58: Deepak Chropa's Bullshit with Gordon Pennycook
Mar 07, 2023•35 min•Ep. 58
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Episode description
I have long suspected that Deepak Chopra spouts garbage. Despite being a trained physician, the author and self-help guru’s trademark new-age ramblings have always struck me as little more than pseudo-scientific garbage.
But, I’m also the kind of guy who doesn’t like to dismiss ideas out of hand, just because I don’t understand.
It turns out that my instincts were correct. A 2015 study in the journal Judgment and Decision Making showed that many of Chopra’s tweets are indistinguishable from a randomly generated sentence using Chopra's favourite buzz-words.
They are—according to studies authors—Bullshit.
On this episode of Scamapalooza, I talk to the lead author of the study Gordan Pennycook and how you measure what is and isn’t bullshit and why it’s important to spot the difference.
But, I’m also the kind of guy who doesn’t like to dismiss ideas out of hand, just because I don’t understand.
It turns out that my instincts were correct. A 2015 study in the journal Judgment and Decision Making showed that many of Chopra’s tweets are indistinguishable from a randomly generated sentence using Chopra's favourite buzz-words.
They are—according to studies authors—Bullshit.
On this episode of Scamapalooza, I talk to the lead author of the study Gordan Pennycook and how you measure what is and isn’t bullshit and why it’s important to spot the difference.
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