Shows / Why We Do What We Do
Why We Do What We Do
We explain popular and weird, little-known ideas in psychology. Whether you are a little curious about psychology, or a student, or even a professional, we have something for everyone.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-we-do-what-we-do--3419521/support.
Episodes
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Burning Books
Book burning has been used both to destroy cultures or just symbolically send a message. Either way, it is a pretty juvenile temper tantrum thing to do. Don't…
- Why We Do What We Do
Sex Addiction
You've seen the title of this episode, so now that we have your attention: sex addiction! What are the psychometric criteria by which sex becomes an addiction?…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Shampoo
Humans haven't had shampoo for very long in our relative history. What about our ancestors, what did they do without shampoo? Animals don't seem to require…
- Why We Do What We Do
Harm Reduction
Humans have been engineering strategies to reduce the risks of life for as long as humans have been engineering everything. As it relates to addiction, harm…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Why We Lottery
Welcome to our new episode format, the mini! Although this is our second one, we are still excited to be exploring this new way of doing episodes. This…
- Why We Do What We Do
War on Drugs
The saga continues as we explore the historical policy blunder that was the "War on Drugs." What lead to the development of this idea? We review the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Clapping
Welcome to our first ever new episode format that we are trying out. These miniature episodes will be supplemental, additional episodes that we release every…
- Why We Do What We Do
The Disease Model of Addiction
The disease model of addiction is a popular philosophical approach to dependency. The idea is to remove fault and blame from the addicted individual. Further…
- Why We Do What We Do
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcohol dependency is a complicated condition that has killed a staggering number of people. Fortinuately, many people have banded together to support one…
- Why We Do What We Do
Addiction: The Beginning
Most people are only one or two nodes away from someone who has struggled with some sort of addiction, or may struggle themselves. But what is this phenomenon?…
- Why We Do What We Do
In the Event of The Apocalypse
Have you thought about what you'll do if a significant disaster destroys most of humankind? Perhaps you've prepared for the zombie apocalypse or a nuclear…
- Why We Do What We Do
Nostalgia: Aphantasia (Thinking Without Pictures)
This re-run updates a previous episode on our musings about what aphantasia is, and the purpose of diagnoses. This condition describes people who can't see…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mind-Body, Problem?
Psychologists and philosophers speculated for centuries trying to understand how the conscious experience of the mind relates to the physical substrate of the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Speaking Behaviorese
Technical and professional jargon can be furstratingly opaque and many professionals lament the frequent use of technical speak. However, there is a benefit to…
- Why We Do What We Do
Generational Characteristics
Kids these days...but what does that mean? Have kids changed over time? Many people believe that there is something to say about the different "generations."…
- Why We Do What We Do
24 and Me
Down Syndrome is a genetic condition with some characteristic features and complications. We explain how this condition occurs, the history, features of the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Right to Work Laws
Unions are grouops of employees who band together to form an allied unit that works to support its members in a work environment. This usually results in…
- Why We Do What We Do
Life and Death Drive
What do we do what we do? Because we do! That's the thesis of the life and death drive. We explain and dismantal this little known hypothesis of behavior…
- Why We Do What We Do
Why I'm Not Doing Something Else Right Now
Science and quantitiative model nerds, this is for you! Or maybe not... We explain the mathematical model that purports to explain choice-making. We enumerate…
- Why We Do What We Do
Artificial Intelligence with Joseph Dailey
Engineering student and behaviorist Joseph Dailey joins us to talk about artificial intelligence: where it came from, where it is going, and what it can tell…
- Why We Do What We Do
Handwriting Analysis
Humans have long been interested with shortcuts for peering into the enigma of the mind. Further, we search desperately for any clues that can help us identify…
- Why We Do What We Do
Three Meals Per Day
Three meals per day has been so ingrained in western (and other cultures) for so long that it seems like it might be a biological requirement for humans. But…
- Why We Do What We Do
2023 That's a Wrap
Happy New Year! This is a re-cap of the year we just completed. What we talked about in the various episodes this year, what we read and watched, in memorium…
- Why We Do What We Do
Brainwashed
Give that cerebrum a good scrubbing. There are two conditions under which we can get a handle on the phenomenon of brainwashing: What conditions produce the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Talented Genius
Think of the most talented person you have ever known or known about. Now think about what it means to say that that person is talented. In this discussion, we…
- Why We Do What We Do
Uncanny
The uncanny valley started as a futurists fear about the future of robotics. But we have seen multiple instances of unsettling imagery in CGI that has us…
- Why We Do What We Do
Social Media Influencers
Everybody wants to influence the world (to the tune of Tears for Fears). Being an influencer is one of the most enticing jobs out there for many people right…
- Why We Do What We Do
Nostalgia: Bystander Effect
Let's take a trip back in time to our discussion on the bystander effect, as well as an update on what has happened in research since. What other variables can…
- Why We Do What We Do
The TSA in the USA pt. 2
