Clearer Thinking is a podcast about ideas that truly matter. If you enjoy learning about powerful, practical concepts and frameworks, wish you had more deep, in...
Avoiding major investment mistakes (with Jim O'Shaughnessy)
Read the full transcript here. What are the biggest mistakes people make when investing? What's the best thing to do with extra savings? How can we overcome emotional biases that might negatively impact our investment strategies? What is "hyperbolic discounting"? How can you know when to pull your money out of an investment? How can journaling help with investing? Is it irrational to invest only in companies based in your country? What's the optimal mix of stocks and bonds? Are short-term bonds better than long-term bonds, or vice versa? How can you tell genuine growth from too much hype? How predictable is the stock market? If you find an investment strategy that works, should you tell others about it? What's the best way to cope with bubbles? Who should apply for ventures?Jim O'Shaughnessy was in quantitative asset management for most of his career until selling his company, O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, to Franklin Templeton in 2021. In 2023, he formed O'Shaughnessy Ventures, which is engaged in book publishing, filmmaking, and partnering with podcasters, Substack writers, and other new media ventures. Their venture capital arm invests in companies that they think have winning business strategies in regards to what Jim calls "The Great Reshuffle". O'Shaughnessy Ventures also gives equity-free fellowships and grants ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. Learn more about Jim at O'Shaughnessy Ventures's website, osv.llc. StaffSpencer Greenberg — Host / DirectorJosh Castle — ProducerRyan Kessler — Audio EngineerUri Bram — FactotumWeAmplify — TranscriptionistsMusicBroke for FreeJosh WoodwardLee RosevereQuiet Music for Tiny Robotswowamusiczapsplat.comAffiliatesClearer ThinkingGuidedTrackMind EasePositlyUpLift[Read more]
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1:19:25
Creating a new city from scratch (with Erick Brimen)
Read the full transcript here. What does it take to start a new city, especially one designed to be a special economic zone (SEZ)? What are the advantages and disadvantages to having a private company as manager of a city? Should governments be profit-maximizing? Can people choose to live in one of the Zonas de Empleo y Desarrollo Económico (ZEDE) cities in Honduras while also opting out of its specific government services? What are some legitimate reasons governments should regulate businesses? Are medicines produced in SEZs safe? How do ZEDE investors make money? To what extent can (or should) a SEZ's laws override state and federal laws? What do the ZEDEs in Honduras look like right now? How many people live in them? Why has there been pushback against them? Are SEZs considered "political" projects? Can a SEZ take land from private owners? Is anyone allowed to move into a SEZ?Erick Brimen is a finance professional, team leader, and serial entrepreneur who is passionate about investing in life-enhancing opportunities that further human flourishing. He has led Honduras Próspera Inc.'s ongoing development of the Próspera ZEDE free zone in Honduras, raising nearly $110 million to advance his vision of eliminating poverty through delivering free market governance as a service. Erick started his career in private banking, working at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. He later moved to investment banking as a mergers and acquisition sell-side advisor for AG Edwards & Sons (now Wells Fargo). After investment banking, Erick joined Ernst & Young's London consulting practice, where he advised buy-side private equity clients as they considered acquisition targets. Soon after, he was recruited by the Borealis Group to join as CFO of Latin American operations, leading the creation of multiple business units. When the time was right, Erick started his entrepreneurial career in the world of financial intermediation as a founder of ComparaMejor.com. In late 2013, Erick sold another of his tech companies to start NeWay Capital. NeWay Capital LLC is globally-focused and seeks to identify free zone opportunities with partner host countries throughout the world. As Chairman and CEO of NeWay Capital LLC's affiliate Honduras Próspera Inc., Erick is focused on replicating the success of Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore in a Honduran free zone located primarily on the beautiful island of Roatán. He has three young children with his wife, Colleen Brimen. He was born Venezuelan and is a U.S. Citizen by choice. Learn more about him at his website, erickbrimen.com. StaffSpencer Greenberg — Host / DirectorJosh Castle — ProducerRyan Kessler — Audio EngineerUri Bram — FactotumWeAmplify — TranscriptionistsMusicBroke for FreeJosh WoodwardLee RosevereQuiet Music for Tiny Robotswowamusiczapsplat.comAffiliatesClearer ThinkingGuidedTrackMind EasePositlyUpLift[Read more]
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1:23:07
What's the most effective type of therapy? (with Matthew Smout)
Read the full transcript here. What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)? What are the "cognitive" and "behavioral" parts of CBT? What are some of its most common techniques? What are "negative core beliefs"? What does CBT have to say about situations in which problems come from a person's environment rather than from within the person's mind? What makes a particular belief or behavior "good"? How do we know how effective various psychotherapeutic treatments are? How much can we rely on meta-analyses about psychotherapy treatments? Is CBT the most evidence-based psychotherapy treatment? What are CBT's main competitors? Is CBT significantly better than its competitors in all respects, or are there situations in which other treatment types have a significant advantage? How can you figure out exactly what a therapist does when they list a dozen different treatment modalities on their website? Can all treatment modalities be similarly effective if they have the right set of core components? How do antidepressants compare in efficacy to CBT? When should one, the other, or both in conjunction be used to treat a patient?Dr. Matthew Smout is a clinical psychologist in private practice and the Senior Clinic Supervisor of the University of South Australia Psychology Clinic, where he teaches and trains postgraduate students in clinical psychology. His research interests focus on psychotherapy, especially in making routine practice more effective. He has published on schema therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and the development of questionnaires for evaluating psychotherapy. Email him at matthew.smout@unisa.edu.au, or learn more about him at his website, drmatthewsmout.com. StaffSpencer Greenberg — Host / DirectorJosh Castle — ProducerRyan Kessler — Audio EngineerUri Bram — FactotumWeAmplify — TranscriptionistsMusicBroke for FreeJosh WoodwardLee RosevereQuiet Music for Tiny Robotswowamusiczapsplat.comAffiliatesClearer ThinkingGuidedTrackMind EasePositlyUpLift[Read more]
