Arthur Brooks

You know, things are happening all around me all the time.

Why?

Part of meaning is having an answer to that.

Maybe that's your religious answer, like because of the mind of God.

Maybe that's your scientific answer because these are the laws of the universe.

Maybe you're a conspiracy theorist and say because powerful people are doing these things.

Conspiracy theories are nothing more

than crying out for an answer to the coherence question, which is a meaning problem.

So if you have a relative who's going down the rabbit hole on the craziest conspiracy theories, don't throw data in their face and say, you moron.

That's the wrong way to approach it.

They're having a meaning crisis.

They're having a happiness crisis is the reason they're doing this in the first place.

So coherence, number one, why things happen the way they do.

Second, why am I doing what I'm doing?

That's purpose.

Purpose and meaning are not the same.

Purpose is...

goals and direction so you can make progress so why am i doing what i'm doing if the answer is i don't know then you can't make progress because we're just going in circles you're just a our carnival cruise ship just kind of randomly going around and around and around and around it's the reason i find cruises unbelievably depressing they don't go someplace right i'm a teleological individual like you i want a goal right and that's purpose and so in the in the

In the research, you know, Sonia Lubomirsky's stuff.

Have you had her on the show?