Cognitive Engineering

Do not listen to this podcast. When is it permissible to ignore the voice of authority? Image: Danny Lawson via PA Images Things mentioned in this podcast: - Whaley Bridge residents who refuse to move https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-49210937 For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:219479129/sounds.rss

They're persistent, irritating and difficult to ignore. Yes, Frazer, Nick and Peter discuss midges. Image: CSIRO via Wikipedia Things mentioned in this podcast: - Midge facts https://www.lifesystems.co.uk/news/45-facts-about-the-highland-midge and https://www.highlandtitles.com/blog/midges/ - Parasite strategies https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsif.2013.1108 - How successful is terrorism? https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5fa3/f5d6d2ff50c200e759eba39509d179b0e33c.pdf For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:219479129/sounds.rss

Would it be wrong to take a set of instructional schematics to the barber? We discuss when vague requirements work, and importantly when they don't. Image: J Pitts via Wikipedia Things mentioned in this podcast: - Goodhart’s Law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:219479129/sounds.rss

While Aleph Insights is on a summer break from recording podcasts, here's an episode from our archive. Why do some films age better than others? Image: www.starwars.com/news/the-5-most-…s-visual-effects

While Aleph Insights is on a summer break from recording podcasts, here's an episode from our archive. What does tastiness tell us about fruit choice? Could we engineer the perfect fruit? Or are we just comparing apples and oranges? Image: Malte Sörensen via Flickr

While Aleph Insights is on a summer break from recording podcasts, here's an episode from our archive. Are personality tests any use? What can they tell us if anything? Or is it like a star-sign? Take the test! www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test Image: Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers. Courtesy of Katharine Myers via Wikipedia.

Is it meaningful to assign personalities to the decades? Image: Ezekiel via Wikipedia Things mentioned in this podcast: - The thirty-year nostalgia cycle https://thepatterning.com/2017/02/13/the-nostalgia-pendulum-a-rolling-30-year-cycle-of-pop-culture-trends/ - When did the sixties really begin? https://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/02/06/when-did-sixties-really-begin-heres-why-it-matters - Did the nineties ever end? http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150205-the-1990s-never-ended - Life satisfaction over time https://ourworldindata.org/happiness-and-life-satisfaction For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:219479129/sounds.rss

GAME OF THRONES - SPOILER ALERT Was the ending contrived? Were you satisfied by the way it ended? What makes a good ending? Image: BagoGames via Flickr Things mentioned in this podcast: - ‘Creative Writing Now’ on endings https://www.creative-writing-now.com/story-endings.html - NYT article: closers and clinchers https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/anatomy-endings - Unconventional ending tropes https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoEnding - An IMDB poll of the ‘most iconic endings’ https://www.imdb.com/poll/b_LNZt0XG40/ For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:219479129/sounds.rss

Why did Jamie's Italian fail? What goes wrong when businesses try to scale. Image: Scandic Hotels via Wikicommons Things mentioned in this podcast: - Problems in the casual dining sector https://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/opinion/why-are-uk-restaurant-chains-going-out-of-business/ - The largest restaurant chains https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_fast_food_restaurant_chains For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:219479129/sounds.rss

How can we avoid the end of the world through nuclear and other cataclysmic accidents? Could Chernobyl happen again? How can we design our systems and train our people to prevent accidents? We discuss with our guest Tom Plant. Image: Kamil Porembiński via Flickr Things mentioned in this podcast: - World nuclear industry status report https://www.worldnuclearreport.org/IMG/pdf/20180902wnisr2018-hr.pdf - Timeline of nuclear accidents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_and_radiation_accidents_and_incidents - NYT article comparing nuclear with coal https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/nuclear-power-is-safest-way-to-make-electricity-according-to-2007-study/2011/03/22/AFQUbyQC_story.html?utm_term=.1cf223d52f55 - Long-run fatalities according to HSE http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatals.htm For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:219479129/sounds.

Grumpy Cat dies aged seven: 'Some days are grumpier than others'. A loss the meme world. Memes, what are they? Do they have some property that makes them reproduce more effectively than other ideas. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Things mentioned in this podcast: - Guardian obituary https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/may/17/grumpy-cat-dies-seven-internet-meme-gif - The Independent’s ‘Top Ten Memes of All Time’ https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/top-ten-memes-of-all-time-ever-most-popular-kermit-gangnam-style-a7707336.html - Know Your Meme https://knowyourmeme.com/ - A Unified Theory of Meme Death https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/12/a-unified-theory-of-meme-death/546866/ - Dancing Spiderman (not Ze Frank) https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dancing-spider-man - Ze Frank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ze_Frank - The 'E Meme' https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lord-farquaad-markiplier-e For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get you

