You and I make over 35,000 decisions a day. Every one is an opportunity. But in today's world we can be so inundated with information and uncertainty, it can be hard to know what decisions to make. Luckily, quantum cognition provides a framework to better understand our decisions and make more fulfilling choices.

Welcome to Superposed – a podcast that applies the principles of quantum cognition to the most consequential decisions ever made. Host Aidan Lewis breaks down the hidden architecture of human judgment: why people facing identical circumstances make completely different choices, why the order of information changes what we believe, and why context can flip a decision entirely.

Classical decision science treats choices as logical calculations. Quantum cognition reveals what that model misses. Four core principles – superposition, interference, contextuality, and non-commutative effects – explain paradoxes in human behavior that economics and psychology have struggled to account for for decades.

In this intro episode, you'll get the conceptual foundation:

- Superposition: why multiple possible decisions exist simultaneously until the moment of commitment

- Interference: how your history, motivations, and mental state modulate which option you're most likely to choose

- Contextuality: why the same choice in a different environment can produce a completely different result

- Non-commutative effects: why the order you encounter information in quietly rewires your judgment

Each episode ahead applies these tools to a specific real-world decision — from geopolitical crises to business pivots to personal turning points — so you leave with sharper mental models you can actually use.

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and follow along on Substack for the companion articles.

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Primary Sources:

Busemeyer, J. R., & Wang, Z. (2015). What is quantum cognition, and how is it applied to psychology? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 24(3), 163–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721414568663

Pothos, E. M., & Busemeyer, J. R. (2022). Quantum cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 73, 749–778. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-033020-123501

Busemeyer, J. R., Wang, Z., & Townsend, J. T. (2006). Quantum dynamics of human decision-making. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 50(3), 220–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmp.2006.01.003

Pothos, E. M., & Busemeyer, J. R. (2009). A quantum probability explanation for violations of 'rational' decision theory. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276(1665), 2171–2178. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0121

Aerts, D., & Aerts, S. (1995). Applications of quantum statistics in psychological studies of decision processes. Foundations of Science, 1, 85–97. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00208726

Aerts, D. (2009). Quantum structure in cognition. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 53(5), 314–348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmp.2009.04.005

Busemeyer, J. R., Pothos, E. M., Franco, R., & Trueblood, J. S. (2011). A quantum theoretical explanation for probability judgment errors. Psychological Review, 118(2), 193–218. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022542

Pothos, E. M., & Busemeyer, J. R. (2013). Can quantum probability provide a new direction for cognitive modeling? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 36(3), 255–274. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X12001525

Wang, Z., Busemeyer, J. R., Atmanspacher, H., & Pothos, E. M. (2013). The potential of using quantum theory to build models of cognition. Topics in Cognitive Science, 5(4), 672–688. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12043

Tags / Keywords

quantum cognition, decision making podcast, behavioral psychology, cognitive bias, decision science, superposition, mental models, human judgment, behavioral economics, psychology of decisions, Aidan Lewis, Superposed podcast, order effects, contextuality, cognitive science