16 Things Everybody Should Know How to Do

There are certain skills that can change the way you work, think, and live — and most of us were never taught them. In this video, I share 16 things I believe everyone should know how to do, drawn from decades of research on human behavior and performance. Some of these will surprise you. None of them were on your syllabus.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgN66lNRRrs

 

What AI doesn’t know: we could be creating a global ‘knowledge collapse’ | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian

The AI researcher Andrew Peterson describes this phenomenon as "knowledge collapse": a gradual narrowing of the information humans can access, along with a declining awareness of alternative or obscure viewpoints. As LLMs are trained on data shaped by previous AI outputs, underrepresented knowledge can become less visible – not because it lacks merit, but because it is less frequently retrieved or cited. Peterson also warns of the "streetlight effect", named after the joke where a person searches for lost keys under a streetlight at night because that's where the light is brightest. In the context of AI, this would be people searching where it's easiest rather than where it's most meaningful. Over time, this would result in a degenerative narrowing of the public knowledge base...

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/nov/18/what-ai-doesnt-know-global-knowledge-collapse 

 

Hegseth's Headlong Pursuit of Academic Mediocrity - The Atlantic

His military-education reforms seem designed to ensure fighting men can’t think and thinking men can’t fight.

https://www.theatlantic.com/national-security/archive/2025/08/military-education-reforms/683760/

The Destruction of the Great Library of King Ashurbanipal!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I0V6tMUq4E

The Science of Sagan (Seth Andrews; The Thinking Atheist podcast)

We lost the great cosmologist and science educator Carl Sagan in the month of December...way back in 1996. His words resonate and inspire as much as ever.

Interview: 

https://www.thethinkingatheist.com/podcast-1/episode/77bc9f1e/the-science-of-sagan

Ryan Cragun: Goodbye Religion - The Causes and Consequences of Secularization | FFRF Convention 2024

In his talk, "Goodbye Religion: The Causes and Consequences of Secularization," Ryan Cragun breaks down why more people are leaving religion and its impact on society. He challenges common myths, like the idea that nonreligious people are less happy or less moral, and uses data to show that religious and non-religious people aren't all that different when it comes to things like happiness or family values. Cragun argues that the decline of religion doesn’t lead to societal decay as often feared, and instead, he encourages a focus on evidence-based understanding.

Ryan Cragun, a professor of sociology at the University of Tampa, focuses on both Mormonism and nonreligion. He’s the author or co-author of many books, including “Beyond Doubt: The Secularization of Society,” “What You Don’t Know About Religion (but Should),” “Christianity and the Limits of Minority Acceptance,” “How to Defeat Religion in 10 Easy Steps” and “From One Missionary to Another.”
Interview: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eogpbxEW6XI

Bullsh!t Incorporated: Conspiracists and Cons in a Ridiculous World (with Dave Farina)

Science communicator Dave Farina weighs in on creationists, germ deniers, flat earthers, the Discovery Institute, and more.

Interview: 

https://youtu.be/WIXrJkW149A?si=CTTljqVK8480rln6

AI search answers are the fast food of your information diet – convenient and tasty, but no substitute for good nutrition

Want a description of how inflation has affected grocery prices in the past five years, or a summary of what the European Union AI Act includes? AI Overviews can be a good way to cut through a lot of documents and extract those specific answers. 

But people's searching needs don't end with factual information. They look for ideas, opinions and advice. Looking for suggestions about how to keep the cheese from sliding off your pizza? Google will tell you that you should add some glue to the sauce. Or wondering if running with scissors has any health benefits? Sure, Google will say, "it can also improve your pores and give you strength"…

https://theconversation.com/ai-search-answers-are-the-fast-food-of-your-information-diet-convenient-and-tasty-but-no-substitute-for-good-nutrition-230759

“Wikipedia Is the Most Accurate Form of Information Ever Created” (Thomas Smith; Serious Inquiries Only podcast #389)

So says my esteemed guest, Dr. Amy Bruckman! Is she right? I won't be coy, I tend to think she is. But what a fascinating statement! And her thesis makes for an equally fascinating book - Wikipedia: The Most Reliable Source on the Internet? So let's dig in!

Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-irjhm-1b09935a

'The culpability of guilty knowledge': Adam Schiff on what GOP knew before 1/6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCs1wLjSD9o

The war on rationality | Steven Pinker

There is no force in the Universe called progress. But there are plenty of natural forces that seem to only make it harder for us to make progress as a species, such as disease, the laws of entropy, and the dark sides of human nature.

So, what pushes humanity forward in the face of all these obstacles? To the psychologist Steven Pinker, the answer is rationality: When people use their reasoning skills and other cognitive abilities to help improve the lives of others, the result is progress.

From pseudoscience to religious extremism, irrational beliefs can cause real harm. That’s why Pinker argues that society would be better off if more people learned to be more rational.

