How do our brains respond when people behave in unpredictable ways? In episode 80, Jordan Theriault from Northeastern University discusses his research into a set of brain regions which, when activated by a variety of social tasks, can provide insights into how we judge the moral objectivity or subjectivity of others’ unexpected claims. His article “Theory of mind network activity is associated with metaethical judgment: An item analysis” (PDF here), was published in April 2020 with Adam Waytz, Larisa Heiphetz, and Liane Young in the journal Neuropsychologia.

 

Websites and other resources

• • Jordan’s website and Twitter account
  • The Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory at Northeastern University
  • Introduction to theory of mind:

• • Introduction to predictive coding:

 

• Steven Sloman on Freakonomics‘ “How to Change Your Mind“
• Claude Shannons “A Mathematical Theory of Communication” (1948 article) and The Mathematical Theory of Communication (1949 book)

 

Bonus Clips