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Think Again Podcast #61 – Alison Gopnik – Artificial Intelligence/Natural Stupidity

Spontaneous, deep talk on surprise topics. On this week’s episode of Think Again – a Big Think podcast, Alison Gopnik, one of the world’s foremost experts on child cognition, learning, and development, and host Jason Gots discuss play, artificial intelligence, and the trouble with “parenting” as a verb.   
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In this episode: 

Alison Gopnik is an internationally recognized expert in children’s learning and development. A professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at UC Berkeley, and the author of many books including the The Philosophical Baby. Her new book The Gardener and the Carpenter is a response to the fact that “parenting” has become a verb, a powerful middle class trend, a lucrative self-help industry, and sometimes a kind of bloodsport. Meanwhile developmental science paints a very different picture of how children grow and learn, and what it means to be a good parent. As Gopnik puts it, “It’s easy to say ‘just chill,’ but the advice is, basically, just chill!”  

On this week’s episode of Think Again–a Big Think Podcast, Alison Gopnik and host Jason Gots discuss play, artificial intelligence, and the trouble with “parenting” as a verb. 

Surprise “conversation starter” interview clips in this episode:Ryan Holiday, Steven Pinker, and Sonia Arrison


About Think Again – A Big Think Podcast: You’ve got 10 minutes with Einstein. What do you talk about? Black holes? Time travel? Why not gambling? The Art of War? Contemporary parenting? Some of the best conversations happen when we’re pushed outside of our comfort zones. Each week on Think Again, we surprise smart people you may have heard of with short clips from Big Think’s interview archives on every imaginable subject. These conversations could, and do, go anywhere.

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The most counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

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