[jonmc12]

I think no one has posted the main thesis of this discussion. It's not just about "asking them", it's about the NYU psychologist's research that has systematically found no evidence for all counterfactuals other than asking a person about their internal state.

Knowing how to ask someone what they are thinking/feeling is a key skillset of anyone building a product for someone else. Its nuanced enough that books like "The Mom Test" break this down for entrepreneurs to implement tactically. On the other hand, West's research also suggests that one can comfortably underweight their own instincts laden with ego-centric and culture-centric biases. Further, you can also comfortably underweight the observations of your colleagues who might assert empathic abilities.

Perhaps the most interesting segment of this podcast was the story of how the author and her tenured colleague were able to dismiss their own intuitions about a acrimonious rivalry with one another and evaluate their relationship scientifically through hundreds of questions from their own research. They went from disliking one another to getting married.