The series that looks at current events through the lens of psychology. From scandals to markets, elections to traffic jams, discover the nuts and bolts of human behaviour that link public life to our most private thoughts and motivations.
Are
people led by the head or by the heart? How rational are we? And how do
we perceive the world? All human behaviour could turn up in The Human
Zoo - including yours.
In this episode, Michael
Blastland explores why so many people - be they the leaders of
political parties, or people who drink too much - think other people
share their beliefs and choices. All political parties tell us that the
tide is going their way. But it's a strange tide that flows in all
directions. Even extremists and revolutionaries, it seems, are likely to
think that there are many other supporters eager to join them.
Why
do we think so many more people are like us? Even when we're asked to
describe the typical height of people we see around us, we're more
likely to estimate too low if we're short and too high if we're tall.
How
far does this tendency go, why do we do it, and what are its
implications for politics, public health or extremists? Find out in The
Human Zoo, recorded before an audience at Warwick University's Festival
of the Imagination, featuring the latest psychological research, and the
author AL Kennedy on how she goes about becoming someone else in
fiction.
Michael Blastland is joined by
resident Zoo psychologist Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science
at Warwick Business School, and roving reporter Timandra Harkness.
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