Rationally Speaking #149 - Susan Gelman on "How essentialism shapes our thinking"
Dec 13, 2015•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode description
In this episode, psychologist Susan Gelman describes her work on the psychological trait of essentialism: the innate human urge to categorize reality and to assume that those categories reflect meaningful, invisible differences. Julia and Susan discuss why the discovery of essentialism in children was such a surprise to scientists, how the language we use affects the way we view reality, and whether essentialism is to blame for bad philosophy.
