HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle
Expand

Why Americans Are Suckers for Quick Fixes From Psychologists

Views:915
@ReasonVids

From "power poses" to the self-esteem movement to implicit bias tests, we want to believe one small tweak will solve our problems, says Jesse Singal.

Full Text and Links: reason.com/video/2021/04/19/Why-Americans-Are-Suckers-for-Quick-Fixes-From-Psychologists/
------------------
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ReasonTV?sub...​...
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magaz...​...
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason​​​​​

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.
----------------
"The goal of this book is to explain why we keep falling for the ideas that psychologists tell us about the ways they're going to help fix society," says Jesse Singal, author of The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills. "They'll offer some incredible new way to fight racism or to improve education or to improve gender equity in the workplace. There's a rush of attention and often a rush of research dollars. Everyone gets really into them. There's the NPR, New York Times coverage. And then a few years later, more research comes out. We realize the idea was barely true, if that, and it ends up having wasted a lot of time."

Singal shows how the underlying research that propelled phenomena such as "power posing" (which promised to empower women by changing their posture), the self-esteem movement (which tried to reform poorly performing students and even criminals through enthusiastic, unearned praise), and the Implicit Association Test (which purports to measure "unconscious bias" against blacks and other marginalized groups) often can't be replicated and sometimes doesn't even measure what it purports to address.

"Just by dint of our brains, we're always going to be susceptible to less-than-rigorous, monocausal accounts of a lot of our problems," says Singal, who writes for outlets such as New York, The Atlantic, and Reason and co-hosts the podcast Blocked and Reported. But, he tells Nick Gillespie, by laying out the predictable ways in which research goes from the lab to the media to the culture and politics, he hopes to sharpen our critical faculties and improve our media literacy.

Narrated by Nick Gillespie, edited by John Osterhoudt, color correction by Regan Taylor, additional graphics by Isaac Reese

Photos: Juhan Sonin/Flickr/Creative Commons; ID 188393818 Zalexis/Dreamstime.com; Thatcher Cook/Creative Commons; Erik Hersman/Flickr/Creative Commons; PopTech/Flickr/Creative Commons; Glen Stubbe/ZUMA Press/Newscom; ID 128591411 Monkey Business Images/Dreamstime.com; Dick Schmidt/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Dennis Van Tine/LFI/Photoshot/Newscom; Steven Branbe/ZUMA Press/Newscom; JIMI LOTT/KRT/Newscom; ID 199480734 Mikechapazzo/Dreamstime.com; Kilworth Simmonds/Flickr/Creative Commons; Giorgio Fochesato/Westend61 GmbH/Newscom

libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
    Thumbnail for Biden's Plan To Stop Ghost Guns Is Doomed To Fail9:33
    Biden's Plan To Stop Ghost Guns Is Doomed To Fail
    ReasonVids
    924 views
    Thumbnail for Porker of The Month (August 2010): Rep. Hal Rogers!1:14
    Porker of The Month (August 2010): Rep. Hal Rogers!
    ReasonVids
    840 views
    Thumbnail for Dave Barry Is Running for President (Again)29:16
    Dave Barry Is Running for President (Again)
    ReasonVids
    922 views
    Thumbnail for I, Tomato: Morning Star's Radical Approach to Management5:47
    I, Tomato: Morning Star's Radical Approach to Management
    ReasonVids
    1041 views
    Thumbnail for John Stossel: The Reason.tv interview (Part 2 of 2)9:57
    John Stossel: The Reason.tv interview (Part 2 of 2)
    ReasonVids
    851 views
    Thumbnail for Why Bad Cops Aren't Punished: The Case Against Qualified Immunity6:41
    Why Bad Cops Aren't Punished: The Case Against Qualified Immunity
    ReasonVids
    863 views
    Thumbnail for Injustice Gods Among Us Gameplay Walkthrough Part 11 - The Flash - Chapter 1110:28
    Injustice Gods Among Us Gameplay Walkthrough Part 11 - The Flash - Chapter 11
    invidious
    368 views
    Thumbnail for Eric Garner Protesters Shut Down West Side Highway2:53
    Eric Garner Protesters Shut Down West Side Highway
    ReasonVids
    890 views
    Thumbnail for "Every Cell in Your Body Will be Regenerated" | Be Inspired16:03
    "Every Cell in Your Body Will be Regenerated" | Be Inspired
    invidious
    296 views
    Thumbnail for Sea Captain Tries to Torpedo Unconstitutional Monopoly2:33
    Sea Captain Tries to Torpedo Unconstitutional Monopoly
    IJvids
    1001 views
    Thumbnail for [뉴스쏙] 배우 김수미, 고혈당 쇼크로 별세|동료 배우들, 충격·황망·오열 / 연합뉴스TV (YonhapnewsTV) | 연합뉴스TV11:54:56
    [뉴스쏙] 배우 김수미, 고혈당 쇼크로 별세|동료 배우들, 충격·황망·오열 / 연합뉴스TV (YonhapnewsTV) | 연합뉴스TV
    invidious
    169 views
    Thumbnail for Sex Politics and the GOP as We Know It: An Interview with Nancy Cohen4:27
    Sex Politics and the GOP as We Know It: An Interview with Nancy Cohen
    ReasonVids
    919 views
    Thumbnail for Judge Napolitano: How Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson Destroyed Constitutional Freedom14:03
    Judge Napolitano: How Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson Destroyed Constitutional Freedom
    ReasonVids
    994 views
    Thumbnail for Spoilers add downforce | Pardonias1:42
    Spoilers add downforce | Pardonias
    invidious
    344 views
    Thumbnail for The Fallacy of Net Neutrality: Thomas Hazlett on the FCC & Consumer Protection6:18
    The Fallacy of Net Neutrality: Thomas Hazlett on the FCC & Consumer Protection
    ReasonVids
    898 views
    Thumbnail for Is Hawaii's Anti-GMO Movement Really Just Anti-Science?9:09
    Is Hawaii's Anti-GMO Movement Really Just Anti-Science?
    ReasonVids
    880 views
    Thumbnail for Back to Work Wagie | crashnburn2540:53
    Back to Work Wagie | crashnburn254
    invidious
    469 views
    Thumbnail for They should've taught her to be a critical thinker instead.1:38
    They should've taught her to be a critical thinker instead.
    bestofupgoat
    434 views
    Thumbnail for How Do Quartz Watches Work? 🤔 | Zack D. Films0:30
    How Do Quartz Watches Work? 🤔 | Zack D. Films
    invidious
    115 views
    Thumbnail for Shithole disco0:15
    Shithole disco
    bookmarked
    2593 views
    Thumbnail for Does National Debt Still Matter? America's Gamble15:34
    Does National Debt Still Matter? America's Gamble
    ReasonVids
    1026 views
    Thumbnail for Don't Ban DUI Checkpoint Apps!3:27
    Don't Ban DUI Checkpoint Apps!
    ReasonVids
    918 views
    Thumbnail for The most venomous octopus in the world0:11
    The most venomous octopus in the world
    bestofupgoat
    107 views
    Thumbnail for Japan Press Conference: Families Ask "How Many Are You Going to Kill with this Vaccine?"2:18
    Japan Press Conference: Families Ask "How Many Are You Going to Kill with this Vaccine?"
    bestofvoatxyz
    1164 views
    Thumbnail for Denver Just Decriminalized Magic Mushrooms. Activists Say This is Just the Beginning.7:29
    Denver Just Decriminalized Magic Mushrooms. Activists Say This is Just the Beginning.
    ReasonVids
    941 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle