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Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I want to start off this show about gratitude with gratitude for YOU. Holidays can be a super stressful time. I'm recording this before Thanksgiving, but if you listen to this podcast ON Thanksgiving itself, I will be hosting 10 family members for Thanksgiving. First of all, what exactly IS gratitude? Even though we kind of instinctively KNOW what gratitude is, it can be hard to put into words. Is it an emotion? A feeling? A practice? A virtue? All of the above? The definition of gratitude is “the state of being grateful : THANKFULNESS.” And thankfulness is defined as “the state of being conscious of benefit received.” Psychologists Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami define gratitude as a two-step process: 1) “recognizing that one has obtained a positive outcome” and 2) “recognizing that there is an external source for this positive outcome.” Gratitude is an amazing practice because it helps us focus on the GOOD that is happening in our lives, whether that is big or small. It can also be a time to realize that the goodness is coming from a higher power, from God. It's reassuring realizing that there is someone out there bigger than ourselves who is working for our good. Where did gratitude come from? According to a White Paper on Gratitude called “The Science of Gratitude” from the University of Berkley, some scientists suggest that gratitude may have evolved as a mechanism to drive reciprocal altruism, thereby turning strangers into friends and allies who are more likely to help one another. What are the benefits of gratitude? According to Harvard Medical School, Positive Psychology research shows that gratitude is consistently shown to be strongly related with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. I want to share a few studies on gratitude to further prove the overwhelming benefits of gratitude. In the first study called “Counting Blessings versus Burdens”, two psychologists, Dr. Robert A. Emmons and Dr. Michael E. McCullough they asked all participants to write a few sentences each week. One group wrote about things they were grateful for that had occurred during the week. A second group wrote about daily irritations or things that had displeased them, and the third wrote about events that had affected them (with no emphasis on them being positive or negative). After 10 weeks, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. Surprisingly, they also exercised more and had fewer visits to physicians than those who focused on sources of aggravation. Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, tested the impact of various positive psychology interventions on 411 people, each compared with a control assignment of writing about early memories. “When their week's assignment was to write and personally deliver a letter of gratitude to someone who had never been properly thanked for his or her kindness, participants immediately exhibited a huge increase in happiness scores. This impact was greater than that from any other intervention, with benefits lasting for a month.” Research on how gratitude affects the heart is limited, but it suggests a correlation between positive psychological attributes, such as gratitude, with improved outcomes in cardiac patients. The positive effects of gratitude can be physically seen on brain imaging. Areas of the brain associated with emotional regulation and mental calmness were more active when participants were instructed in a gratitude meditation. Start Practicing Gratitude Today If you've never started a gratitude practice, now is a great time! You can practice gratitude about past experiences, things that are currently happening in your life, and staying hopeful and grateful for the future. Here are some ways to start practicing gratitude: If today is Thanksgiving and you're around your extended family, take this time to each share one thing you're grateful for. This can be a special way to feel closer together as a family. Get a separate journal or pad of paper that is dedicated exclusively to your gratitude practice. At the same time every day, maybe as you wake up each morning or before you go to bed, write down three things you're grateful for. They can be super tiny or huge celebrations. It's culturally encouraged to give thanks before meals! Remember to either say a prayer of gratitude or if you're not religious, you can practice a moment of gratitude to all the hands that went into growing and making your food. This moment can actually help you calm down and enter into a parasympathetic state, which also aids in digestion! Practice the art of writing thank you notes! You might be accustomed to writing thank you notes for gifts, but you can expand that practice to kind notes that don't need a reason. This has shown to benefit both the giver and receiver. If you're not a letter writer, you could also say thank you with a phone call or text. Write down your thankful thoughts on small pieces of paper, and put them in a jar. Then go back and read them when you're feeling. Practice gratitude around the dinner table. Have each person in your family share one thing they are grateful for that day! Supporting Resources: Counting Blessings versus Burdens: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/pdfs/GratitudePDFs/6Emmons-BlessingsBurdens.pdf “The Science of Gratitude” from the University of Berkley: https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/images/uploads/GGSC-JTF_White_Paper-Gratitude-FINAL.pdf Effects of gratitude meditation on neural network functional connectivity and brain-heart coupling: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5506019/ Positive psychological attributes and cardiac outcomes: associations, mechanisms, and interventions: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22748749/ Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know I sent you.
El ser humano siente la necesidad de expresar gratitud y es una práctica muy poderosa y además, universal. Según, Emmons uno de los pioneros de la investigación sobre las maneras en la que la gratitud afecta a nuestras vidas, y para evaluar los niveles de gratitud de las personas, Emmons y su colega Michael E. McCullough crearon un cuestionario que les permitió comparar a la “gente agradecida” con aquellos que lo son un poco menos. También encontraron maneras de cultivar la gratitud con sujetos de análisis, manteniendo un “diario de gratitud,” contando los agradecimientos de cada uno, escribiendo cartas de agradecimiento, y posteriormente estudiaron los cambios que resultaron de ello. La vida es un milagro que sólo puedes ver cuando te pones los lentes del agradecimiento.
