Harvesting Happiness is proud to partner with the researchers and scholars at the Mental Immunity Project (MIP) and Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative (CIRCE).

Listen to two separate 9-part Harvesting Happiness podcast productions that explore the emerging science of cognitive immunology. Both unique series examine how and why disinformation, conspiracy theories, and media propaganda are used to undermine critical thinking and common sense. This impacts how we think and behave as well as our collective well-being.

This episode is #6 of 9 on our flagship podcast. Find nine More Mental Fitness by Harvesting Happiness bonus sessions available exclusively on Substack and Medium.

The reliability of the information we ingest is paramount in today’s world of misinformation. Because once we decide that we believe something our minds become much less malleable when it comes to adopting a new belief. To learn how information literacy and power-thinking can be taught, Harvesting Happiness Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with the Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College, and Education Director for the Mental Immunity Project and CIRCE, Melanie Trecek-King. Melanie shares classroom examples of the scenarios she poses to her students and the common thinking errors most humans make.

Melanie Trecek-King — Power-Thinking:

• Examples from Melanie’s college courses about how easily the human mind can be influenced. {2:46}
• The role social identity plays in our beliefs. {10:17}
• When humans are triggered they lose the capacity for critical thinking. {13:15}
• Melanie explains confirmation bias, overconfidence, and other common thinking errors many humans make. {19:58}
• How to rediscover objectivity when we have a strongly held belief. {25:47}
• Why evidence is the best reason to change our minds, even if it changes. {29:16}

About Lisa’s guest:

Melanie Trecek-King is currently an Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College, where she teaches a general-education science course designed to equip students with empowering critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. An active speaker and consultant, Trecek-King loves to share her “teach skills, not facts” approach with other science educators and help organizations meet their goals through better thinking. Trecek-King is also the Education Director for the Mental Immunity Project and CIRCE (Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative), which aim to advance and apply the science of mental immunity to inoculate minds against misinformation.

“If you are convinced you are right, the data doesn’t matter.” - Lisa Cypers Kamen 

This episode is #6 of 9 on our flagship podcast. Find nine More Mental Fitness by Harvesting Happiness bonus sessions available exclusively on Substack and Medium.

For more inspiration visit www.harvestinghappiness.com!