Bystander Effect, with Gerdien de Vries Artwork

Your Brain On Climate

Psychology vs climate change: what we think, why we think it, and how it all adds up to a planet-sized emergency. Each episode host Dave Powell interviews experts in how our brains work - from PhDs in psychology to writers, activists and beyond. They'll talk about how their brains and our brains do (and don't) work, and how all of that might help make sense of the climate crisis - and possibly what to do about it.

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Your Brain On Climate

Bystander Effect, with Gerdien de Vries

March 18, 2023 • Episode 16

Yes you probably WOULD walk by on the other side, wouldn't you, and don't say you wouldn't, because you would. Alas, a trio of brain wirings add up to the so-called Bystander Effect: our tendency to stand in a crowd of people watching someone flail in a canal, hoping it's not us that has to get our frock wet to jump in and save them.

In this episode Dave learns all about the Bystander Effect with Dr Gerdien de Vries from TU Delft. What is it? Why is it? And can working out what'll make us jump in the canal, make us more likely not to stand by and watch the world burn?

Check out Gerdien's excellent climate psychology talk here.

Owl noises:
-- 05:47: the sad story of Kitty Genovese and why as Gerdien says, it's not entirely right.
-- 09:59: you really should know what cognitive dissonance is by now, but if not here's a primer from the always excellent folks at the Decision Lab.

Your Brain on Climate is a podcast about human psychology vs the climate crisis: what we think, why we think it, and how it all adds up to a planet-sized emergency. Contact the show: @brainclimate on Twitter, or hello@yourbrainonclimate.com.

Support the show on Patreon: www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.

The show is hosted by me, Dave Powell, who you can find @powellds on Twitter. Original music by me, and I twiddle all the production knobs too.

Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.