The BEST episodes of Mind Field season 3
Every episode of Mind Field season 3, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Mind Field season 3!
In Mind Field, host Michael Stevens brings his passion for science to his most ambitious subject yet: something we still know very little about, human behavior. Using real subjects (including guest stars and Michael himself) Mind Field reveals some of the most mind-blowing, significant, and least-understood aspects of the human psyche. Through expert interviews, rare footage from historical experiments, and brand-new, ground-breaking demonstrations of human nature at work, Mind Field explores the surprising things we know (and don’t know) about why people are the way they are.
#1 - The Stilwell Brain
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/12/2018
There are 100 billion individual neurons in the human brain. Working together, they allow us to make sense of, and move through, the world around us. Scientists have built replicas of the human brain with computers, but no one has ever successfully made a brain out of humans. On this episode, I’ll travel back to my hometown of Stilwell, Kansas, and turn it into a working brain!
Watch Now:Amazon#2 - The Cognitive Tradeoff Hypothesis
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 12/5/2018
Humans are the only Earthlings with complex language. But at what cost was that ability acquired? In this episode, I visit Tetsuro Matsuzawa to learn about his influential cognitive tradeoff hypothesis.
#3 - How to Talk to Aliens
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/2/2019
If we send messages to outer space, what should they say? And how should they be written? Should we even attempt to make contact with whatever (or whoever) might be out there at all?
Watch Now:Amazon#4 - Should I Die?
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/26/2018
If I could live forever, should I? How does being reminded of our own mortality affect us psychologically? In this episode I speak with mortician and death positivity activist Caitlin Doughty and visit a cryonics facility trying to extend human life indefinitely. Will I take them up on their offer, or will I choose to die?
Watch Now:Amazon#5 - Mind Reading
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/16/2019
Does mind reading freak you out? I knew you’d say that. On this episode, I’ll explore the science behind real-life mind reading. I’ll visit a researcher who will attempt to reconstruct images from my memory, and travel to Japan to meet with a scientist who is - for the first time ever – predicting the content of peoples’ dreams.
Watch Now:Amazon#6 - Moral Licensing
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 12/5/2018
How are our moral decisions influenced by factors we’re not aware of? A phenomenon known as Moral Licensing claims that when we do something good, we often subconsciously allow ourselves to then do something bad. In this episode, I take a look at whether those who donate money to charity become more likely to let a kid take the blame for a crime they know they committed.
#7 - The Stanford Prison Experiment
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/19/2018
Normal people can become monsters, given the right situation. That’s the standard narrative of the Stanford Prison Experiment, one of the most famous psychological experiments of all time. But what if the cause of its participants’ cruel behavior wasn’t what we’ve always been told?
Watch Now:Amazon#8 - Behavior and Belief
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/9/2019
How can a lie become true? In this episode, Dr. Aaron Blaisdell and I create a game show that is actually a giant “human Skinner Box” to observe the formation of superstitious beliefs. And Dr. Samuel Veissière helps me design and perform a placebo reverse exorcism, harnessing the power of belief in both science and religion to convince normal people that a spirit has possessed their bodies.
Watch Now:Amazon