Read the video transcript: https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-think-interview/rationality/

0:00 The bad news: reality
0:39 The good news: rationality
1:26 How rational are we?
3:04 Even Americans, though? (Rationality inequality)
4:45 The pinnacle of human rationality
5:45 How can you teach critical thinking? How?

Video: https://youtu.be/qdzNKQwkp-Y

We Are But Beasts (with Aron Ra) (Seth Andrews; The Thinking Atheist podcast)

Aron Ra is an author, educator, and atheist activist. He joins Seth Andrews to talk about pagan Christmas, religious awfulness, and humans' place as "beasts" in the animal kingdom. Shows with Aron are always entertaining, and this one is no exception.

Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-ij2v6-11829b2e

Jonathan Rauch — The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth (The Michael Shermer podcast 190)

Disinformation. Trolling. Conspiracies. Social media pile-ons. Campus intolerance. On the surface, these recent additions to our daily vocabulary appear to have little in common. But together, they are driving an epistemic crisis: a multi-front challenge to America’s ability to distinguish fact from fiction and elevate truth above falsehood.

In episode 190, Michael Shermer speaks with Jonathan Rauch as he reaches back to the parallel eighteenth-century developments of liberal democracy and science to explain what he calls the “Constitution of Knowledge” — our social system for turning disagreement into truth. His book is a sweeping and readable description of how every American can help defend objective truth and free inquiry from threats as far away as Russia and as close as the cellphone.
Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-xx2km-f079bc8

Can You Reason with Unreasonable People? (Seth Andrews, The Thinking Atheist podcast)

Many of us have encountered the "brick wall" believers in superstition, woo, conspiracy, and really bad ideas. Are they still worth our time and energy? And are there ways to break through? We discuss the complex issue(s) regarding deep-seated beliefs and opinions.

Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-b6izj-d46e9ac

Talk Heathen 05.05 with Eric Murphy and Owen Morgan (Telltale)

SHOW TIME-STAMPS

00:00:00​ Intro
03:47​ Stan-NV | Is Christianity A Cult?
08:26​ David-CA | Thoughts On Free Will?
20:49​ Chad-NE | Atheist Cliches With A Pastor At His Church
27:44​ Douglas-(CA) | As An Atheist, Who Created The World?
34:44​ Karen-CA | The Difference In Christian Fundamentalism And Nationalism?
41:48​ Brandon-CA | Telling Church Leadership There Is No Evidence For God
53:41​ Kevin-NY | Prophecy Is Evidence Of God
59:05​ Jim-(CA) | The Real Harm of Religion
1:06:10​ Kell-UT | My Mom Doesn't Care If Her Beliefs Are Real?
1:17:10​ Jason-TN | I Can't Help My Buddy And Dealing With Addiction
1:28:41​ Sarel-(IL) | Is The Question Of God Belief Binary?

Interview: 

https://youtu.be/_35W_y9HdEw

Trump's Postmaster General Reveals Impressive Lack of Knowledge About Mail

From the cost of postage to the impact of the changes made to delivery schedules, Trump's appointee Postmaster General Louis DeJoy made clear he was out of his depth at USPS. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-postmaster-general-reveals-impressive-lack-of-knowledge-about-mail

Knowledge & Redemption (Sam Harris, Making Sense podcast #176)

In this episode of the Making Sense podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Lynn Novick about her four-part documentary "College Behind Bars." The film follows the progress of students in the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) as they pursue their undergraduate degrees. Sam and Lynn are joined by Jule Hall, a BPI graduate who served a 22-year sentence and is now working for the Ford Foundation.
Interview:
http://wakingup.libsyn.com/176-knowledge-redemption

Trump: Jews who vote Democrat show 'lack of knowledge or great disloyalty' - The Hill

President Trump said Tuesday that Jewish people who vote for Democrats are either ignorant or disloyal as he railed against two congresswomen who have been critical of the U.S.-Israel alliance.....
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/458135-trump-jews-that-vote-democrat-show-lack-of-knowledge-or-great

The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World by Catherine Nixey

...History, she believes, has given the Church an undeservedly easy ride. Pre-Christian Rome tends to be imagined as cruel, arbitrary and punitive; it is thought to be, in her fine phrase, “a chilly, nihilistic world”. Christianity, conversely, is painted as brave, principled, kind, inclusive and optimistic. The task she sets herself – her own melancholy duty – is to rip away this veneer and expose the error and corruption of the early Church...
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/28/the-darkening-age-the-christian-destruction-of-the-classical-world-by-catherine-nixey

Mental Models (Sam Harris, Making Sense podcast #155)

In this episode of the Making Sense podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Shane Parrish about some of the mental models that should guide our thinking and behavior.

Shane Parrish is the host of The Knowledge Project podcast and the founder of Farnam Street blog, which aims to help others develop an understanding of how the world works, make better decisions, and live a better life. Shane was previously a cybersecurity expert at Canada’s top intelligence agency, Communications Security Establishment, a division of Canada’s Defense Department.
Interview:
https://samharris.org/podcasts/155-mental-models/