YANSS 303 – What we can learn about perception, priors, and truth itself from the party dress that sparked a global debate over the nature of reality

In this episode we return to The Dress and the psychological lessons offered by one of the most viral moments in the history of the internet via an episode of Decoder Ring in which David McRaney shares some insights from his book, How Minds Change, with Willa Paskin.


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OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE EPISODE FROM SLATE:

In the history of viral images, #TheDress has got to be in the top 10. This unassuming photo of a party dress kicked off a global debate when people realized they were seeing it completely differently. Is it black and blue, or white and gold? In today’s episode, we’ll talk to someone who was there when the photo was first taken, and the BuzzFeed writer whose post briefly broke the internet. Then we go down the optical rabbit hole with a neuroscientist who’s been studying the The Dress for years. What does it reveal about the nature of truth?

This podcast was written by Willa Paskin, who produces Decoder Ring with Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Andrew Adam Newman.  Derek John is Slate’s senior supervising producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is senior technical director.

We’ll hear from Paul JinksCates HoldernessPascal Wallisch, and David McRaney author of the book How Minds Change. Here’s the optical illusion of the strawberries mentioned in the episode and created by Professor Akiyoshi Kitaoka.


Links and Sources

Apple Podcasts – RSS – Simplecast – Amazon Music – Audible – Spotify – Patreon

Decoder Ring

Decoder Ring’s The Dress Page

Willa Paskin’s Twitter

CBC Interview with Willa Paskin

Kitted

How Minds Change

David McRaney’s Twitter

YANSS Twitter

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