Nick Cohen chats to author, journalist and entrepreneur Turi Munthe about his latest book "Why We Think What We Think," which explores how non-rational factors significantly influence political and social beliefs.

In an increasingly polarised and fractious world, the issue of people's beliefs and think and why they hold them is becoming increasingly of importance, and for our sinister tech giants, of monetary value!

Turi Munthe discusses various research findings showing how physical attributes like beauty, neurological differences, climate, and cultural background shape political preferences, including examples like taste bud variations between liberals and conservatives, and how collectivist versus individualist cultures affect moral reasoning. Turi's research also reveals how factors such as good looks can have an inordinate influence on people''s belief systems and how they succeed or fail in life.

Nick and Turi discuss concerns about using biological research to pathologise political differences, the importance of free speech in allowing different perspectives to emerge, and how gender differences in political attitudes have shifted over time. Turi concludes by emphasising that humans think better in conversation than alone, suggesting that robust debate remains essential for understanding and potentially overcoming our predisposed opinions.

Turi Munthe FRSA is an Anglo-French journalist and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Demotix, which became the largest network of photo-journalists in the world, as well as Parlia, an encyclopaedia of opinion. His book Why we think what we think, The unexpected origins of our deepest beliefs is published by Penguin.

Nick Cohen's @NickCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond.

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