<p><em>New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.</em></p> <p><em>---</em></p> <p><br /></p> <p>What the ancient Greek philosophers discovered about how to do life better.</p> <p><br /></p> <p><a href="https://fas.yale.edu/tamar-szabo-gendler" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tamar Gendler</a> is dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy, and Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Yale University. Her Open Yale course <a href="https://online.yale.edu/courses/philosophy-and-science-human-nature" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">"Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature"</a> has hundreds of thousands of views. An updated version of this course will be available on the <a href="https://www.coursera.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Coursera</a> website this spring. </p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>In this episode we talk about:</strong></p> <ul> <li>The tension between our animal nature and our spiritual/intellectual nature</li> <li>How to define concepts such as "virtue", "morality" and "the soul" </li> <li>Whether living a moral life actually makes you happy </li> <li>The similarities and differences between ancient Greek philosophy & Buddhism </li> <li>And how Tamar has applied all of this to her own life</li> </ul> <p><br /></p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Related Episodes:</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/richard-schwartz-323" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">How (and Why) to Hug Your Inner Dragons | Richard Schwartz</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/jacob-ham-453" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">An Ace Therapist Gives Dan A Run For His Money | Dr. Jacob Ham</a></li> </ul> <p><br /></p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Sign up for Dan's weekly newsletter</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3QtGRqJ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>here</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Follow Dan on social:</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3tGigG5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Instagram</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3FOA84J" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>TikTok</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Ten Percent Happier online</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/46TZglY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>bookstore</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Subscribe to our</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3FybRzD" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>YouTube Channel</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Our favorite playlists on:</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3Qa8kMT" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Anxiety</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3MjtMxF" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Sleep</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3QvyA5J" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Relationships</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3QxZASc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Most Popular Episodes</strong></a></p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Full Shownotes:</strong> <a href="https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/tamar-gendler" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/tamar-gendler</a></p>
Actionable Insights
1. Acknowledge Self-Ignorance
Embrace the Socratic insight that true self-knowledge begins with acknowledging your own lack of complete understanding of yourself, your motivations, and your desires, recognizing this as a universal human truth.
2. Understand Your Inner Parts
Recognize that you are composed of different internal parts (reason, spirit, appetite) that often conflict, making you opaque to yourself. Understand that these parts respond to distinct stimuli, and reason alone cannot directly control them.
3. Recognize Others’ Perspectives
Practice morality by recognizing that you are not the only person in the world and that other perspectives matter as much as your own. This involves understanding that your actions can harm or help others, and that this impact is significant.
4. Align Values for Well-being
Strive for virtue, which involves aligning your values with your actions, as this leads to eudaimonia or spiritual well-being and thriving. This deeper happiness comes from an ordered soul, not necessarily immediate gratification.
5. Cultivate Calibrated Virtues
Develop virtues as subtly calibrated habits of response to the world, such as bravery, which means standing firm in the face of fear or criticism while avoiding the extremes of cowardice or recklessness. This helps you act morally in diverse situations.
6. Cultivate Desired Habits
Practice the behaviors you wish to embody, like generosity or bravery, until they become second nature and automatic. Act as if you already possess the desired virtues to make them instinctive.
7. Strategically Shape Your Environment
Recognize that habits are context-specific and strategically place yourself in environments that reinforce desired behaviors. Surround yourself with others who share your values to make practices easier to sustain.
8. Pre-commit to Avoid Temptation
Anticipate temptations and proactively implement external mechanisms to prevent yourself from acting on them. This could involve avoiding tempting items or physically restricting your ability to engage in undesirable behaviors.
9. Leverage Social Connection
Utilize your inherent social nature by surrounding yourself with people who share your values and desired behaviors. This social reinforcement can make it feel natural and easier to adopt and maintain positive actions and habits.
10. Distinguish Control & Influence
Apply the Stoic principle of distinguishing between what is within your control (e.g., your reactions, efforts) and what is not (e.g., external events, others’ opinions). Focus your energy only on what you can change.
11. Control Your Reactions
Recognize that your emotional and intellectual responses to external events, including insults or frustrations, are largely within your control. Choose how you receive and interpret these events rather than letting them dictate your state.
12. Practice Emotional Detachment
Cultivate habits that make it easier to detach your happiness from things outside your control, such as material objects or others’ opinions. This fosters a more resilient and thriving state of being.
13. Reframe Others’ Actions
Actively reframe the actions of others, especially loved ones, by recognizing that your interpretation (e.g., betrayal vs. independence) is within your control. This allows you to navigate relationships with greater resilience.
14. Strengthen Inner Awareness (Meditation)
Engage in practices like meditation to build inner awareness, allowing you to clearly observe the chaotic nature of your mind. This strengthens your capacity to skillfully redirect your internal impulses.
15. Utilize Simple Heuristics
Employ simple, memorable heuristics (like ‘habituate, situate, attach, detach’) to keep actionable strategies readily available in your mind. This enables quick application in the moment when needed.
16. Cultivate Harmony & Rhythm
Train yourself to appreciate and find joy in harmony, rhythm, and synchronized movement. These practices can cultivate a sub-rational sensitivity that promotes order in aesthetic and social experiences.