Today the tables are turned on The Psychology Podcast as Andrew Yang interviews Scott Barry Kaufman! This is a really meaningful episode for Scott, as he was a big supporter of Andrew’s presidential campaign, and is now a big supporter of his Mayoral NYC campaign. Andrew and Scott share a humanistic viewpoint, and it was great to finally get them together in a discussion.
Andrew is the founder of Venture for America, a non-profit organization aiming to create economic opportunities in American cities. He is a former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and is currently running for mayor of New York City on a Democrat ticket. In 2012, the Obama administration selected Andrew as a “Champion for Change” and later as a “Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship” in 2015. This episode originally appeared on Andrew’s podcast, Yang Speaks.
In this eagerly anticipated episode, Andrew and Scott discuss:
[02:48] Scott’s journey into and out of special-education
[05:45] Why Scott signed up for dance classes in college
[06:30] How Scott accidentally discovered his singing talents
[08:10] Why Scott decided to pursue psychology
[15:30] The worrying trend of schools rewarding behavioral conformity and performance on thinly disguised intelligence tests
[17:29] Scott’s “Dual-Process Theory of Human Intelligence”
[20:23] Why academic psychologists are always under pressure to come up with novel ideas
[21:02] Scott’s encounter with creativity research
[24:39] How Scott’s research on human intelligence opened doors for studying other research topics
[26:31] Examples of human-centered schools
[30:41] Andrew Yang’s take on humanistic and positive education
[33:20] Why Americans need to incorporate humanity into their everyday lives
[36:04] The difference between narcissism and healthy self-esteem
[39:20] Scott’s revised hierarchy of needs
[42:17] The distinction between deficiency motivation and growth motivation
[48:04] The reception of Scott’s latest book Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization among psychologists
My friend Andrew Yang is running for New York City Mayor, and he needs our help! Andrew maintains a huge lead in the polls and is dominating press coverage, and together, we can push him into first place in the fundraising race, too. This week, let’s make sure Andrew receives more contributions than any other candidate. What’s more: any New York City resident who contributes will get their contribution matched 8 to 1 by the City! To contribute, please go to y4ny.com/scott.