Podcast Summary: Peter Lamont on "Radical Thinking: How to See the Bigger Picture"
New Books Network | Host: Caleb Zakarin | Guest: Peter Lamont | September 7, 2025

Overview

In this episode of New Books Network, host Caleb Zakarin interviews Peter Lamont, professor of history and theory of psychology at the University of Edinburgh and a magician, about his new book, Radical Thinking: How to See the Bigger Picture (Swift Press, 2024). The conversation explores the origins and core ideas of "radical thinking" as a way to overcome the limitations of standard critical thinking, delving into how our habits, attention, and assumptions shape what we see and believe. Drawing from history, psychology, and magic, Lamont provides practical advice for becoming more aware of our blind spots and expanding our perspectives.

1. Peter Lamont’s Background and the Origin of "Radical Thinking"

• Academic and Professional Journey

  • Peter Lamont is a professor at the University of Edinburgh focusing on the history and theory of psychology and has a background as a professional magician.
    • "I began as a magician when I was a student... and as a result of that, I ended up doing a job in a psychology department on the psychology of magic." [02:07]
  • His work evolved from magic and the paranormal to broader topics such as belief, wonder, and, more recently, critical thinking.

• Genesis of the Book and Its Approach

  • Originated from a popular zero-credit university course on critical thinking made "radical" by focusing on the process of thinking, not just right/wrong answers.
    • "I wanted to get away from this idea of critical thinking as being about getting it right or wrong. I wanted to make it about the process, and so that's how I ended up with a slightly different approach." [03:37]

2. The Sherlock Holmes Analogy: Perception and Its Limits

• Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle, and Joseph Bell

  • The Sherlock Holmes character was inspired by Joseph Bell, a surgeon known for keen observation—but real life is messier than fiction.
    • "Joseph Bell had this reputation for being able to look at somebody and immediately know things about them... from the way they dressed, from the way they spoke..." [06:55]
  • Conan Doyle himself, despite his fictional genius, was misled by spiritualists and mediums.
    • "In real life, we’re all like Dr. Watson—we miss things all the time." [10:14]

• Limits of Observational Skills

  • Psychological research and magic tricks show how much we fail to notice—even in our direct field of vision.
    • "Even in whatever you’re looking at right now, you’re noticing a fraction of what’s going on... What we notice depends on where we direct our attention." [11:24]
    • "That should make us a little bit more humble about how little we actually know of the world." [13:10]

3. The Example of Knowledge: Encyclopedia Britannica and Its Blind Spots

• The Missing Geology Chapter
  • The second edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica attempted to capture all human knowledge but missed fields not yet discovered—especially geology.
    • "We have this encyclopedia that’s supposed to be the whole of human knowledge, but we’ve got this claim that the world began in 4004 BC... Meanwhile... James Hutton was exploring rock formations very nearby and came up with the idea... that the world was much, much older." [14:10–16:45]
  • Demonstrates how contemporary knowledge and assumptions—even in scholarly works—are limited by what is noticed or valued.

4. Customs, Habits, and "Radical" Context

• Changing Meaning of Radicalism

  • "Radical" stems from the Latin for "root"—about questioning foundational assumptions of thought.
    • "Radical thinking is thinking about the roots, the foundations of our thoughts." [27:15]

• How Habits and Customs Shape Perception

  • Everyday patterns—like the 9-to-5 workday—seem natural only because of cultural norms.
    • "It’s only when we go to another culture ... that we’re reminded... they have very different assumptions." [28:45]
  • Recognizing how embedded habits shape what we consider possible or normal is itself a radical act.

5. The Limits of Critical Thinking, Logic, and Science

• Critical Thinking vs Radical Thinking

  • Standard "critical thinking" often focuses on identifying biases and reaching correct conclusions; Lamont argues for focusing on how we think, not just what we think.
    • "It’s about how we get there, not where we end up... If you’re going to think in a radical way, you need to get in the habit of questioning everything." [31:02]
  • Even the most critical thinkers, like David Hume, still fall victim to the limits of their time and perspective.

• Shortcomings of Logic and Science

  • Logic is abstract, often unable to capture the messiness of real-world arguments; science is always based on incomplete data.
    • "All scientific knowledge is based on limited data and then the interpretation of that data." [34:50]
    • "When do our biases lead us to get it wrong? Well, we can’t know that unless we know what’s true—and usually that’s what we’re arguing about." [35:30]

6. Embracing Radical Thinking: Actionable Advice

• Two Central Practices for Radical Thinking

  • Be more aware of the limits of your view—not as biases or errors but as the inherent condition of perspective.
    • "Being more aware of the limits of our own worldview ... sees the bigger picture: engage with alternative views." [36:52]
  • Seek out alternative perspectives to see beyond your own limitations—even without fully agreeing with them.

• Three-Question Method for Claims

  • For any claim, ask:
    1. What are they actually saying? (Clarify the core claim.)
    2. What’s the basis for that? (Request specific evidence for that claim.)
    3. Why are they telling us this? (Consider motives and context.)
    • "Anything that we hear or see, we can begin with the claim at the heart of it... What are they actually saying?... What's the basis for that claim?... Why are they telling us this?" [38:20]

7. Practical Exercises in Radical Awareness

• Noticing the Overlooked

  • Avoid screens and distractions; observe your everyday surroundings with fresh curiosity.
    • "Next time you’re going to work or to class... just look at the world and spot the number of things that you haven’t noticed before." [40:21]
  • Ask questions about ordinary things: street names, building names, features you pass daily but can’t describe.
    • "Any exercise where you are reminding yourself of how little you notice, even though you’ve seen these things countless times, is useful because for me it’s got to start with some level of humility." [41:05]

• Recognizing Humility as a Foundation

  • Awareness of what we overlook is the starting point for radical thinking and appreciating the limits of our own worldview.

8. Notable Quotes & Moments

• On observation and humility:
  • "In real life we’re all like Doctor Watson—we miss things all the time." —Peter Lamont [10:14]
• On the limitations of standard knowledge:
  • "We have this encyclopedia that’s supposed to be the whole of human knowledge, but... we’ve got this claim that the world began 4004 BC... [while] geology hadn’t begun yet." —Peter Lamont [14:10]
• On statues & cultural memory:
  • "When you try to commemorate somebody... we end up commemorating a person rather than something they said or did, and then people disagree about whether that person should be commemorated because they see that name as representing different things." —Peter Lamont [21:30]
• On critical vs. radical thinking:
  • "If you’re going to think in a radical way, you need to get in the habit of questioning everything." —Peter Lamont [31:35]
• On practical advice:
  • "Anything that we hear or see, we can begin with the claim at the heart of it, and then of that claim we can ask three simple questions: What are they actually saying? What’s the basis for that? Why are they telling us this?" —Peter Lamont [38:20]

9. Episode Takeaways

• Radical thinking goes deeper than critical thinking by focusing on the limitations of perspective and the power of attention.
• Customs, cultural norms, and inattentive habits greatly shape how we experience reality and what we overlook.
• Logic and science are valuable yet insufficient on their own due to their inherent limitations and the messiness of human interaction.
• Humility, curiosity, and engaging seriously with alternative viewpoints are essential for seeing a bigger picture.
• Simple exercises—like noticing your surroundings more deeply—help cultivate the mindset that underpins radical thinking.

Recommended Action:
Try looking at your everyday world with curiosity and skepticism. Question what you see and don’t see, what you hear and don’t hear, and always remember: the bigger picture is bigger than you think.