transfer infant mortality reduction measures to new regions; and the still inexplicable sudden drop in teenage pregnancies in the UK around 2008. One could see Blastland as occupying allied but opposite territory to the human irrationality parade, spearheaded by the likes of Daniel Kahneman and Dan Ariely. Blastland contends that yes, we do misunderstand the world a lot, but rather than focusing on the human weaknesses of irrationality, he draws our attention to the fact that the world is just really, really, intractably hard to understand. In that sense, you could see him loosely affiliated with Nassim Taleb. Another way of seeing Blastland is as a voice (however inadvertantly) in the incredibly important but widely ignored literature on transfer of learning. I covered Robert Haskell's book on the topic recently, and one of the central messages was that people don't seem to be very good at transfer of learning. Blastland's position would be that the world is not very amenable to transfer of learning. Again, it's not people's fault, the world just is that way. This book came as a powerful message to me on the limits of human knowledge (relevant to the enterprise of this podcast) and an alternative view on human irrationality and transfer of learning (relevant to its content). I would like to get a picture of a marmokrebs crayfish and put it in a frame on my desk, so that I never forget the book's central message. Enjoy the episode. *** RELATED EPISODES 110. Transfer of Learning by Robert Haskell 108. Expert Political Judgement by Phillip Tetlock 11. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

When we ask the question of whether something is "nature or nurture", we are implicitly suggesting a dichotomy, or excluded middle - it is either nature, or nurture, or a mix of both, but not a mix of both plus something else. In The Hidden Half, Michael Blastland takes us on a journey of skepticism which somehow magically reveals the presence not only of a "third factor", but shows, startlingly, that such a factor has been known to account for as much as half (!) of the variation in some traits. References to dark matter immediately spring to mind. After reflecting on a paradigm-shifting species of parthenogenic crayfish, the author discusses, among other things, how you only have a 50% chance of developing the same mental disorder as your identical twin you were raised with is already suffering from (shared genes and environment, remember - shouldn't this be close to 100%?); the mysterious inability to transfer infant mortality reduction measures to new regions; and the still inexplicable sudden drop in teenage pregnancies in the UK around 2008. One could see Blastland as occupying allied but opposite territory to the human irrationality parade, spearheaded by the likes of Daniel Kahneman and Dan Ariely. Blastland contends that yes, we do misunderstand the world a lot, but rather than focusing on the human weaknesses of irrationality, he draws our attention to the fact that the world is just really, really, intractably hard to understand. In that sense, you could see him loosely affiliated with Nassim Taleb. Another way of seeing Blastland is as a voice (however inadvertantly) in the incredibly important but widely ignored literature on transfer of learning. I covered Robert Haskell's book on the topic recently, and one of the central messages was that people don't seem to be very good at transfer of learning. Blastland's position would be that the world is not very amenable to transfer of learning. Again, it's not people's fault, the world just is that way. This book came as a powerful message to me on the limits of human knowledge (relevant to the enterprise of this podcast) and an alternative view on human irrationality and transfer of learning (relevant to its content). I would like to get a picture of a marmokrebs crayfish and put it in a frame on my desk, so that I never forget the book's central message. Enjoy the episode. *** RELATED EPISODES 110. Transfer of Learning by Robert Haskell 108. Expert Political Judgement by Phillip Tetlock 11. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

113. The Hidden Half by Michael Blastland

Journalist Michael Blastland discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. You can find out more about Michael at https://profilebooks.com/michael-blastland.html.  The myth of nurture v nature https://www.nature.com/articles/421806a The uncertainty of public data https://medium.com/wintoncentre/has-uk-employment-gone-down-maybe-and-maybe-not-7b2e8fbdc7c5 Science’s replication crisis https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-016-0021 The fallibility of medicines https://www.nature.com/news/personalized-medicine-time-for-one-person-trials-1.17411 Unknown impact of government’s policies https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/our-work/policy-making/all-change The Mind is Flat, by Nick Chater https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mind-Flat-Illusion-Mental-Improvised/dp/0241208440/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+mind+is+flat&amp;qid=1569486201&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1

