Find Hope and Banish Cynicism... Coming Sept 9
The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos
Pushkin Industries
4.7 • 14.6K Ratings
🗓️ 2 September 2024
⏱️ 4 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It's hard to stay hopeful sometimes. Things can look pretty bleak and divided, especially around election time. But if you're losing hope in your fellow humans, stop and listen to the science. Other people are kinder, friendlier and more co-operative than you might think.
Using insights from his new book Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness, Stanford's Jamil Zaki joins Dr Laurie Santos for a special season to show why we shouldn't be so cynical about our fellow citizens and why being more open and trusting can help us live happier and healthier lives.
The series begins Sept 9.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Pushkin. |
| 0:07.0 | You're... |
| 0:10.0 | You're... Even though I'm a happiness expert, there are times when I find it hard to feel hopeful. |
| 0:17.0 | From the climate to poverty to politics to conflicts around the world, things can sometimes feel pretty bleak. |
| 0:24.0 | There's the childish nickname, the crazy conspiracy theories. |
| 0:28.1 | Did you see Barack Hussein Obama last night? |
| 0:30.4 | She was taking shots at your president. |
| 0:33.0 | Especially around election time, it seems like we're all divided and angry. |
| 0:37.0 | If the only political conversation you have is your Uncle Chad screaming at you about politics, |
| 0:42.0 | he just wants to get in an politics. He just wants to get in an argument. |
| 0:44.0 | He just wants to shit on you. But it's not just all those Uncle Chad's |
| 0:47.8 | and polarized political fights. It feels like we're losing faith in one another |
| 0:52.0 | and in our own agency. |
| 0:53.4 | Nothing I do will matter, nothing anyone I know does will matter, so I wish I didn't have to hear |
| 0:58.6 | about this. |
| 0:59.4 | I'm Dr. Laurie Santos, and in our new season of the happiness lab we'll look at why we're all feeling so cynical these days and what we can do to fight these nasty feelings and |
| 1:10.0 | we'll get inspiration from one of my favorite new books, Hope for Synics, the surprising science of human goodness. |
| 1:17.0 | It's by famous Stanford psychologist and my good friend, Jamil Zaki. |
| 1:21.0 | Thanks, Lori, and hello, happiness lab listeners. |
| 1:23.9 | I've been studying the science of kindness for decades, but even I get a little cynical sometimes. |
| 1:29.6 | Synics don't just assume that things are bad, but also that there's nothing we can do to |
| 1:34.3 | improve the situation. I actually hate politics. Our politicians are not afraid of |
... |
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