Dr. Sam Wilkinson

Well, I think a lot of it has to do with the blessings, but also the curses of technology. We have

essentially become atomized as a society we have become disconnected from real human interaction which is for most people the source of the deepest sense of meaning and purpose as we essentially live on the internet or on our phones they're part of we are small cogs in large bureaucracies through our jobs or other very vast organizations some of which are essentially all virtual

essentially become atomized as a society we have become disconnected from real human interaction which is for most people the source of the deepest sense of meaning and purpose as we essentially live on the internet or on our phones they're part of we are small cogs in large bureaucracies through our jobs or other very vast organizations some of which are essentially all virtual

essentially become atomized as a society we have become disconnected from real human interaction which is for most people the source of the deepest sense of meaning and purpose as we essentially live on the internet or on our phones they're part of we are small cogs in large bureaucracies through our jobs or other very vast organizations some of which are essentially all virtual

And that has, I think, taken us in a way and disconnected us from the way that we interact with each other in a face-to-face way. That is essentially how we were created. We were created for in-person interaction. And a lot of the ways we spend our time now are not in that setting. And there's been a...

And that has, I think, taken us in a way and disconnected us from the way that we interact with each other in a face-to-face way. That is essentially how we were created. We were created for in-person interaction. And a lot of the ways we spend our time now are not in that setting. And there's been a...

And that has, I think, taken us in a way and disconnected us from the way that we interact with each other in a face-to-face way. That is essentially how we were created. We were created for in-person interaction. And a lot of the ways we spend our time now are not in that setting. And there's been a...

I think an overemphasis on the individual for the last 50 years in Western society that has, I think, paradoxically led us to more suffering.

I think an overemphasis on the individual for the last 50 years in Western society that has, I think, paradoxically led us to more suffering.

I think an overemphasis on the individual for the last 50 years in Western society that has, I think, paradoxically led us to more suffering.

Well, there's a lot of issues and it's not a simple thing, as you probably know. One of the problems as I see it is that there's a principle in psychology that's called affective forecasting. And this is the ability to predict how we're going to feel in a given situation. And it turns out that we're surprisingly poor judges at this.

Well, there's a lot of issues and it's not a simple thing, as you probably know. One of the problems as I see it is that there's a principle in psychology that's called affective forecasting. And this is the ability to predict how we're going to feel in a given situation. And it turns out that we're surprisingly poor judges at this.

Well, there's a lot of issues and it's not a simple thing, as you probably know. One of the problems as I see it is that there's a principle in psychology that's called affective forecasting. And this is the ability to predict how we're going to feel in a given situation. And it turns out that we're surprisingly poor judges at this.

And we're not necessarily poor judges at what's going to make us happy versus not happy, but the intensity and the duration of those emotions. We're not great judges at. And there's a very influential psychology study from the 1970s that really drove this point home. It had the provocative title, Lottery Winners and Accident Victims. And as the title suggests, the researchers

And we're not necessarily poor judges at what's going to make us happy versus not happy, but the intensity and the duration of those emotions. We're not great judges at. And there's a very influential psychology study from the 1970s that really drove this point home. It had the provocative title, Lottery Winners and Accident Victims. And as the title suggests, the researchers

And we're not necessarily poor judges at what's going to make us happy versus not happy, but the intensity and the duration of those emotions. We're not great judges at. And there's a very influential psychology study from the 1970s that really drove this point home. It had the provocative title, Lottery Winners and Accident Victims. And as the title suggests, the researchers

They assessed two different groups, those who had suffered terrible accidents and were now quadriplegic and those who had won the lottery. And they compared them along things like satisfaction and wellbeing and so forth. And surprising to many people is that there weren't a whole lot of differences.

They assessed two different groups, those who had suffered terrible accidents and were now quadriplegic and those who had won the lottery. And they compared them along things like satisfaction and wellbeing and so forth. And surprising to many people is that there weren't a whole lot of differences.

They assessed two different groups, those who had suffered terrible accidents and were now quadriplegic and those who had won the lottery. And they compared them along things like satisfaction and wellbeing and so forth. And surprising to many people is that there weren't a whole lot of differences.

In some ways, actually the accident victims had a better ability to enjoy everyday pleasures and feel reward. But of course, if I asked you, which group would you rather be in? Everyone hands down would say, well, I'd rather win the lottery than suffer a terrible accident. And this is because we think, oh, this is going to solve all my problems. I'll have enough money.