My Social Science Dream Team that Global Politicians Need ASAP
I’m someone who is fascinated with human behavior, which is why out of the 280 books I’ve read this year, most are in the realm of social science, psychology, and related topics. We have decades upon decades of research and plenty of evidence-based methods that have been peer-reviewed to understand human behavior and irrationality, but for some reason, politicians don’t seem to know this.
I’ve always thought about this, but over the last year and a half in this pandemic, I’ve noticed how we need this more than ever. Millions, if not billions of dollars are spent to convince people to wear masks or that vaccines are safe, and so many of the methods are ineffective. And if a college dropout like myself is sitting here thinking how ridiculous it is to waste all this time, money, and resources, I’m sure there are plenty of researchers and others way smarter than me that want to drive their head through a wall.
So, what finally inspired me to discuss this? Well, I saw this tweet from Melissa Chen:
I replied:
This was on my morning walk, and I started thinking, “If I could make a dream team or council, who would it be?” That’s when I busted out a Google Doc on my phone and started making a list.
Not only would this be beneficial to help us end this God-forsaken COVID pandemic to reduce serious illness and death so we can get back to a semblance of normalcy, but then we can get back to other problems we need to solve. How do we get people to care about climate change? How do we get people to vote? How do we decrease polarization and misinformation?
Below is my dream team as well as brief explanations, and in the comments, I’d love to know who you’d have on the team because I’m sure I’m missing a ton of people.
The Dream Team
Although social science and psychology are key, you’ll see a bit of diversity on the team. Hopefully, my reasoning justifies their involvement.
Robert Cialdini
This is an obvious first pick. Cialdini’s work is groundbreaking, and a lot of it is broken down in his best-selling book Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion. He’s spent years studying what works and what doesn’t when it comes to persuasion and influence. One of my favorites was his research on getting people to save electricity.
Vanessa Bohns
Speaking of influence, I just finished Vanessa Bohn’s brand new book You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion, and Why It Matters. Bohns has conducted an insane amount of research on how we influence others. She’s researched why people say “no”, what makes it difficult for them to say “no”, and so much more.
Catherine Sanderson
Sanderson is the author of Why We Act: Turning Bystanders into Moral Rebels, and she studies how we stop the bystander effect. How many people want to influence friends, family members, colleagues, and others but stay silent instead? There are probably countless people not speaking up to others about the importance of vaccination, but they’re silent. Right now, we need some moral rebels.
Daniel Kahneman
This is another no-brainer. The Nobel Prize winner wrote Thinking, Fast and Slow based on the research he did with his long-time research partner Amos Tversky. One of the main challenges we face is all of the thinking errors and cognitive biases that all of us experience.
Cass Sunstein
Cass Sunstein has written an insane amount of books, but he’s probably most known for his book with Richard Thaler, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. He believes in libertarian paternalism, which helps people make better decisions by giving them slight nudges in the right direction. Recently, he also co-authored a book with Kahneman called Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment, which helps us make better decisions based on data.
Note: I know there have been some debate around Sunstein and Kahneman’s research, but don’t worry, we have a solution for that a bit later.
Tim Harford
Speaking of data, we need the “undercover economist” himself, Tim Harford. Tim’s latest book is The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics, and we need someone on the team who is looking at data to spot potential errors. Also, with how Tim looks at data, he’s always thinking about what’s missing, which would help with the overall research.
Tom Chatfield
Chatfield is the author of the new book How to Think and not only specializes in critical thinking, but he’s regularly trying to figure out how we teach others how to think. He’s always trying to update his beliefs and thought processes, and he’d be great when it comes to helping communicate to children and young adults on being better thinkers.
Michele Wucker
With all the research we’re doing and looking at data, we need someone who can assess risk. So, how about none other than Michele Wucker, the author of You Are What You Risk: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World? Michele has written and done presentations about risk for years and understands how we all have individual risk profiles. She’ll also be beneficial when it comes to communicating to the public about the risk involved with action or inaction.
Matthew Syed
I added Matthew Syed to this list because his recent book Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking is phenomenal. There’s a ton of debate around whether we need a diverse group of people to solve problems or the best people. The answer isn’t that simple, but Syed sold me on the former. In fact, he’d probably be the perfect person to look at this list and see if it’s diverse enough and could make some suggestions.
Jonah Berger
Literally, none of this matters unless it’s marketed properly to the public. Jonah Berger is a professor at Wharton and studies the psychology of marketing. He’s written multiple books, but my favorite is Contagious: Why Things Catch On. Berger would be able to help look at the solutions and see how we can structure them to make them catch on.
Jonathan Haidt
One of the primary challenges we face with any national or global issue is polarization. Something I realized a while back is that morality is a primary cause of polarization, which is why we need someone like Jonathan Haidt. His book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, helps us understand what makes people take different moral stances and how we can overcome them.
