#980 - David Pinsof - This is Your Brain on Bullsh*t

In this episode of the podcast, Chris interviews David Pinsof, who shares his perspectives on human behavior, incentives, and social norms. They discuss the misguided pursuit of happiness, arguing that incentives, particularly those rooted in evolutionary history, are more accurate predictors of behavior. The conversation explores the nature of opinions as tools for navigating social status, the concept of "deepities" as a form of intellectual posturing, and the dynamics of arguments as competitions for dominance rather than genuine truth-seeking. They also touch on the possibility of good-faith debate and the social functions of vague language.