Why We Do What We Do

Why We Do What We Do

We explain popular and weird, little-known ideas in psychology. Whether you are a little curious about psychology, or a student, or even a professional, we have something for everyone. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-we-do-what-we-do--3419521/support.

Episodes

Diagnoses: More Harm Than Good? With Dr. Stu Law pt. 3

September 9, 2026 • 44 mins
This is the final discussion in which we "break our silence" as the click-bait headlines like to call it, on our final thoughts about diagnoses and why we believe that they have caused more harm than good. Due to the nature of separating an entire discussion into two parts after the fact, this episode jumps into the discussion pretty quickly. 

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Mini: Life Expectancy

September 7, 2026 • 13 mins
How we understand, talk about, and think about life expectancy is sometimes misunderstood by some flukes of math. Understanding how numbers work can illuminate a clearer picture of history and mortality. Long story short, (or short story shorter, this is a mini afterall), there have been old people who lived to be old (very old) for most or all of human history. 

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Diagnoses: More Harm Than Good? With Dr. Stu Law pt. 2

September 2, 2026 • 58 mins
This continues our discussion with Dr. Stu Law. We further elaborate on the issues with a diagnostic system for mental health and what the pitfalls are, including faulty underlying assumptions. After recording, we had enough content in this discussion for two separate episodes. So, we awkwardly added a post-hoc conclusion in this discussion and a similar intro to the next episode. 

Recommendations Part 2
  • Abraham:...
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Mini: Talking With Myself

August 31, 2026 • 13 mins
You've probably noticed people talking to themselves and had some thought or comment about that. Perhaps something along the lines of: "That person might be crazy." Well, turns out it is much more normal than you might think. What do you talk to yourself about?

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Links and References: 
  1. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/talking-to-yourself
  2. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
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Diagnoses: More Harm Than Good? With Dr. Stu Law pt. 1

August 26, 2026 • 71 mins
Diagnosing mental health has dramatically shaped how we think about and appraoch our thinking and treatment of mental health conditions. In some ways, this effect has had a profoundly helpful impact for many people. However, in many ways, this system has had a profoundly adverse impact. This episode kicks of a three-part series arguing that diagnoses for mental health have ultimately caused more harm than good. Dr. Stu Law is a spe...
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Mini: No Homework

August 24, 2026 • 15 mins
There have been some advocates to reduce or eliminate homework altogether. It begs the question of what is the purpose of homework anyway? What would we lose by eliminating it? What do we gain by keeping it. We briefly explore the science and recommendations with respect to what is gained or lost by requiring homework. What are your thoughts?

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Functional Analysis pt. 4

August 19, 2026 • 67 mins
In the fourth and final installment of our series on Functional Analyses, we finally discuss some of the controversies and disagreements among practitioners. We also offer our own hot takes and personal opinions to bring further nuance, critique, and skepticism to the conversation. Let us know if you agree or disagree!

Recommendations pt. 4
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Mini: The Weirdest Thing We Believe

August 17, 2026 • 14 mins
In a totally unscripted, candid conversation, we ask one another: what is the weirdest thing you believe? It's a conversation bound to leave you a little surprised, confused, and maybe disappointed. Or maybe thinking about things a little differntly. What's the weirdest thing you believe?

We did not use any references for this!

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Functional Analysis pt. 3

August 12, 2026 • 53 mins
This is the third installment in what will turn out to be a four-part series on the functional anlaysis technology employed by behavior analysts to identify casues and motivations for challenging behavior, particularly among those with disabilities who lack strategies to communicate their needs. That was a very long sentence. This discussion breaks down some of the innovations that were developed in Functional Analysis (FA) impleme...
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Midlife Crisis

August 10, 2026 • 15 mins
Are you already skeptical? Do you think you know? Are you a true believer? We take a scientific lens to the idea of the midlife crisis. Consider that this might be cultural, which would indicate that it is not inevitable or inherent. This further leads us to the conclusion that it is circumstantial... if it even exists at all. We'll explain the research and understanding behind the commonly accepted idea that many people experience...
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Functional Analysis pt. 2

August 5, 2026 • 58 mins
In our ongoing discussion about the tool used to determine why we do what we do, the functional analysis, we explore more about the various research initiatives that pioneered ways to improve on the functionality of this tool. This discussion focuses on the methodological developments and refinements that evolved over a couple of decades of research. 