Chris Bail
Where do we see the most polarization? On social media. Chris Bail is the director of the Polarization Lab at Duke University and recently released the book Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing. His research has helped debunk a ton of myths around polarization and misinformation on social media, so it’s a crucial role in any solutions our governments are working on.
Jay Van Bavel and Dominic Packer
This is a package deal. Jay and Dominic have been researching how groups affect our identity for years, and they recently released their amazing book The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony. So many of the challenges we face when it comes to polarization, disagreements, and biases come from how we think in groups.
Lee McIntyre
But how do we deal with all the people who straight up deny the scientific evidence? Don’t worry, we got Lee McIntyre. Lee studies the philosophy of science, and his recent book is literally titled How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason. Not only would Lee help with science communication and talking with science deniers, but he’d be great for media training to teach politicians and others the dos and don’ts of talking to science deniers.
The Accountability Team
So far, we have a pretty diverse team, but I got trust issues. Although many people on the team can keep each other in check, we need a second team for oversight. As you’ll see, these people have dedicated most of their careers to making sure no funny business is going on.
The Research Checkers
The team is going to be doing a ton of research and coming up with data, but even peer-reviewed studies can sometimes be suspect. This is why we need Stuart Ritchie, the author of Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth as well as Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West who co-authored Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World.
The Skeptics
We need people who are highly skeptical. Sometimes these types can be party poopers, but they’re on a search for truth and accuracy. First, there’s Michael Shermer who is the founder of Skeptic Magazine as well as the author of multiple books and online courses like Skepticism 101: How to Think like a Scientist. Then, there’s Dr. Steven Novella who is the author of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake, and he’s also a doctor who looks at medical research with a skeptical eye. Novella would definitely be beneficial during a time like this where we’re regularly getting a ton of information about COVID vaccines and other health-related topics.
The Bullshit Detector
What if people on the team are bullshitting us?! Well, no worries, because we got John V. Petrocelli. Not only is he the author of The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit, but he’s been conducting research around detecting bullshit at Wake Forest University for years. He could also be beneficial for teaching the public how to detect bullshit.
The Writers
Lastly, we need a team of writers. With all the science that’s going on and communication to the public, we need some people who can write.
Roy Peter Clark
Roy has been teaching people how to write for years, so he’d be great to look over content before it goes out to the public. He’s written multiple books like How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times, which showcases the importance of knowing how to write short in the age of skimmers and social media posts with a limited character count.
Anne Janzer
What’re people thinking while they read? What convinces people and what pushes them away? Well, Anne Janzer has many skills, but one is teaching people about the psychology of writing as well as how to write in a way that people will understand what you’re saying. She’s the author of Writing to Be Understood: What Works and Why, which is exactly what we need when communicating with the public.
Will Storr
Sometimes, stories are the best way to get your message across. Will Storr is a phenomenal writer who has also spent a ton of time studying storytelling, and that came together in his popular book, The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better. Whether it’s through writing or the news, we have to be able to tell better stories to connect with people. I could also see Will’s expertise in this area being helpful for how politicians, government agencies, and others communicate stories to the public.
Jill Filipovic
Jill is a phenomenal journalist and author, but she needs to be on this writing team because she’s passionate about social issues. When it comes to issues like COVID, climate change, and other issues, one problem is that many are turned off because they feel like the elite are extremely disconnected (and they often are). Jill wrote OK Boomer, Let's Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind, so she understands the struggles of the millennial generation but also writes quite a bit about the difficulties of women, minorities, and others who often aren’t thought about.
Amy Maxmen
Amy is a rock star science journalist for Nature, and we have to have someone who is a pro at communicating science to people. The great thing about Amy is that she’s also passionate about social issues, and one of her most important pieces was about how minorities are being affected during the pandemic. Amy is an award-winning science writer who also has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from Harvard, so she definitely knows her stuff.
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it. There’s my extensive team of researchers, skeptics, bullshit detectors, and science writers. It often feels like government officials are running around wasting a ton of time on solutions that have no scientific backing, which is also a huge waste of money. If we had some people involved who have dedicated their lives to these different areas, we’d see far better results.
And as I said, even though this list is pretty big, I’m sure I left out a ton of people, so let me know who you’d add in the comments below. And if you think there are other teams that should be created, let me know!
I’ve been working on organizing all the books I’ve read, and I have multiple lists of books on becoming a better thinker. There are lists for education, social issues, critical thinking, self-deception, and biases. For the rest of the categories, click here.
I’m always open for a conversation and to be shown what I might be missing or where I may be wrong, so feel free to email me at TheRewiredSoul@gmail.com