Unlocking Behaviour Change

How do democracies work? Can there ever be a perfect voting system? What is the difference between desire and willingness? Deep dive with Robert and Jamie into the often murky and fraught world of democratic decision-making.   Want more? Check out our latest books:   Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y  React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9   Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/   Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

In this episode Robert gets it the wrong way round, citing the Cuban Missile Crisis as an example of how groupthink brought the West to the brink of nuclear war when in fact it was previous decisions such as authorising the failed invasion of Cuba that had exhibited groupthink and President Kennedy learned the lessons from this and set up decision-making processes that addressed this particular bias. For more info see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352178533_Rethinking_Group_Dynamics_The_Cuban_Missile_Crisis_Revisited Anyway ...   Want more? Check out our latest books:   Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y  React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9   Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/   Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Crucial decisions that affect our lives are made in 'groups', which technically can range from two or more people, as in the flight crew of a commercial jet, to the voting population of a country. This episode begins to examine how group decisions are made. Robert and Jamie analyse the ebb and flow of discussions and the art of skilful chairing.  Want more? Check out our latest books:   Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y  React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9   Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/   Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange

Robert was fed up with asking for a flat white and getting heaven knows what, so with the help of his AI friend, Claude, he created an 'ontology' of milk-containing coffee drinks! Claude and Robert got carried away and ended up writing a Substack article about the power of ontologies as a way of clarifying meaning - something that is sorely needed in behavioural and social sciences. https://robertwest100.substack.com/p/a-flat-white-by-any-other-name This episode of the Unlocking Behaviour Change podcast may seem a bit technical at first but we hope it gives listeners a glimpse into what can be achieved when we use ontologies as a way for humans and computers to share knowledge and understanding - to take HI (human intelligence) and AI to the next level. Robert mentions a few links in the podcast, so here they are: The Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology (BCIO): https://www.bciontology.org/ This has lots of resources and tools to help you understand ontologies and their uses. The Smoking Cessation Intervention Prediction Tool: https://www.humanbehaviourchange.org/prediction This demonstrates what can be achieved when we use ontologies to capture features of studies evaluating behaviour change interventions, their target population and settings, and use machine learning to predict outcomes in never-before-seen interventions. Want more? Check out our latest books:   Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y  React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9   Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/   Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange    

Robert argues that we should assume people pretty much always believe things because we want or need to believe them. Some of us value evidence and truth and so want to believe things based on evidence, but clearly that is only one source of desire. So when we hear someone espousing a belief, it is worth asking 'Why does this person want or need to believe this?' And then Robert and Jamie discuss the potential adaptive advantages of unjustified beliefs ... Want more? Check out our latest books:   Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y  React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9   Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/   Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange