You're Wrong All the Time, But All You Need Are Better Explanations

You're Wrong All the Time, But All You Need Are Better Explanations

From Developer Tea by Jonathan Cutrell

May 6, 2026 · 26 min · Episode 1297

About this episode

The episode discusses the importance of updating beliefs in light of new evidence, using the replication crisis surrounding Kahneman's work as a backdrop.

What happens when you discover that a book that fundamentally changed how you think is built on a shaky foundation? In today's episode, I share my own struggle with the replication crisis surrounding Daniel Kahneman's *Thinking Fast and Slow*, and I use it as a springboard to talk about a much bigger skill: knowing how to update your beliefs when reality shifts underneath you. This isn't about throwing out science or losing trust in your heroes. It's about developing the muscle to replace old explanations with better ones — a skill that has never been more important for software engineers.

People in this episode

Host: Jonathan Cutrell

Topics covered

  • belief updating
  • replication crisis
  • science
  • software engineering
  • critical thinking

Keywords

  • beliefs
  • science
  • software engineers
  • critical thinking
  • replication crisis
  • Kahneman

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Thinking Fast and Slow

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