Neuroscientist Tali Sharot on Political Influence, Persuasion, and Donald Trump (Politics Plus)

(There was a very short period in Mike’s life where he thought he could handle his teaching job, write a book, host The Politics Guys, and start a new podcast – Politics Plus. It soon became evident to Mike how insane trying to do all this at once was, and so he quickly shut down Politics Plus. But before he did, he’d posted four interviews – all of which he thinks are pretty good and are worth sharing with you as Politics Guys bonus episodes.)

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Mike talks to Tali Sharot, director of the Affective Brain Lab and an Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in the department of Experimental Psychology at University College London. Dr. Sharot’s research integrates neuroscience, behavioral economics, and psychology to study how emotion influences people’s beliefs, decisions and social interactions. She’s the author of The Optimism Bias and, most recently, The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others.

Mike and Dr. Sharot discuss:

• how some information is like sex and plum pie
• why Donald Trump was so much more influential than his Republican presidential rivals
• how our attempts to persuade others can actually boomerang on us, leaving them less persuaded than they were to start with
• how to go from getting someone to agree with you to getting them to act
• when crowds are wise and when they’re not
• and lots more

Follow the Affective Brain Lab on Twitter

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