Journalist Michael Blastland discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. You can find out more about Michael at <a href="https://profilebooks.com/michael-blastland.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://profilebooks.com/michael-blastland.html</a>. <ol><li>The myth of nurture v nature <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/421806a" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://www.nature.com/articles/421806a</a></li> <li>The uncertainty of public data <a href="https://medium.com/wintoncentre/has-uk-employment-gone-down-maybe-and-maybe-not-7b2e8fbdc7c5" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://medium.com/wintoncentre/has-uk-employment-gone-down-maybe-and-maybe-not-7b2e8fbdc7c5</a></li> <li>Science’s replication crisis <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-016-0021" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-016-0021</a></li> <li>The fallibility of medicines <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/personalized-medicine-time-for-one-person-trials-1.17411" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://www.nature.com/news/personalized-medicine-time-for-one-person-trials-1.17411</a></li> <li>Unknown impact of government’s policies <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/our-work/policy-making/all-change" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/our-work/policy-making/all-change</a></li> <li>The Mind is Flat, by Nick Chater <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mind-Flat-Illusion-Mental-Improvised/dp/0241208440/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+mind+is+flat&amp;qid=1569486201&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mind-Flat-Illusion-Mental-Improvised/dp/0241208440/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+mind+is+flat&amp;qid=1569486201&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1</a></li></ol>

We know a lot. In scientific studies, we can count data, observe trends, infer links and calculate risks. But we also spend a lot of time ignoring noise – the unexplained variations in our results that we can’t account for. Take smoking for example. We all know that smoking kills, but it doesn’t kill everyone, and we can’t predict which lifelong smokers will be struck down by lung cancer, and which won’t.In his new book The Hidden Half (£14.99, Atlantic Books), Michael Blastland discusses how, even in the most tightly controllable situations, we often still see variations in outcomes. He argues that our unwillingness to admit uncertainty can affect science, economics, politics and business, sometimes with disastrous consequences.But it’s not all bad news. New research that shows that admitting the extent to which we’re not sure could make us seem more trustworthy. And he explains that even though we don’t know everything, experts and the scientific method are still the most important places for us to turn to for guidance.He talks to Helen Glenny, editorial assistant at BBC Science Focus Magazine, in this week’s episode of the Science Focus Podcast.If you like what you hear, then please rate, review, and share with anybody you think might enjoy our podcast.You can also subscribe and leave us a review on your favourite podcast apps. Also, if there is anybody you’d like us to speak to, or a topic you want us to cover, then let us know on Twitter at @sciencefocus.Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: What happens when maths goes horribly, horribly wrong? – Matt Parker There’s no such thing as Blue Monday – Sir David Spiegelhalter What’s the deal with algorithms? – Hannah Fry Inside the mind of a comedian – Robin Ince Is the cure for cancer hiding in human breast milk? – Professor Catharina Svanborg Is gene editing inspiring or terrifying? – Nessa Carey Follow Science Focus on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Flipboard Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We know a lot. In scientific studies, we can count data, observe trends, infer links and calculate risks. But we also spend a lot of time ignoring noise – the unexplained variations in our results that we can’t account for. Take smoking for example. We all know that smoking kills, but it doesn’t kill everyone, and we can’t predict which lifelong smokers will be struck down by lung cancer, and which won’t.In his new book <a href="https://atlantic-books.co.uk/book/the-hidden-half/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Hidden Half</a> (£14.99, Atlantic Books), Michael Blastland discusses how, even in the most tightly controllable situations, we often still see variations in outcomes. He argues that our unwillingness to admit uncertainty can affect science, economics, politics and business, sometimes with disastrous consequences.But it’s not all bad news. New research that shows that admitting the extent to which we’re not sure could make us seem more trustworthy. And he explains that even though we don’t know everything, experts and the scientific method are still the most important places for us to turn to for guidance.He talks to Helen Glenny, editorial assistant at BBC Science Focus Magazine, in this week’s episode of the Science Focus Podcast.If you like what you hear, then please rate, review, and share with anybody you think might enjoy our podcast.You can also subscribe and leave us a review on your favourite podcast apps. Also, if there is anybody you’d like us to speak to, or a topic you want us to cover, then let us know on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/sciencefocus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@sciencefocus</a>.Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:<ul> <li><a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/what-happens-when-maths-goes-horribly-horribly-wrong-matt-parker/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What happens when maths goes horribly, horribly wrong? – Matt Parker</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/theres-no-such-thing-as-blue-monday-sir-david-spiegelhalter/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">There’s no such thing as Blue Monday – Sir David Spiegelhalter</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/whats-the-deal-with-algorithms/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What’s the deal with algorithms? – Hannah Fry</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/inside-the-mind-of-a-comedian-robin-ince/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Inside the mind of a comedian – Robin Ince</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/is-the-cure-for-cancer-hiding-in-human-breast-milk-professor-catharina-svanborg/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Is the cure for cancer hiding in human breast milk? – Professor Catharina Svanborg</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/is-gene-editing-inspiring-or-terrifying-nessa-carey/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Is gene editing inspiring or terrifying? – Nessa Carey</a></li> </ul>Follow Science Focus on <a href="https://twitter.com/sciencefocus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sciencefocus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bbcsciencefocus/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://flipboard.com/@sciencefocus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Flipboard</a> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a>

Can science explain everything? – Michael Blastland