Dr. Laurie Santos

And his argument is that if we don't realize how good, then we never seek it out. So it's kind of the opposite of what you might think of as the processed food problem where our prediction is like – Oh, my God, that cupcake's going to be so good. We have all these mechanisms that are like, go get it, go get it. But then we actually get it. We're like, that wasn't as good as we thought.

And his argument is that if we don't realize how good, then we never seek it out. So it's kind of the opposite of what you might think of as the processed food problem where our prediction is like – Oh, my God, that cupcake's going to be so good. We have all these mechanisms that are like, go get it, go get it. But then we actually get it. We're like, that wasn't as good as we thought.

I think that the problem is that we have all these things that work like the processed food, that interfere with social connection, going on the Reddit feed, plopping down and watching Netflix, just kind of being by yourself, right? There's all these alternative behaviors that we're predicting are going to feel nice. But then we get there, they feel kind of yucky. They just –

I think that the problem is that we have all these things that work like the processed food, that interfere with social connection, going on the Reddit feed, plopping down and watching Netflix, just kind of being by yourself, right? There's all these alternative behaviors that we're predicting are going to feel nice. But then we get there, they feel kind of yucky. They just –

I think that the problem is that we have all these things that work like the processed food, that interfere with social connection, going on the Reddit feed, plopping down and watching Netflix, just kind of being by yourself, right? There's all these alternative behaviors that we're predicting are going to feel nice. But then we get there, they feel kind of yucky. They just –

Yeah, this is a problem in the happiness space where I know you talk a lot about the reward system. But the happiness space is one where the cravings we have, the rewards we seek out, the predictions we're making about what feels good, we're often just really wrong with them. You know, my podcast, we talk a lot about like our mind lies to us when it comes to happiness.

Yeah, this is a problem in the happiness space where I know you talk a lot about the reward system. But the happiness space is one where the cravings we have, the rewards we seek out, the predictions we're making about what feels good, we're often just really wrong with them. You know, my podcast, we talk a lot about like our mind lies to us when it comes to happiness.

Yeah, this is a problem in the happiness space where I know you talk a lot about the reward system. But the happiness space is one where the cravings we have, the rewards we seek out, the predictions we're making about what feels good, we're often just really wrong with them. You know, my podcast, we talk a lot about like our mind lies to us when it comes to happiness.

You know, we go for more money. We go for accolades. You know, we go for the quick dopamine hits without any work. But really, it's more like social connection. It's all these things that we kind of don't expect are going to feel good. And so I actually don't know what that means evolutionarily.

You know, we go for more money. We go for accolades. You know, we go for the quick dopamine hits without any work. But really, it's more like social connection. It's all these things that we kind of don't expect are going to feel good. And so I actually don't know what that means evolutionarily.

You know, we go for more money. We go for accolades. You know, we go for the quick dopamine hits without any work. But really, it's more like social connection. It's all these things that we kind of don't expect are going to feel good. And so I actually don't know what that means evolutionarily.

Like my theory is like you didn't need to build in craving mechanisms because the things that really matter for our happiness, we just kind of got for free in the evolutionary environment. but it means it's hard to go after them. You mentioned introverts and extroverts, and just to get back to your longer question, this is something that's been studied in them.

Like my theory is like you didn't need to build in craving mechanisms because the things that really matter for our happiness, we just kind of got for free in the evolutionary environment. but it means it's hard to go after them. You mentioned introverts and extroverts, and just to get back to your longer question, this is something that's been studied in them.

Like my theory is like you didn't need to build in craving mechanisms because the things that really matter for our happiness, we just kind of got for free in the evolutionary environment. but it means it's hard to go after them. You mentioned introverts and extroverts, and just to get back to your longer question, this is something that's been studied in them.

So introverts versus extroverts is typically thought of as a personality distinction, often thought of as sort of something that's built in, although there's lots of evidence that over time you can sort of change these things around. You can become a little bit more extroverted if you're introverted. But introverts tend to value...

So introverts versus extroverts is typically thought of as a personality distinction, often thought of as sort of something that's built in, although there's lots of evidence that over time you can sort of change these things around. You can become a little bit more extroverted if you're introverted. But introverts tend to value...

So introverts versus extroverts is typically thought of as a personality distinction, often thought of as sort of something that's built in, although there's lots of evidence that over time you can sort of change these things around. You can become a little bit more extroverted if you're introverted. But introverts tend to value...

deeper, close conversations, one-on-one kinds of things, and a lot of alone time. They get a lot of benefit from alone time. Whereas extroverts tend to be more energized by being around other people, especially bigger crowds of people. And so introverts tend to be a little bit more deliberate, a little bit more thoughtful, a little bit more kind of want to have my own personal chill time.

deeper, close conversations, one-on-one kinds of things, and a lot of alone time. They get a lot of benefit from alone time. Whereas extroverts tend to be more energized by being around other people, especially bigger crowds of people. And so introverts tend to be a little bit more deliberate, a little bit more thoughtful, a little bit more kind of want to have my own personal chill time.

deeper, close conversations, one-on-one kinds of things, and a lot of alone time. They get a lot of benefit from alone time. Whereas extroverts tend to be more energized by being around other people, especially bigger crowds of people. And so introverts tend to be a little bit more deliberate, a little bit more thoughtful, a little bit more kind of want to have my own personal chill time.