The Death Of Nuance

In the first episode Oliver explores why our brains are primed for binary decisions, rather than nuanced thought. He finds out from Dr Kevin Dutton, author of Black and White Thinking, how natural selection has programmed us for lightning quick snap decisions and simplified categorisation of our world in order to survive. And he speaks to Professor Susan Neiman, author of Why Grow Up? About how difficult it can be to develop the skill of nuanced, critical thought, and how doing so may not just be an act of growing up, but as an act of resistance against a world designed to keep us infantilised, and our thinking simplistic.

Oliver Burkeman asks, are we losing our nuance?

The Death of Nuance: what's not black and white, but grey all over?

Oliver Burkeman has been concerned for a while that Nuance has been vanishing from public discourse. For a long time, he thought it was just other people's problem. But now he realises that even he himself is losing the nuance that was integral to his view of the world.

In the first episode Oliver explores why our brains are primed for binary decisions, rather than nuanced thought. He finds out from Dr Kevin Dutton, author of Black and White Thinking, how natural selection has programmed us for lightning quick snap decisions and simplified categorisation of our world in order to survive. And he speaks to Professor Susan Neiman, author of Why Grow Up? About how difficult it can be to develop the skill of nuanced, critical thought, and how doing so may not just be an act of growing up, but as an act of resistance against a world designed to keep us infantilised, and our thinking simplistic.

Oliver Burkeman asks, are we losing our nuance?

The Death of Nuance: what's not black and white, but grey all over?

Oliver Burkeman has been concerned for a while that Nuance has been vanishing from public discourse. For a long time, he thought it was just other people's problem. But now he realises that even he himself is losing the nuance that was integral to his view of the world.

In the first episode Oliver explores why our brains are primed for binary decisions, rather than nuanced thought. He finds out from Dr Kevin Dutton, author of Black and White Thinking, how natural selection has programmed us for lightning quick snap decisions and simplified categorisation of our world in order to survive. And he speaks to Professor Susan Neiman, author of Why Grow Up? About how difficult it can be to develop the skill of nuanced, critical thought, and how doing so may not just be an act of growing up, but as an act of resistance against a world designed to keep us infantilised, and our thinking simplistic.

Oliver Burkeman asks, are we losing our nuance?

The Death of Nuance: what's not black and white, but grey all over?

He dives into the world of ‘untranslatable words' with Tim Lomas, a psychologist who collects unscramble words from different cultures, and discovers how expanding our vocabulary could change not only our view of the world, but our understanding of our own minds. And he speaks with Professor Naomi S. Baron, a Linguist who has studied how our relationship with language has changed as so much of our communication has shifted from the printed page to digital, and how that simple change in media has negatively impacted the way we think and learn in ways we do not even perceive.

Oliver Burkman explores how the language we choose to use impacts how we think.

The Death of Nuance: what's not black and white, but grey all over?

Oliver Burkeman explores how language may actually limit our capacity for nuanced thought - depending on how we choose to use it.

He dives into the world of ‘untranslatable words' with Tim Lomas, a psychologist who collects unscramble words from different cultures, and discovers how expanding our vocabulary could change not only our view of the world, but our understanding of our own minds. And he speaks with Professor Naomi S. Baron, a Linguist who has studied how our relationship with language has changed as so much of our communication has shifted from the printed page to digital, and how that simple change in media has negatively impacted the way we think and learn in ways we do not even perceive.

Oliver Burkman explores how the language we choose to use impacts how we think.

The Death of Nuance: what's not black and white, but grey all over?

Oliver Burkeman explores how language may actually limit our capacity for nuanced thought - depending on how we choose to use it.

He dives into the world of ‘untranslatable words' with Tim Lomas, a psychologist who collects unscramble words from different cultures, and discovers how expanding our vocabulary could change not only our view of the world, but our understanding of our own minds. And he speaks with Professor Naomi S. Baron, a Linguist who has studied how our relationship with language has changed as so much of our communication has shifted from the printed page to digital, and how that simple change in media has negatively impacted the way we think and learn in ways we do not even perceive.

Oliver Burkman explores how the language we choose to use impacts how we think.

The Death of Nuance: what's not black and white, but grey all over?

He speaks with Damon Linker, a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com, and an outspoken moderate in the USA about why his columns generate so much ire on both sides of the isle, but curiously enough moreso with the people he generally sides with. And why moderation is not apathetic, but deeply passionate, and often a very mentally taxing way of life.

And he discovers a potential way to give people a method to open their minds to ideas from another side, with Daniel Ravner, and Israeli writer and creator of The Perspective, a website that show news stories from both sides, in an attempt to open minds and shatter filter bubbles that have such a profound effect on modern society.

