Podcast Club ONLINE: Why We Aren't More Social (But Can Be)
Details
We all know that humans are social creatures. Social connection and interactions are critically important to us. Loneliness is now a global epidemic. The World Health Organization declared social disconnection to be a top-tier global public health threat, estimating that roughly 1 in 6 people worldwide experience problematic levels of loneliness. Yet, so often when we board a train or plane or enter a public waiting room, we keep to ourselves and talk with no one.
Why? Should this be changed? If so, can it? How?
Behavioral scientist Nicholas Epley, the guest of this week's podcastThe Next Big Idea, shares the answers to all these questions. Discussing his recent book, entitled A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection, Epley says that there's a disconnect between what we generally predict will be the reactions of others to initiated social interactions and what is actually perceived. This disconnect has profound effects as we go about our daily lives. Other topics addressed in the podcast include the difference between spoken and written conversation, the power of seeking rejection, and whether following through on acts of social connection have long-term or short-term effects on happiness. Ultimately, this week's podcast presents a challenge to us all to counter loneliness, foster social connection, and perhaps spark happiness both in ourselves and those around us.
Epley is the John Templeton Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science, and Director of the Roman Family Center for Decision Research, at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. His research, which has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Templeton Foundation, has been published in many empirical journals and outlets such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Wired, and NPR. Epley was awarded the 2008 Theoretical Innovation Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the 2011 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology from the American Psychological Association, the 2015 Book Prize for the Promotion of Social and Personality Science, and the 2018 Career Trajectory Award from the Society for Experimental Social Psychology. He was named a “professor to watch” by the Financial Times, one of the “World’s Best 40 under 40 Business School Professors” by Poets and Quants, and one of the 100 Most Influential in Business Ethics in 2015 by Ethisphere. He is the author of two books.
PODCAST
https://nextbigideaclub.com/podcast/?srsltid=AfmBOooOMuy87Uh-WbqBgT2ja4dtoPwHTkbtuClrF4xeqcCTUaI-XC9M
(sometimes the links change on the website; if using this link, please listen to the episode entitled "Want To Be Happier? Try Talking To Strangers."
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(1 hr, 17 min.)
What's a podcast club?
It's like a book club for podcasts. Each week we discuss an interesting and currently-relevant episode from podcasters like Ezra Klein, Michael Shermer, or Russ Roberts. We start off as a large group and spend most of the time talking in small break-out groups, which we remix 3 times during the course of the evening. Our conversations are casual and open. We ask that everyone speak respectfully at all times, and we encourage free and concise discussion relevant to the week's podcast topic. To do this, we try to adhere to Grice's Maxims: https://bit.ly/2p4uSQm
Ultimately, the idea is to help each other think a little differently, learn a thing or two and have some fun.