The Psychology of Conspiracies, Mushroom Hot Pot Trip and the Longest Botany Experiment Ever

About this episode

This episode explores the psychology behind conspiracy theories, the peculiar effects of mushrooms in China, and a long-term botany experiment with seeds from the 1800s.

Conspiracy theorists hate uncertainty, a mushroom hot pot in China can apparently summon tiny imaginary people, a bunch of seeds have been sitting underground since the 1800s waiting for their moment and scientists are trying to quantify why words like boobs are funny. This week is a mixed bag of psychology, botany and childish humour, which is basically the entire scientific enterprise when you strip away the grant applications. We start with conspiracy thinking and why it is often less about facts and more about feelings. Research suggests people who lean hard into conspiracies can struggle with ambiguity and prefer simple explanations in a complicated world. Certainty feels good, chaos feels awful and conspiracy stories offer villains, motives and a neat ending. Even when the story is wrong. Then we head to Yunnan, China, where prized mushrooms can cause hallucinations if they are eaten too early, including reports of seeing tiny people. Researchers still have not nailed down the exact chemical responsible, and it may be a mix of biology, preparation and expectation. The takeaway is simple. If the locals tell you to cook the mushrooms properly, listen. We look at one of the…

People in this episode

Host: A Little Bit Of Science

Topics covered

• psychology
• conspiracy theories
• botany
• humor
• mushrooms
• science

Keywords

• conspiracy theories
• psychology
• mushrooms
• botany
• humor
• science
• hallucinations

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: mushroom hot pot

Places: Yunnan, China, China

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