How to Learn Folk Secrets, With Seth Stevens-Davidovich
We live in a time of secrets. Whether it’s a health care bill, Russia’s secret connection to our recent elections, or the lies we all tell, secrets haunt us all. In this issue of The Upgrade, Seth Stevens-Davidowitz, author of Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are , explains what the Internet can tell us about prejudice. fears and fetishes that we hide. We also speak with our Lifehacker contributors about the Reddit thread where Reddit members have shared secrets that, if revealed, could ruin people’s lives . Psychiatrist Eileen Wachter visits the studio to discuss the psychological effects of keeping secrets. And our producer takes to the streets to find out what secrets we keep for other people.
Listen to The Upgrade above, or find us in all the usual podcast locations including Apple Podcasts , Google Play , Spotify , iHeartRadio , Stitcher, and NPR One . Subscribe, rate and review!
We’ve covered quite a bit of territory in this episode, including (but not limited to):
- A Reddit secret that’s almost disgusting to talk about
- Motivation to confess your secrets to strangers
- How people tell Google what they wouldn’t otherwise have revealed
- Why do people lie in polls
- What Pornhub Data Can Tell Us About Our Sexuality
- The mismatch between what is taught in sexuality education and what worries young people.
- When we first learn to keep secrets
- Psychological (and physiological) effects of keeping secrets
- When to reveal a secret and when to keep it to yourself
- Secrets We Keep From Ourselves
Our weekly updates
Every week we want to tell you about the improvements we have made to our lives. This week we talked about facial expressions, interacting with people in public, and how important laughter is, too.
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