Podcasts

This is big, so here is a breakdown. Chapter #1 Introduction, Homo Sapiens #2 Freud, Lacan #3 Jung, Adler #4 Existentialism #5 Cognitive Behavioural #6 Positive and Transpersonal #7 Evolutionary #8 Brain and Neuroscience #9 Childhood, Attachment Theory #10 Psychopathology, Relationships and tips #11 Interviews, Talks

Psychology

Discussing Civilization and its Discontents (1930).

This is a 32-minute preview of our vintage 2 hr, 5-minute episode which you can buy at partiallyexaminedlife.com/store or get for free with PEL Citizenship (see partiallyexaminedlife.com/membership). You can also purchase the full episode in the iTunes Store: Search for “Partially Examined Freud” and look under “Albums.”

What’s the meaning of life? Well, for Sigmund Freud, an objective purpose rises or falls with religion, which he thinks a matter of clinging to illusion, so to rephrase: what do we want out of life? To be happy, of course, yet he sees happiness as a matter of fulfillment of pent-up desires, meaning it’s by its nature temporary. Yet we can’t shake off its pursuit, and so we’re in a bind, and have a number of strategies for obtaining some satisfaction: some compensation for what we have to repress in order to live in a society that forces us to repress our innate desires.

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PREVIEW Freud on the Human Condition - Partially Examined Life

This lecture explores the necessity of controlling what occupies our attention in a world the tends to undermine any sense of identity.

Identity Part Eight - The Garden Of The Mind

Narcissism is something that looms large in our cultural consciousness. We accuse friends and family of being narcissistic, think we observe the quality in politicians and celebrities, and wonder if society is becoming more self-absorbed over time.

But what is narcissism, really, once you get beyond the pop cultural conception and colloquial buzzword? My guest will unpack that for us today. His name is W. Keith Campbell, and he’s a professor of psychology and the author of The New Science of Narcissism. Keith explains that narcissism centers on an antagonistic sense of entitlement and self-importance, that there are actually two types of it — grandiose and vulnerable — and how the latter can actually underlie seeming cases of anxiety and depression. We then discuss what causes someone to become a narcissist, whether narcissism has increased in younger generations, and when narcissism tips over into an outright personality disorder. Keith explains how narcissists are attractive early on in a relationship, but lose their shine over time, and how, in a similar manner, narcissists readily emerge as leaders, but then often struggle to hold onto their position and power. We then get into the relationship between narcissism and social media, and how to get the benefits of narcissism — which isn’t entirely a bad thing — while mitigating its downsides.

#769: The New Science of Narcissism

Big winner stocks are elusive but if you can find one, it can transform your portfolio. (0:45) - Hitting The Lottery With The Stock Market (8:30) - Lessons To Learn From The Past Big Winners: How To Find A Lottery Stock (13:45) - Portfolio Watchlist: Stocks To Keep On Your Radar (26:00) - Episode Roundup: FB, GOOGL, ISRG, EL, COST Podcast@Zacks.com

How to Find Lottery Stocks

In the quiet moments of our lives, we can all sense that our hearts long for something, though we often don’t know what that something is. We seek an answer in our phones, and while they can provide some sense of extension and fulfillment — a feeling of magic — the use of technology also comes with significant costs in individual development and interpersonal connection that we typically don’t fully understand and consider.

My guest today will unpack what it is we really yearn for, how technology, when misused, can direct us away from the path to fulfilling those yearnings, and how we can find true human flourishing in a world in which so much works against it. His name is Andy Crouch and he’s the author of The Life We’re Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World. Today on the show we talk about the tradeoffs you make when you seek magic without mastery, and how we can understand our desires better once we understand ourselves as heart, soul, mind, and strength complexes who want to be loved and known. We discuss the difference between interactions that are personal versus personalized, as well as the difference between devices and instruments, and how to use your phone as the latter instead of the former. We end our conversation with why Andy thinks we need to redesign the architecture of our relational lives and create something he calls “households.”