The Perfect Chalk Chalk has been used by humans as a communication tool for thousands of years. Are some technologies too good to be replaced? Image: contri via Flickr Things mentioned in this podcast: - 2015 article expounding the virtue of Hagoromo chalk (https://gizmodo.com/why-mathematicians-are-hoarding-this-special-type-of-ja-1711008881) For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:219479129/sounds.rss

Does listening to The Grateful Dead make you yearn to meet your maker, or do you acknowledge the seminality of their music? Is the term ‘influential’ overused nowadays? Image: Warner Bros. Records via Wikimedia Things mentioned in this podcast - Article analysing influence in pop music https://qz.com/quartzy/1133090/the-most-influential-pop-music-artists-of-all-time-according-to-social-network-analysis/ - Stanford School of Business on social media influencers https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/are-influencers-overrated - Article analysing survey data about why people follow influencers http://www.olapic.com/resources/consumers-follow-listen-trust-influencers_article/ - Federal Trade Commission reminding ‘influencers’ to disclose sponsorship https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2017/04/ftc-staff-reminds-influencers-brands-clearly-disclose For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: fe

Crystal Palace goalkeeper, Wayne Hennessey, provides an unintentional insight into the links between ignorance and stupidity. Image: Wayne Hennessey by Steindy via Wikimedia Things mentioned in this podcast: -Wayne Hennessey’s Nazi salute https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47946382 -Seymour (1929), A Study of the Relation between Knowledge, Intelligence, and Character (https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3088&context=theses) -Furnham and Chamorro-Premuzic (2006), Personality, Intelligence and General Knowledge (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1041608005000385) -Furnham et al (2010), Typical Intellectual Engagement, Big Five Personality Traits, Approaches to Learning and Cognitive Ability Predictors of Academic Performance (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1348/978185409X412147) -Psychology Today, Why Criminals are Less Intelligent than Non-Criminals (https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201006/why-criminals-are-less-int

Some things seem difficult to purchase in the right quantities. Why do we always end up with too much celery in our fridge? Image: Peter Griffin via publicdomainpictures.net Things mentioned in this podcast: WRAP report on food and drink waste http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Household_food_and_drink_waste_in_the_UK_-_report.pdf For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:219479129/sounds.rss

Following Gavin Williamson’s sacking from Theresa May’s cabinet, we discuss the indicators of whether or not someone is telling the truth. Image: Gavin Williamson. By UK Parliament via Wikipedia Things mentioned in this podcast - Rogers et al (2017), Artful Paltering (https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-59847-001) - Serota et al (2010), The Prevalence of Lying in America (https://msu.edu/~levinet/Serota_etal2010.pdf) - Hall et al (2010), Strategic Misrepresentation in Online Dating (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0265407509349633) - DePaulo (2004), The Many Faces of Lies (https://smg.media.mit.edu/library/DePaulo.ManyFacesOfLies.pdf) - Jerrim et al (2019), Bullshitters: Who Are They and What Do We Know about Their Lives? (http://ftp.iza.org/dp12282.pdf) - Wiseman et al (2012), The Eyes Don’t Have It (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0040259) - Mann et al (2012), Windows to the Soul? (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257592987_Windows_to_the_Soul_Deli

David Cameron famously promised ‘stability and strong Government’ if he won the 2015 general election. How can we minimise our chances of our statements being undermined by subsequent events? Image: Great Temple at Abu Simbel by youssef_alam via Wikipedia Things mentioned in this podcast: -David Cameron’s famous tweet: https://twitter.com/david_cameron/status/595112367358406656?lang=en -Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias -Irony: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:219479129/sounds.rss

As London’s black cabs move inexorably towards extinction, we ponder whether the progress of civilisation is merely illusory. Image: JamesGardinerCollection via Flickr Things mentioned in this podcast -‘Meditations on Moloch’ from Slate Star Codex: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ -The Tragedy of the Commons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons -Ronald Coast, ‘The Problem of Social Cost’: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/466560 For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:219479129/sounds.rss

David Simoes-Brown, CEO of 100%Open, tells us why we should trust our feelings when it comes to important decisions. Image: The Anger of Achilles, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo via Wikipedia Things mentioned in this podcast - David Simoes-Brown, CEO of 100%Open: http://www.100open.com/person/david-simoes-brown/ - Categorising basic emotions: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/hide-and-seek/201601/what-are-basic-emotions For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:219479129/sounds.rss

When do you grow up? Is there a cut off age to childhood or are we constantly growing up? Image: rawpixel.com Things mentioned in this podcast Commons’s Model of Hierarchical Complexity: https://www.dareassociation.org/documents/GWOF_A_330277%20Introduction.pdf The Seven Ages of Man: https://jrbenjamin.com/2013/06/04/seven-ages-of-man/ David Finkelhore: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Finkelhor For more Cognitive Engineering episodes find us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts, or add this RSS feed to your preferred player: feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:219479129/sounds.rss