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1:32:06
A conversation about Borderline Personality Disorder (with Kayla Spicer)
Read the full transcript here. What is Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)? Why is it so stigmatized relative to other mental health issues? What does it mean to be the "favorite person" of someone with BPD? Can people with BPD have multiple favorite persons, or no favorite person at all? What is "splitting"? Why are people with BPD more prone to engage in risky, reckless, or impulsive behaviors? How might BPD overlap with the "dark triad" personality traits (i.e., machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy)? Is BPD more common among women? How should we treat people who may not meet the threshold for a particular mental illness diagnosis but who nevertheless exhibit some of the symptoms of that illness? How can partners form good relationships with people suffering from BPD? How can you help a person suffering from BPD in a moment of crisis? Why is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) the best treatment option for BPD? What does DBT teach? What are some DBT techniques that work especially well for people with BPD? What is "quiet" BPD? What is "emotional reasoning"? What should you do if you think you might have BPD?Kayla Spicer is a Registered Psychotherapist in Ontario and an online educator specializing in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). With a Master's in Counseling Psychology, she combines clinical expertise and lived experience to create accessible learning resources for individuals, particularly women, who struggle with high sensitivity, perfectionism, and emotion regulation challenges. Through her YouTube channel and other online platforms, Kayla offers evidence-based strategies, practical tools, and empowering advice to guide people toward self-compassion and long-term well-being. To learn more, visit the YouTube channel called On the Line. StaffSpencer Greenberg — Host / DirectorJosh Castle — ProducerRyan Kessler — Audio EngineerUri Bram — FactotumWeAmplify — TranscriptionistsMusicBroke for FreeJosh WoodwardLee RosevereQuiet Music for Tiny Robotswowamusiczapsplat.comAffiliatesClearer ThinkingGuidedTrackMind EasePositlyUpLift[Read more]
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1:36:44
Could the placebo effect be bullshit? (with Literal Banana)
Read the full transcript here. Is the placebo effect bullshit? Are "open-label" placebos just as effective as "closed-label" placebos? How do placebos differ from dummies? Is the placebo effect just a kind of scientific-sounding "woo"? How does social priming differ from word priming? Why is it important in research to have both placebo and no-treatment groups? What is the Hawthorne effect? What is the John Henry effect? When is it useful to express effect sizes using Cohen's d? If there's not a placebo effect, then what's really going on in cases where it seems like there is one? Is meditation a kind of placebo treatment for mental states? How can researchers believe that people's mental states are important and yet that the placebo effect doesn't exist? What is stress-induced analgesia? Does the nocebo effect (if it exists) provide reason to think that the placebo effect exists? Where do psychosomatic effects fit into this picture? What have animal studies found about the placebo effect?Literal Banana is literally a banana who became interested in human social science through trying to live among them. After escaping from a high-tech produce delivery start-up, she now lives among humans and attempts to understand them through their own sciences of themselves. Follow Literal Banana on Twitter at @literalbanana.Further reading"A Case Against the Placebo Effect", by Literal Banana"Placebo interventions for all clinical conditions", by Asbjørn Hróbjartsson and Peter Gøtzsche"Tears", by Kevin Simler StaffSpencer Greenberg — Host / DirectorJosh Castle — ProducerRyan Kessler — Audio EngineerUri Bram — FactotumWeAmplify — TranscriptionistsMusicBroke for FreeJosh WoodwardLee RosevereQuiet Music for Tiny Robotswowamusiczapsplat.comAffiliatesClearer ThinkingGuidedTrackMind EasePositlyUpLift[Read more]
Clearer Thinking is a podcast about ideas that truly matter. If you enjoy learning about powerful, practical concepts and frameworks, wish you had more deep, intellectual conversations in your life, or are looking for non-BS self-improvement, then we think you'll love this podcast! Each week we invite a brilliant guest to bring four important ideas to discuss for an in-depth conversation. Topics include psychology, society, behavior change, philosophy, science, artificial intelligence, math, economics, self-help, mental health, and technology. We focus on ideas that can be applied right now to make your life better or to help you better understand yourself and the world, aiming to teach you the best mental tools to enhance your learning, self-improvement efforts, and decision-making. • We take on important, thorny questions like: • What's the best way to help a friend or loved one going through a difficult time? How can we make our worldviews more accurate? How can we hone the accuracy of our thinking? What are the advantages of using our "gut" to make decisions? And when should we expect careful, analytical reflection to be more effective? Why do societies sometimes collapse? And what can we do to reduce the chance that ours collapses? Why is the world today so much worse than it could be? And what can we do to make it better? What are the good and bad parts of tradition? And are there more meaningful and ethical ways of carrying out important rituals, such as honoring the dead? How can we move beyond zero-sum, adversarial negotiations and create more positive-sum interactions?