Dr. Laurie Santos

This is why in ancient times, shunning was like the worst punishment you could give someone, right? You just go, you didn't kill them. You send them out of the group and that's like a horrible punishment. in part because it's like, it's our connections and our relatedness that really is important for not just our happiness, but also our survival.

This is why in ancient times, shunning was like the worst punishment you could give someone, right? You just go, you didn't kill them. You send them out of the group and that's like a horrible punishment. in part because it's like, it's our connections and our relatedness that really is important for not just our happiness, but also our survival.

This is why in ancient times, shunning was like the worst punishment you could give someone, right? You just go, you didn't kill them. You send them out of the group and that's like a horrible punishment. in part because it's like, it's our connections and our relatedness that really is important for not just our happiness, but also our survival.

And so I think mattering winds up being like an important part of that, right? The best way to feel connected to the group is if they would never shun you, right? You matter to other people. And so you're going to want to feel connected. You're going to want to do these kinds of nice things. It's over evolutionary time, the things that

And so I think mattering winds up being like an important part of that, right? The best way to feel connected to the group is if they would never shun you, right? You matter to other people. And so you're going to want to feel connected. You're going to want to do these kinds of nice things. It's over evolutionary time, the things that

And so I think mattering winds up being like an important part of that, right? The best way to feel connected to the group is if they would never shun you, right? You matter to other people. And so you're going to want to feel connected. You're going to want to do these kinds of nice things. It's over evolutionary time, the things that

we built up feeling pleasure for is often the stuff that like really we needed to pay attention to back in the evolutionary day, right? This is one of the reasons that we tend to seek out like really sweet, fatty food, right? That was hard to find back in the evolutionary day. So it feels really pleasurable. I think mattering was also essential back in the evolutionary day, right?

we built up feeling pleasure for is often the stuff that like really we needed to pay attention to back in the evolutionary day, right? This is one of the reasons that we tend to seek out like really sweet, fatty food, right? That was hard to find back in the evolutionary day. So it feels really pleasurable. I think mattering was also essential back in the evolutionary day, right?

we built up feeling pleasure for is often the stuff that like really we needed to pay attention to back in the evolutionary day, right? This is one of the reasons that we tend to seek out like really sweet, fatty food, right? That was hard to find back in the evolutionary day. So it feels really pleasurable. I think mattering was also essential back in the evolutionary day, right?

Because it allowed us to have these social connections that kept us part of this village that was so important for our survival, right? And I think it's one of the reasons that actions that show we matter show they wind up feeling good.

Because it allowed us to have these social connections that kept us part of this village that was so important for our survival, right? And I think it's one of the reasons that actions that show we matter show they wind up feeling good.

Because it allowed us to have these social connections that kept us part of this village that was so important for our survival, right? And I think it's one of the reasons that actions that show we matter show they wind up feeling good.

Well, I think I'm going to agree with Emma in the sense that technology can connect us and make us feel like we matter. We can use it for that. And it can also do just the opposite. In fact, often it does dust the opposite, but it's worth remembering that technology is just a tool we can use in lots of different ways.

Well, I think I'm going to agree with Emma in the sense that technology can connect us and make us feel like we matter. We can use it for that. And it can also do just the opposite. In fact, often it does dust the opposite, but it's worth remembering that technology is just a tool we can use in lots of different ways.

Well, I think I'm going to agree with Emma in the sense that technology can connect us and make us feel like we matter. We can use it for that. And it can also do just the opposite. In fact, often it does dust the opposite, but it's worth remembering that technology is just a tool we can use in lots of different ways.

I think taking evolutionary view of mattering helps here, helps us figure out what we get wrong, right? Because we're built for these sort of small groups, we can't really track what it means to matter in these like big Facebook groups or like being an influencer on TikTok and getting likes and so on. We're built for doing it in this small kind of way.

I think taking evolutionary view of mattering helps here, helps us figure out what we get wrong, right? Because we're built for these sort of small groups, we can't really track what it means to matter in these like big Facebook groups or like being an influencer on TikTok and getting likes and so on. We're built for doing it in this small kind of way.

I think taking evolutionary view of mattering helps here, helps us figure out what we get wrong, right? Because we're built for these sort of small groups, we can't really track what it means to matter in these like big Facebook groups or like being an influencer on TikTok and getting likes and so on. We're built for doing it in this small kind of way.

And when we can put these mechanisms into situations where they have to scale up, They go awry in interesting ways. I'll give you one from the perspective of helping people, right? We talked about one way to matter well is to do nice things for other people. But one of the ways we get that boost of mattering is we often need to see the results of that thing that we did, right?

And when we can put these mechanisms into situations where they have to scale up, They go awry in interesting ways. I'll give you one from the perspective of helping people, right? We talked about one way to matter well is to do nice things for other people. But one of the ways we get that boost of mattering is we often need to see the results of that thing that we did, right?