Ep146 "Who Counts as Human in Your Mind?" with Lasana Harris
From Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman by iHeartPodcasts
March 23, 2026 · 1h 8m · Episode 146
About this episode
The episode explores the concept of dehumanization and how it affects our perception of others, featuring insights from social neuroscientist Lasana Harris.
When do you view another person like an object? This is what neuroscientists mean when they talk about de-humanization: your brain doesn't crank up its social circuitry to understand the other person as having a mind like you do. Is dehumanization a cause of violence, or the fuel that keeps it burning? Do people who view themselves as highly empathetic dehumanize more than others? And on the flip side, why do we sometimes think chatbots or robots are people with interior minds? Will kids raised with AI grow up to fight for AI rights? Today we dive deep into how your brain sees others with social neuroscientist Lasana Harris.
People in this episode
Host: David Eagleman
Guest: Lasana Harris
Topics covered
- dehumanization
- empathy
- social neuroscience
- AI rights
- human perception
- violence
Keywords
- dehumanization
- empathy
- social circuitry
- violence
- AI
- robots
- chatbots
- human rights
More episodes of Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman
- Ep157 "Where Did the Letter "A" Come From?" with Danny Bate · June 8, 2026 · 54 min
- Ep156 What Do We Learn About AI by Dancing with Robots? with Catie Cuan · June 1, 2026 · 1h 12m
- Ep155 "Why Can’t Some People Stop Thinking Certain Thoughts?" with Jon Hershfield · May 25, 2026 · 1h 2m
- Ep154 "Can a Depressed Brain Find Its Way Out?" with Jon Nelson · May 18, 2026 · 1h 31m
- Ep153 Can You Unlearn Anxiety? with Judson Brewer · May 11, 2026 · 59 min
- Ep152 "How do you survive your own thoughts?" with Jewel · May 4, 2026 · 1h 6m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman podcast page.