Steven Pinker: Outsmarting an Irrational World

Dave Asprey

Sep 23, 2025

Episode description

Your brain isn’t as rational as you think, and that blind spot can wreck your decision-making, relationships, and even your health. In this episode, you’ll learn how to spot the hidden cognitive traps that even the smartest people fall for, and how to upgrade your thinking so you can perform better, live longer, and make choices that actually serve you.

Watch the condensed video highlight version of this episode (and much more!) on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR

Host Dave Asprey sits down with Steven Pinker, a world-renowned cognitive psychologist, Harvard professor, and bestselling author whose research reshaped how we understand language, bias, social norms, and rationality. Pinker’s decades of scholarship make him a trusted guide to the mechanics of the mind and the behaviors that either elevate or derail human performance and longevity.

Together they break down how the brain actually reasons, why smart people still fall for tribal thinking, what current AI gets wrong about human intelligence, and how “common knowledge” quietly governs cooperation, law, and civility. This is a masterclass in brain optimization through better thinking, built for people who care about biohacking, hacking mental models, neuroplasticity, and high-performance decision-making.

You’ll learn:

• How to recognize and counter the “my-side bias,” even if you’re highly intelligent

• Why common knowledge creates and sustains social norms and coordination

• The art of indirect speech and tact, and how to calibrate your words to reduce social risk

• Simple upgrades that make video calls feel closer to real eye contact and why that boosts trust

• What today’s AI gets wrong about minds and why models hallucinate

• Rational habits that work in the real world: steelmanning, probabilistic thinking, adversarial collaboration, and making bets as a tax on bad arguments

• Why liberal democracy fits human nature better than autocracy and how norms erode or hold

• How to rebuild face-to-face social skills in a screen-first culture to improve resilience and performance

This is essential listening for fans of biohacking, brain optimization, human performance, neuroplasticity, and longevity who want clear, usable frameworks to think better and live better with Dave Asprey.

Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights in health, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutritio

Mindsip insights from this episode:

Recognize my-side bias to avoid cognitive traps

The 'My-side bias,' the tendency to believe your own group is smarter and more moral, is a cognitive trap that intelligent people are just as likely to fall for as anyone else.

#cognition

Practice steel manning to seek truth in arguments

To overcome the bias of wanting to win an argument, you should practice 'steel manning'—formulating the strongest possible version of your opponent's argument to better seek the truth.

#critical-thinking

Enhance sleep quality with Kill Switch supplement

The Kill Switch supplement, containing GABA, magnesium glycinate, and tart cherry extract, is designed to improve sleep scores and REM sleep.

#sleep

#supplement

Support mitochondrial health with Mitopure gummies

Mitopure, containing the clinically-backed compound Urolithin A, is now available in a sugar-free gummy form to support cellular and mitochondrial performance.

#mitochondria

#supplement

Choose Our Place cookware to avoid toxins in your kitchen

Our Place cookware is recommended as a toxin-free alternative to nonstick pans, which can release thousands of plastic particles and forever chemicals like PFAS when scratched.

#PFAS

#toxin

Understand AI hallucinations through statistical word associations

AI models like ChatGPT often 'hallucinate' or make things up because they operate by statistically associating words, rather than having a true symbolic understanding of who did what to whom.

#AI

Challenge belief in karma to promote real-world action against exploitation

Believing in karma may not be optimal, as it can lead to inaction against exploitation that requires real-world deterrence like social norms or legal systems.