Most people report feeling that the TSA is successfully protecting against threats. Are they right? Some argue that not flying pushes people toward driving…
- Why We Do What We Do
The TSA in the USA pt. 1
Transportation is an enormous part of any economy. Airplanes are one of the more recent inventions that have changed the landscape of security around the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Internet Trolls
What makes someone a troll? We are all a little bit troll-y sometimes. We dive into how and why it works, when it is good and bad, and a brief history of…
- Why We Do What We Do
Evil Shenanigans
Why are some people evil? What is evil anyway? Is evil even real? We discuss the philosophy of what evil is and why it occurs... if it…
- Why We Do What We Do
Satanic Panic
In the 1970s in the US and other parts of the world, a great fear was blossoming in the hearts of normal, every day people. The very real threat of the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Psatanism
Spooky season 2023 continues with this dive in to actual Satanism. It is a lot newer than you might think. Also, there are different kinds of satanism broadly…
- Why We Do What We Do
Left-Hand Path Magic
Welcome to our spooky, Halloween-themed kick-off! We went even more specific than usual and will be talking about Satan the whole month of October. Have you…
- Why We Do What We Do
Color "Blind"
What does the world look like when you are color deficient? Why are more men color deficient than women? Can glasses really help color deficient people see?…
- Why We Do What We Do
Professional Wrestling
Sorry for Abraham's poor mic quality this episode! It'll be back to normal next time. Why do people become pro wrestlers? Why do people watch professional…
- Why We Do What We Do
Breaux
David Henry Breaux was a kind, beloved person with a tragic story. In a rare instance of profiling a single individual, we use this inspiring story to talk…
- Why We Do What We Do
Veganitarianism
Plant-based food and hygeine products are gaining in popularity. What is behind this trend in vegan leaning? We explain the history of veganism, the names that…
- Why We Do What We Do
History of Slavery pt 2
The conditions of slavery, the current state of modern slavery, and other things we need to talk about. Check out our conclusion to this dicussion…
- Why We Do What We Do
History of Slavery pt 1
As new policies are attempting to revise history by rebranding slavery in a more flattering manner, we decided to review the history of slavery to get a…
- Why We Do What We Do
Nostalgia: What Happened to Asperger Syndrome?
From the archive, we have dusted off this old discussion in which we explain how Asperger Syndrome came and went. Further, we provide a few updates on things…
- Why We Do What We Do
Speaking in Tongues
Divine gift? Neurological breakdown? Sims? No matter what you think is the attributible variable, speaking in tongues involves humans doing things, and…
- Why We Do What We Do
Excited Delirium
Have you heard of the mental diagnosis that literally causes death? Or, at least that is what some would like you to believe. We uncover the conspiracy of…
- Why We Do What We Do
Naked
There are a few things we all have in common as humans, and one of those is that we all have a naked body at some point. Some people make that "some point"…
- Why We Do What We Do
Orca Party
Killer whales have been making the news lately for attcking boats. This is particularly notable because they seem to have spread this trend to other orcas. But…
- Why We Do What We Do
Super Tasters
Your tongue is special. It might taste a lot or a very little. Some people have extra super-sensitive tongues packed with many taste receptor cells and they…
- Why We Do What We Do
Nostalgia: The Polygraph Test
This is a rerun and update of our episode on the polygraph. Originally recorded in 2017, we wanted to see what new research has happened since our original…
- Why We Do What We Do
Take the Good With the Bad
One of the most enduring theories of choice-making is the behavioral economics model called "Prospect Theory." People tend to avoid risk twice as much as work…
- Why We Do What We Do
Homeowner Associations
Homeowner Associations (HOAs) are (mostly) involuntary paid memberships into systems that can regulate nearly everything about your home and life around your…
- Why We Do What We Do
Dancing Until You Drop
A few times through history a large crowd of people stopped everything they were doing and just started dancing... Sometimes until the dancing resulted in…
- Why We Do What We Do
Video Game Violence
Video games often depict graphic violence, gore, and other behaviors that would be considered extremely inappropriate, immoral, and illegal. What effect does…
- Why We Do What We Do
Tough on Crime
"Tough on Crime" has been a popular rallying cry in the US for some time. However, what does this actually mean? Further, how does it impact the behavior of…
- Why We Do What We Do
Heroic Rats
Rats have been a source of much rage and fear for their various behaviors and disease-carrying proclivities. But they are an impressive evolutionary smelling…
- Why We Do What We Do
Scientology, Allegedly
Scientology is one of the newer religions in the world. And, although you have probably heard a lot about them, they are pretty small in number. Why did we…
- Why We Do What We Do
If These Flags Could Talk
One of the global ways that people communicate symbolically, flags are a sort of universal-ish language, depending on the flag. Where did they come from? Why…
- Why We Do What We Do
I Pledge Allegiance...
Compulsory, ritualistic pledging an oath of fealty to a leader or government's flag sounds like something you might see in an oppressive tyranical government…
- Why We Do What We Do
Nostalgia: Consciousness: The Case For And Against
First aired in November 2017, what has happened in the world of consciousness since this episode? Both a lot and somehow very little. As always, the definition…
- Why We Do What We Do
Wokeism
Wokeism has a much longer history than you might think and its original meaning has been appropriated and obfuscated beyond recognition. We break down the…
- Why We Do What We Do
The Psychology of Swearing
Swearing involves the use of taboo words considered coarse, blasphemous, or otherwise unacceptable in polite or formal speech to accentuate a statement…