In this episode, my guest is Dr. Jamil Zaki, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Stanford University, director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Laboratory, and the author of the new book Hope for Cynics. We discuss cynicism and its healthier, more adaptive alternative, healthy skepticism, and how embracing healthy skepticism can enhance both our emotional and physical health. We discuss the data on how cynicism affects us as individuals and in relationships, causing lower levels of happiness, poorer physical health, and reduced creativity, trust, and collaboration. He also explains novel data-supported tools that we can use to shift ourselves towards a more informed yet more positive worldview and how to adopt a mindset of “hopeful skepticism” — the ideal stance to navigate life. Dr. Zaki offers listeners a positive, hopeful view of humanity grounded in cutting-edge research from his laboratory and other top laboratories. He also offers science-supported protocols to navigate relationships in person and online better. Access the full show notes, including referenced articles, books, people mentioned, and additional resources at hubermanlab.com. Pre-Order Andrew's New Book Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body: https://protocolsbook.com Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman Maui Nui Venison: https://mauinuivenison.com/huberman Joovv: https://joovv.com/huberman Waking Up: https://wakingup.com/huberman Function: https://functionhealth.com/huberman Timestamps 00:00:00 Dr. Jamil Zaki 00:02:12 Sponsors: Maui Nui, Joovv & Waking Up 00:06:59 Cynicism 00:12:38 Children, Attachment Styles & Cynicism 00:17:29 Cynicism vs. Skepticism, Complexity 00:23:30 Culture Variability & Trust 00:26:28 Sponsor: AG1 00:27:40 Negative Health Outcomes; Cynicism: Perception & Intelligence 00:35:59 Stereotypes, Threats 00:39:48 Cooperative Environments, Collaboration & Trust 00:44:05 Competition, Conflict, Judgement 00:48:46 Cynics, Awe, “Moral Beauty” 00:55:26 Sponsor: Function 00:57:13 Cynicism, Creativity & Workplace 01:04:19 Assessing Cynicism; Assumptions & Opportunities 01:11:11 Social Media & Cynicism, “Mean World Syndrome” 01:18:35 Negativity Bias, Gossip 01:24:03 Social Media & Cynicism, Polarization, “Hopeful Skepticism” 01:32:59 AI, Bias Correction 01:39:05 Tools: Mindset Skepticism; Reciprocity Mindset; Social Savoring 01:46:05 Tools: Leaps of Faith; Forecasting; Encounter Counting 01:51:33 Tool: Testing & Sharing Core Beliefs 01:58:09 Polarization vs. Perceived Polarization, Politics 02:06:06 Challenging Conversations, Questioning Perceptions 02:14:04 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow & Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer & Disclosures
Full Episode
Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. My guest today is Dr. Jamil Zaki. Dr. Jamil Zaki is a professor of psychology at Stanford University. He is also the director of the Social Neuroscience Laboratory at Stanford.
His laboratory focuses on key aspects of the human experience, such as empathy and cynicism, which lie at the heart of our ability to learn and can be barriers to learning, such as the case with cynicism.
Today, you'll learn the optimal mindsets to adopt when trying to understand how to learn conflict resolution and how to navigate relationships of all kinds and in all contexts, including personal relationships and in the workplace.
What sets Dr. Zaki's work apart from others is that he's able to take laboratory research and apply that to real world scenarios to direct optimal strategies for things like how to set personal boundaries, how to learn information in uncertain and sometimes even uncomfortable environments, and then how to bring that to bear in terms of your relationship to yourself, your relationship to others, and how to collaborate with others in more effective ways.
I want to be very clear that today's discussion, while focused on cynicism, trust and empathy, is anything but squishy. In fact, it focuses on experimental data derived from real world contexts. So it is both grounded in solid research and it is very practical, such that by the end of today's episode, you'll be armed with new knowledge about what cynicism is and is not what empathy is and is not.
This is very important because there's a lot of confusion about these words and what they mean. But I can assure you that by the end of today's discussion, you will have new frameworks and indeed new tools, protocols that you can use as strategies to better navigate situations and relationships of all kinds and indeed to learn better.
I'd also like to mention that Dr. Zaki has authored a terrific new book entitled Hope for Cynics, The Surprising Science of Human Goodness. And I've read this book and it is spectacular. There is a link to the book in the show note captions. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford.
It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Maui Nui. Maui Nui venison is the most nutrient dense and delicious red meat available.
I've spoken before on this podcast about the fact that most of us should be seeking to get about one gram of quality protein per pound of body weight every day. That protein provides critical building blocks for things like muscle repair and synthesis, but also promotes overall health given the importance of muscle as an organ.
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