Show Notes
Yoel and Alexa discuss a recent paper, written by Hughes, Srivastava, Leszko, and Condon, that created and validated a new index of "occupational prestige." The index is intended to provide a tool to measure the third component of socioeconomic status, alongside income and education. The cohosts consider how occupational prestige might lead to differential treatment, or even unrealistic expectations ("is anyone in this hotel a doctor?"). Digging deeper, they discuss the paper's exploration of ways that prestige tracks with the physical, critical thinking, and interpersonal demands of a profession. Finally, they realize that as a "former social neuroscientist," Alexa hasn't been getting the respect she deserves. Links: Two Psychologists F. on Untappd
PsyArXiv Preprints | Occupational Prestige: The Status Component of Socioeconomic Status
O*NET OnLine
Hercinia Arts Collective
More from Two Psychologists Four Beers
Harvard psychologist and philosopher Josh Greene joins the show to talk about his influential work in moral psychology and why he has partly moved from basic science to applied projects. We talk about two ways he's trying to apply his research to change the real world. The first is Giving Multiplier, a donation platform that nudges people towards higher-impact giving (listeners can get extra matching funds on Giving Multiplier by visiting https://givingmultiplier.org/invite/BEERS). The second is Tango, an online interactive quiz game that gets Democrats and Republicans to like each other a little better.
Andy Masley joins Yoel and Mickey to talk about a claim that's made him (in)famous: using AI chatbots doesn't meaningfully affect your carbon footprint or water usage. We discuss what data centers actually do with water, why "ten times a Google search" is not a useful metric, and why people really don't want data centers built near them.
Paul and Yoel talk about whether it's a problem that psychologists seem to be no better than laypeople at predicting behavior. We also cover a recent controversy in anthropology, talk a little bit about the Odyssey (movie), and discuss whether people ought to be drinking more.
Cognitive scientist Molly Crockett joins the show to talk about what it's like to be known in the field as an "AI skeptic." We talk about where Molly is actually skeptical, but also what she thinks that label gets wrong. Along the way, we cover a bunch of other things too: Molly's research in social neuroscience, computational modeling, and moral psychology; Molly and Mickey's disagreements about empathic AI; and Molly's case for what she's calling "thick empathy." Finally, Molly makes a pitch for non-alcoholic beer, which sadly falls on deaf ears. Special Guest: Molly Crockett. Links: OSF | The pitfalls of pay-to-play morality
Researcher, professor, and former Division III football player Nick Epley joins the show to talk about why we underestimate the benefits of social connections. We are a social species, and yet many of us choose to avoid connecting with others. Nick and I talk about his research on this, and about his new book, A Little More Social, which is all about how we can change our behavior to connect more with others. Special Guest: Nick Epley. Links: Nicholas Epley