#796: The Life We’re Looking For

We've all heard by now just how important strong relationships are to our health and well-being. But a lot of the common advice and conventional wisdom out there about how to build stronger relationships doesn't end up taking us closer to that goal.

My guest today has spent years sorting through what really builds better friendships, reignites love, and helps people get closer to others, and he shares these research-backed insights in his new book: Plays Well with Others: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Relationships Is (Mostly) Wrong. Eric shares what he's learned today on the show, beginning with why we're good at figuring out someone's personality from the moment we meet them, but bad at reading their thoughts and feelings, and how to get better at the latter by making other people more readable, as well as how to make a better first impression yourself. We then turn to what makes friendship a unique relationship that makes us uniquely happy, and the two "costly signals" that most develop friendship. We also get into why friends we feel ambivalent about are actually worse for us than outright enemies. We spend the last part of our conversation on how the modern age is both the worst and the best time for marriage, and how the key to ensuring that yours is one of the happiest in history is maintaining positive sentiment override.

#808: The Surprising Science Behind Building Stronger Relationships

Delve into the profound connection between compassion and evolution in this enlightening talk by Paul Gilbert. Discover how Compassion Focus Therapy, deeply rooted in understanding affiliative processing, offers insights into our motivations. Explore compassion as a potent motivation, encompassing sensitivity to suffering and an unwavering commitment to alleviating it. Gilbert unveils the core elements of compassion—courage to confront suffering and a resolute dedication to its relief. Learn how compassion intertwines with self-identity, the timeless Golden Rule, and ethical considerations. Gain fresh perspective on compassion's true essence: not mere niceness, but an active engagement with and transformation of suffering. Join us for a thought-provoking journey into the depths of human empathy and evolution.

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Professor Paul Gilbert, FBPsS, PhD, OBE is a British clinical psychologist, the founder of compassion focused therapy (CFT), compassionate mind training (CMT) and author of books such as The Compassionate Mind: A New Approach to Life’s Challenges, Overcoming Depression.

He has researched evolutionary approaches to psychopathology for over 40 years with a special focus on the roles of mood, shame and self-criticism in various mental health difficulties for which Compassion Focused Therapy was developed. Professor Gilbert has written/edited 21 books and over 200 papers. In 2006 he established the Compassionate Mind Foundation as an international charity with the mission statement: “To promote wellbeing through the scientific understanding and application of compassion”.

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Interview Links:

— Professor Gilbert's website: https://www.compassionatemind.co.uk

— Compassion Focused Therapy: Clinical Practice and Application: https://amzn.to/3ReGXAR 

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3 Books Professor Gilbert Recommends Every Therapist Should Read: 

— The Discovery Of The Unconscious - Henri Ellenberger: https://amzn.to/3uzAWVF 

— Archetype: A Natural History of the Self - Anthony Stevens: https://amzn.to/3PeTL8F 

— Civilized to Death - Chris Ryan: https://amzn.to/3yuzOnE

The Evolutionary Psychology of Compassion - Prof. Paul Gilbert OBE

On Sigmund Freud's On Dreams (1902), a bit of The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), and the lecture, “Revision of the Theory of Dreams” (1933).

Are dreams just a bunch of random crap? Freud says, no, they're actually the first and best way to figure out the structure of the mind, which (surprise) involves the unconscious and how repressed, anti-social desires get (sort of) revealed to us, albeit smashed together through chains of association with what seems like random crap.

How can Freud support such a view? Is it science? What are its implications for our capacity to philosophize? Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan are here to sort of hint at telling you, but in a repressed sort of way. Read more about the topic and get the texts. Sign up to attend the Aftershow on Sun., 6/7, 3pm Eastern.

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Freud on Dreams (Part 1)

Joe Rogan Experience #1080 - David Goggins

In this episode, Joel and Antonia talk about the book Sapiens and the shared reality of human myths.

#769: The New Science of Narcissism

The Art of Manliness