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  • Abraham: Tzolk’in (board game; https://www.c...
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Mini: One Hit Wonders

August 3, 2026 • 14 mins
What are one-hit wonders? Why do one-hit wonders happen? Is this a real thing? What about no-hit wonders? We'll get into some of the reasons and misconceptions around one-hit wonders and answer some of those questions in this mini. What's your favoriate one-hit wonder?

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Links and References: 
  1. https://rocknheavy.net/the-history-of-the-one-hit-wonder-a126b2f86dc2


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Functional Analysis pt. 1

July 29, 2026 • 58 mins
Experimental Functional Analyses (FAs) are one of the most foundational practices in contemporary behavior analysis. It emerged as a more conceptual exercise, but has since come to specifically describe a practice for experimentally evaluating the conditions that give rise to and maintain the occurence of certaing (usually challenging) behavior patterns. Over the next few weeks, we'll unpack the history and science of FAs as well a...
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Mini: Animal Chiropractic

July 27, 2026 • 13 mins
We did a full episode on chiropractic, but we didn't get into the application for animals. Given the questionable nature of chiropractic in the first place, applying to animals seems pretty audacious. Enough so that we thought we could unpack it fairly comprehensively in a mini format. And we did. Enjoy!

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Links and References: 
  1. https://skeptvet.com/2013/04/from-science-based-medicine-...
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Birding!

July 22, 2026 • 50 mins
Tens of millions of people in the United States and likely hundreds of millions around the world have a shared interest in our avian friends. Birding is a hobby ranging from casual observation to expert documenting rare and common birds out in the wild. We'll describe how the hobby works, why people do, and how to get involved. Tell us your birding stories!

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Mini: What is the Point of Science?

July 20, 2026 • 12 mins
It seems like an obvious answer to a silly question. But try to answer it and you find it can kind of spiral into more difficult conundrums. This doesn't mean that we don't value science. On the contrary, it may mean that it means science is a value unto itself and hence elusive in its aspirational origins. We'll review some old philospohical arguments and make some of our own. What do you think the point of science is?

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Nostalgia: Altruism

July 15, 2026 • 67 mins
An all truism about altruism. We are reflecting on this earlier episode with a more nuanced view than the first time around. When it comes to matters of philosophy, definitions are important (and, some might argue, not important at all). So, we are replaying this past episode and adding a bit of an updated discussion at the end, plus some new recommendations. Tell us what you think about altruism!

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  • Abra...
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Mini: How Many Senses Do We Have?

July 13, 2026 • 14 mins
How many senses do we have? Like so many things, it depends entirely on how you define "senses." If the question is how many distinct things can we sense? Then, we have a number of sense so large it doesn't make any sense (pun intended). But, we'll get into some of the senses that can be reasonably argued to exist to paint a picture of how many potentially overlooked "senses" we might have.

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American Sign Language pt. 2

July 8, 2026 • 51 mins
In this discussion, we get into the grammar and structure of ASL. We also talk about non-manual markers and their importance in communication for ASL speakers. We describe how to do several signs and get into a functional analysis of sign language. Of course, we get into some various interesting tidbits (tidboints, as we sometimes like to call them) and some things to know about deaf culture. 

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Mini: Iran Deal pt. 2

July 6, 2026 • 16 mins
In our strange decision to record a two-part mini, we are following up last week's mini with more information about the recent Iran "deal." Of course, we recorded this well before the cease-fire broke again. And who knows what will happen between scheduling this episode and its publication. Check out this discussion for the discussion around the contents of the actual recent agreement and how incredibly incompetent it is. 
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