Bruce Hood: Why Do We Believe the Unbelievable?

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Bruce Hood speaks about the concept of ‘essentialism’ which he demonstrates by offering £50 to an audience member that was willing to wear a second-hand cardigan that he brought on stage. A vast number of people raised their hand, not thinking much of it. But when Hood revealed that the cardigan belonged to infamous serial killer Fred West, that number diminished.

Bruce Hood is an academic, writer and presenter whose work is focused on cognitive development. He earned his Ph.D. from Cambridge University, has worked at MIT and Harvard and is currently chair of developmental psychology in society at the University of Bristol. His research interests include the cognitive processes behind adult magical thinking and is the author of three popular science books: SuperSense, The Self Illusion and The Domesticated Brain.

Bruce has been awarded the Alfred Sloan Fellowship in neuroscience, the Young Investigator Award from the International Society of Infancy Researchers, the Robert Fantz memorial award and is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. He is also a Fellow of the Society of Biology (UK) and the Royal Institution of Great Britain. He has made numerous radio and TV appearances on shows like Radio Four’s Infinite Monkey Cage and BBCs The One Show and Science Club.

[Video and text source: TEDx Talks YouTube channel]