Aug 19, 2010

Seeking Patterns

Fine. Randomness may govern the world around us, but does it guide us? Jonah Lehrer joins us to examine one of the most skilled basketball teams ever, the '82 - '83  Philadelphia '76ers, and wonders whether or not the mythical "hot hand" actually exists.

Then we meet Ann Klinestiver of West Virginia, an English teacher who was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1991. When she began to take a drug to treat her disease, her life changed completely after one fateful day at the casino. Jonah discusses the neurotransmitter dopamine and the work of Wolfram Schultz, whose experiments with monkeys in the 1970s shed light on Ann's strange addiction and the deep desire for patterns inside us all.

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