In a time where conspiracy thinking is becoming mainstream, critical thinking is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s a survival skill. In this episode, I sit down with Dr Steven Novella, neurologist, professor at Yale, and host of The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe, to unpack how misinformation takes hold, why smart people fall for bad science, and how we can sharpen our thinking in an age of echo chambers and AI-generated noise.
We explore the psychology of belief, the decline in institutional trust, and the subtle line between healthy scepticism and reflexive contrarianism. Whether it’s decoding the carnivore diet, vaccine misinformation, or climate change denial, Dr Novella breaks down what it means to be truly evidence-based, and how to stay intellectually honest in a world full of false certainty.
What we cover:
- The difference between scepticism and denialism
- How to talk to someone who believes in conspiracy theories
- Why scientific consensus matters and how to spot real expertise
- The psychological appeal of pseudoscience
- How to build a truth-seeking mindset grounded in humility and logic
- The role of AI in shaping the future of truth
- What we lose if we stop trusting science
If you care about science communication, critical thinking, or simply making better sense of the world, this is an episode worth sharing.
- 00:00 Introduction
- 05:48 Sceptic vs. Contrarian: What’s the difference?
- 08:57 Combating Misinformation and Disinformation
- 12:13 The Role of Critical Thinking
- 18:06 Why We Reject Facts That Make Us Uncomfortable
- 21:09 How Echo Chambers Hijack Reality
- 24:41 The Hardest Choice: Truth or Belonging?
- 37:54 Why People No Longer Trust Experts
- 48:16 Debating Pseudoscience
- 52:53 The Deadly Cost of Misinformation
- 56:03 The GMO Lies People Still Believe
- 01:03:00 How to Teach Critical Thinking to Anyone
- 01:10:00 How to Think, Not What to Think
- 01:14:34 Why Science Sounds Uncertain and Why That’s a Good Thing
- 01:23:51 Being Sceptical Doesn’t Make You Automatically Right
- 01:35:59 The Double-Edged Sword of AI
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More about Steven Novella, MD
Dr. Steven Novella is a clinical neurologist at Yale School of Medicine, host of The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe podcast, and author of the bestselling book by the same name. He is a leading voice in science communication, with decades of experience debunking medical myths, conspiracy theories, and pseudoscience. You can learn more about his work at theskepticsguide.org, listen to his podcast, or explore his book, The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: How to Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake.
