The Monkey Dance

We refer to morality a lot when judging behavior, but what exactly are we referring to?
 
Emese Havadtői joins us to talk about the structure and emergence of moral frameworks. We chat about whether morality can be understood in terms of behavior, without a universalist understanding of morality, and how evolution plays a role in our drive to behave morally. The debate also brushes up against what it means to be "good" and whether it is understood by looking at individual behavior or if it exists as a truth in the universe.
 
Guest: Emese Havadtői
Cohost: Maria Federova
 
You can also watch the conversation on youtube

What is the brain's relationship to information?
 
Francesco Poli joins to talk about the brain, the mind, and the individual differences that amount to human curiosity.
We talk about adaptivity, how our experiences shape our relationship to information, and what this means for our behavior. We also cover the value of information, dealing with uncertainty as a concept, and the importance of a good learning environment.
 
Guest: Francesco Poli
 
You can also watch the conversation on youtube
 

How do we choose which norms to follow? And how do we change them for a more equitable society?
 
Camilo Martinez joins to talk about how we learn, communicate, and enforce social norms. We also chat about the historical trajectory of norms, how norms have evolved as society has, and when we can overthrow prejudiced norms which seek to marginalize groups.
 
Guest: Camilo Martinez
Cohost: Pelin Kasar
To catch more of Pelin, check out Episode 6, Episode 28, Episode 32.
 
You can also watch the podcast on youtube.
 

How can we make sense of the variety of beliefs that are prevalent in society?
 
Peter Steiglechner joins the podcast to talk about the role of identity and group belonging in understanding why people believe what they believe. We chat about modeling belief networks and understanding the role of bias in our engagement with information. We also cover how disagreements emerge and when consensus is possible, and more generally about existing in a group and dealing with a diversity of opinion.
 
Guest: Peter Steiglechner
Co-host: Ákos Szegőfi

Why do we engage with information online?
 
Hannah Metzler joins the podcast to talk about the role of emotions and personal identity when investigating the spread of misinformation. We chat about a lot of the myths surrounding misinformation, the circumstances that make certain beliefs appealing to people, and why engaging with negative content is so much more tempting than positive content.
 
Guest: Hannah Metzler
 
Monkey Dance Podcast Website

Why do some resistance groups resort to armed struggle? And when do those groups decide it's time to put down arms?
Barbora Valik joins to talk about the factors that can lead to the violent mobilization of resistance movements, particularly as a strategy to call attention to their cause, and what needs to change for the violence to end.
We speak specifically about self-determination movements of indigenous peoples in Mexico, Colombia, and Chile. We chat about how states have many means of suppressing dissent, how they often avoid negotiating with groups they systematically marginalize, and why this can lead to groups struggling to seek leverage by any means necessary, ultimately turning to violence as a tool to gain concessions.
We also discuss why self-determination struggles need to ensure they control their own narrative, and why keeping the groups demands at the forefront of that narrative seems to be a successful strategy.
 
Guest: Barbora Valik
 
You can also watch the episode on youtube
 
Notes from Barbora:
Socialization = the process through which a movement positions itself within a community of other movements with the goal of emulating, learning, and normatively legitimising certain strategies.
Group leverage = the capacity of the movement to influence and exert pressure on state actors, deriving from demographic characteristics, broad alliances, organisational capacity, and inclusion.
Regime type = the nature of the political regime, capturing whether the context within which the movement operates is democratic, authoritarian, or democratising.
For a graph of Barbora's model, visit The Monkey Dance Website
 

From the Archive: Episode 2
Inequality seems to be a fundamental aspect of the society we've created. Is an unequal power dynamic endemic to any interaction between a set of individuals?
In this episode from 2 years ago, Guilherme and I talk about how to define the concept of power, the function of unequal power dynamics, and how it manages to generate stable systems that perpetuate inequities that last for generations.
 
On a small break from the podcast and have been thinking a bit more about power again, particularly in epistemic contexts, so thought it would be a good time to repost this. Planning to have new episodes out again starting in October.
 
Full show notes at:
https://www.monkeydancepod.com/episodes/episode-2

How do infants treat information they come across?
 
I sit down with Velisar Manea to chat about how the infant mind develops, the types of biases evolution might have built in, and how they manage to be so adaptive.
 
We also chat a good bit of theory, particularly about whether we need to attribute mental states to others or whether statistical prediction is enough. We chat about the evolutionary usefulness of biological constraints, the caloric demands of cognition versus the energy demands of AI, and whether something like an LLM can ever actually reach cognition or just mimic it.
 
Really excited to bring you this chat, but again still having some microphone issues. Still some trial an error!

Nicolas Goupil joins me to chat about his work spanning everything from forming early childhood memories, to visual cognition, to hierarchies in groups. It's a fun, wide ranging conversation and we cover a good bit of ground, from developmental cognitive neuroscience to social cognition.
 
In Copenhagen for a few months, so the next several episode will be on the road. Sorry if the audio quality is not as good as usual!

How do our biases interfere with our willingness to learn?
Pelin Kasar and Juliette Vazard both return to the podcast for a chat at the intersection of beliefs, biases, and curiosity.
We talk about curiosity -- how to define it, its emotional role, and its relationship with learning -- and about biases -- what a bias is, its implications in society, and its relationship to curiosity.
The conversation covers a lot of ground as we work through definitions and reach mutual understandings of each of the terms,
 
Guest: Pelin Kasar
Guest: Juliette Vazard
 
To hear more from Pelin check out Episode 6 and Episode 28
To hear more from Juliette check out Episode 20 and Episode 24