Oliver Burkeman explores what it means to be a moderate in a world lacking nuance.

The Death of Nuance: what's not black and white, but grey all over?

Oliver Burkeman explores what it means to be a moderate, in an age when proclaiming to be a moderate is likely to annoy people on both sides of the political divide.

He speaks with Damon Linker, a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com, and an outspoken moderate in the USA about why his columns generate so much ire on both sides of the isle, but curiously enough moreso with the people he generally sides with. And why moderation is not apathetic, but deeply passionate, and often a very mentally taxing way of life.

And he discovers a potential way to give people a method to open their minds to ideas from another side, with Daniel Ravner, and Israeli writer and creator of The Perspective, a website that show news stories from both sides, in an attempt to open minds and shatter filter bubbles that have such a profound effect on modern society.

Oliver Burkeman explores what it means to be a moderate in a world lacking nuance.

The Death of Nuance: what's not black and white, but grey all over?

Oliver Burkeman explores what it means to be a moderate, in an age when proclaiming to be a moderate is likely to annoy people on both sides of the political divide.

He speaks with Damon Linker, a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com, and an outspoken moderate in the USA about why his columns generate so much ire on both sides of the isle, but curiously enough moreso with the people he generally sides with. And why moderation is not apathetic, but deeply passionate, and often a very mentally taxing way of life.

And he discovers a potential way to give people a method to open their minds to ideas from another side, with Daniel Ravner, and Israeli writer and creator of The Perspective, a website that show news stories from both sides, in an attempt to open minds and shatter filter bubbles that have such a profound effect on modern society.

Oliver Burkeman explores what it means to be a moderate in a world lacking nuance.

The Death of Nuance: what's not black and white, but grey all over?

In this episode Oliver talks with Robert Talisse, about his research into how society has become so polarized along the political divide that he could tell at a glance which political view you ascribe to by the coffee you drink, the car you choose buy, or where you would choose to relax on a day off, and how our innocent desire to make a pleasant little slice of the world for ourselves to live in is leading to an ever more fractured society.

And Oliver hears from two friends, Guardian journalist Poppy Noor, and her friend Ronan Walsh, who are best friends despite having very different political views, despite the modern polarized world pressuring them to split apart.

Oliver Burkeman explores how society has become increasingly polorized.

The Death of Nuance: what's not black and white, but grey all over?

Oliver Burkeman has noticed that even if wants to have a conversation with someone who disagrees with him, it's harder and harder to find them.

In this episode Oliver talks with Robert Talisse, about his research into how society has become so polarized along the political divide that he could tell at a glance which political view you ascribe to by the coffee you drink, the car you choose buy, or where you would choose to relax on a day off, and how our innocent desire to make a pleasant little slice of the world for ourselves to live in is leading to an ever more fractured society.

And Oliver hears from two friends, Guardian journalist Poppy Noor, and her friend Ronan Walsh, who are best friends despite having very different political views, despite the modern polarized world pressuring them to split apart.

Oliver Burkeman explores how society has become increasingly polorized.

The Death of Nuance: what's not black and white, but grey all over?

Oliver Burkeman has noticed that even if wants to have a conversation with someone who disagrees with him, it's harder and harder to find them.

In this episode Oliver talks with Robert Talisse, about his research into how society has become so polarized along the political divide that he could tell at a glance which political view you ascribe to by the coffee you drink, the car you choose buy, or where you would choose to relax on a day off, and how our innocent desire to make a pleasant little slice of the world for ourselves to live in is leading to an ever more fractured society.

And Oliver hears from two friends, Guardian journalist Poppy Noor, and her friend Ronan Walsh, who are best friends despite having very different political views, despite the modern polarized world pressuring them to split apart.

Oliver Burkeman explores how society has become increasingly polorized.

The Death of Nuance: what's not black and white, but grey all over?

He speaks to Naomi Baron about how we can use language to know ourselves better, and so protect ourselves against forces that would simplify our views of the world.

And he continues his conversation with Susan Nieman, about the need to break away from simple views of the world, in order to face the horrors humans can do to one another, rather than dismissing them.

And he sits down with Richard Holloway, writer and former Bishop of Edinburgh, to find out about how groups of people can evolve their thinking as the world changes, and discovers that even Jesus teaches to break away from beliefs that make us hostile to fellow human beings, even if that means breaking from codes laid down by God.

Oliver Burkeman asks how we can recover our nuance.

The Death of Nuance: what's not black and white, but grey all over?