Cognitive Immunity: Protection and Preservation of Humanity through Better Thinking with Andy Norman PhD

Original Air Date Wednesday, January 3 , 2024.

Harvesting Happiness is proud to partner with the researchers and scholars at the Mental Immunity Project (MIP) and Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative (CIRCE).

Listen to two separate 9-part Harvesting Happiness podcast productions that explore the emerging science of cognitive immunology. Both unique series examine how and why disinformation, conspiracy theories, and media propaganda are used to undermine critical thinking and common sense. This impacts how we think and behave as well as our collective well-being.

This episode is #1 of 9 with More Mental Fitness by Harvesting Happiness bonus content available exclusively on Substack and Medium.

The media has already begun priming the pump for the 2024 election cycle in the US. Swaying the average American to believe one thing over another will be the target of billions of dollars of advertising spending. Will all of the information we are exposed to be true? Probably not, but how do we know? What can we do to build our mental immunity and critical thinking skills?

To discover how we can protect and preserve humanity when faced with misinformation, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with author, researcher, and founder of the Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative (CIRCE), Dr. Andy Norman.

Andy and Lisa delve into what to expect from their new collaborative effort to tone our mental muscles through the Mental Immunity Project. They also discuss how to discern false narratives, how to have open and compassionate conversations, and ten rules of thumb to make the mind less susceptible to misinformation, all just in time for the deluge of political rhetoric on the horizon.

Tune in:

Meet Our Guest:

Andy Norman is the award-winning author of Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think. His work has appeared in Scientific American, Psychology Today, Psychiatric Times, Skeptic, Free Inquiry, and The Humanist.

He has appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, NPR, and The BBC’s Naked Scientist. His research illuminates the evolutionary origins of human reasoning, the norms that make dialogue fruitful, and the workings of the mind’s immune system. Andy champions the emerging science of mental immunity as the antidote to disinformation, propaganda, hate, and division.

Dr. Norman is the founder of the Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative (CIRCE), a global think-tank leading the effort to inoculate humanity against cognitive contagion.

Book: Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think

Andy Norman — Cognitive Immunity:

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Related Episodes:

• Cognitive Immunity: The Moral Mind of Critical Thinkers
• Mental Immunity: For the Passionately Ignorant and Willfully Disinformed
• Infodemic Inoculation: Exercising Thought Intelligence Through Whole Brain Thinking
• Get Smart: Intellectual Humility and Critical Thinking