Michael E. McCullough - The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code...with TRE's Dave Hodgson
Why Give a Damn About Strangers? In his book The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code (Basic Books, 2020), Michael E. McCullough explains. McCullough is a professor of psychology at the University of California San Diego, where he directs the Evolution and Human Behavior laboratory. Long interested in prosocial behavior and morality, he's conducted research on forgiveness, revenge, gratitude, empathy, altruism, and religion. His other books include Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct. This episode covers four evolved human instincts related to empathy; why “natural selection is a penny-pincher; and seven hinges of history that explain the historical progression of empathy—culminating in today's Age of Impact. Dan Hill, PhD, is the author of eight books and leads Sensory Logic, Inc. (https://www.sensorylogic.com). To check out his related “Dan Hill's EQ Spotlight” blog, visit https://emotionswizard.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why Give a Damn About Strangers? In his book The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code (Basic Books, 2020), Michael E. McCullough explains. McCullough is a professor of psychology at the University of California San Diego, where he directs the Evolution and Human Behavior laboratory. Long interested in prosocial behavior and morality, he’s conducted research on forgiveness, revenge, gratitude, empathy, altruism, and religion. His other books include Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct. This episode covers four evolved human instincts related to empathy; why “natural selection is a penny-pincher; and seven hinges of history that explain the historical progression of empathy—culminating in today’s Age of Impact. Dan Hill, PhD, is the author of eight books and leads Sensory Logic, Inc. (https://www.sensorylogic.com). To check out his related “Dan Hill’s EQ Spotlight” blog, visit https://emotionswizard.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why Give a Damn About Strangers? In his book The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code (Basic Books, 2020), Michael E. McCullough explains. McCullough is a professor of psychology at the University of California San Diego, where he directs the Evolution and Human Behavior laboratory. Long interested in prosocial behavior and morality, he’s conducted research on forgiveness, revenge, gratitude, empathy, altruism, and religion. His other books include Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct. This episode covers four evolved human instincts related to empathy; why “natural selection is a penny-pincher; and seven hinges of history that explain the historical progression of empathy—culminating in today’s Age of Impact. Dan Hill, PhD, is the author of eight books and leads Sensory Logic, Inc. (https://www.sensorylogic.com). To check out his related “Dan Hill’s EQ Spotlight” blog, visit https://emotionswizard.com.
Why Give a Damn About Strangers? In his book The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code (Basic Books, 2020), Michael E. McCullough explains. McCullough is a professor of psychology at the University of California San Diego, where he directs the Evolution and Human Behavior laboratory. Long interested in prosocial behavior and morality, he’s conducted research on forgiveness, revenge, gratitude, empathy, altruism, and religion. His other books include Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct. This episode covers four evolved human instincts related to empathy; why “natural selection is a penny-pincher; and seven hinges of history that explain the historical progression of empathy—culminating in today’s Age of Impact. Dan Hill, PhD, is the author of eight books and leads Sensory Logic, Inc. (https://www.sensorylogic.com). To check out his related “Dan Hill’s EQ Spotlight” blog, visit https://emotionswizard.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why Give a Damn About Strangers? In his book The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code (Basic Books, 2020), Michael E. McCullough explains. McCullough is a professor of psychology at the University of California San Diego, where he directs the Evolution and Human Behavior laboratory. Long interested in prosocial behavior and morality, he’s conducted research on forgiveness, revenge, gratitude, empathy, altruism, and religion. His other books include Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct. This episode covers four evolved human instincts related to empathy; why “natural selection is a penny-pincher; and seven hinges of history that explain the historical progression of empathy—culminating in today’s Age of Impact. Dan Hill, PhD, is the author of eight books and leads Sensory Logic, Inc. (https://www.sensorylogic.com). To check out his related “Dan Hill’s EQ Spotlight” blog, visit https://emotionswizard.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why Give a Damn About Strangers? In his book The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code (Basic Books, 2020), Michael E. McCullough explains. McCullough is a professor of psychology at the University of California San Diego, where he directs the Evolution and Human Behavior laboratory. Long interested in prosocial behavior and morality, he’s conducted research on forgiveness, revenge, gratitude, empathy, altruism, and religion. His other books include Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct. This episode covers four evolved human instincts related to empathy; why “natural selection is a penny-pincher; and seven hinges of history that explain the historical progression of empathy—culminating in today’s Age of Impact. Dan Hill, PhD, is the author of eight books and leads Sensory Logic, Inc. (https://www.sensorylogic.com). To check out his related “Dan Hill’s EQ Spotlight” blog, visit https://emotionswizard.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why Give a Damn About Strangers? In his book The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code (Basic Books, 2020), Michael E. McCullough explains. McCullough is a professor of psychology at the University of California San Diego, where he directs the Evolution and Human Behavior laboratory. Long interested in prosocial behavior and morality, he's conducted research on forgiveness, revenge, gratitude, empathy, altruism, and religion. His other books include Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct. This episode covers four evolved human instincts related to empathy; why “natural selection is a penny-pincher; and seven hinges of history that explain the historical progression of empathy—culminating in today's Age of Impact. Dan Hill, PhD, is the author of eight books and leads Sensory Logic, Inc. (https://www.sensorylogic.com). To check out his related “Dan Hill's EQ Spotlight” blog, visit https://emotionswizard.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/psychology
How did humans, a species of self-centered apes, come to care about others? Since Darwin, scientists have tried to answer this question using evolutionary theory. In The Kindness of Strangers, psychologist Michael E. McCullough shows why they have failed and offers a new explanation instead. From the moment nomadic humans first settled down until the aftermath of the Second World War, our species has confronted repeated crises that we could only survive by changing our behavior. As McCullough argues, these choices weren’t enabled by an evolved moral sense, but with moral invention — driven not by evolution’s dictates but by reason. Today’s challenges — climate change, mass migration, nationalism — are some of humanity’s greatest yet. In revealing how past crises shaped the foundations of human concern, The Kindness of Strangers offers clues for how we can adapt our moral thinking to survive these challenges as well.
Today's guest is Michael McCullough of the University of California, San Diego. We are discussing his book The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code. How did humans, a species of self-centered apes, come to care about others? Since Darwin, scientists have tried to answer this question using evolutionary theory. In The Kindness of Strangers, psychologist Michael E. McCullough shows why they have failed and offers a new explanation instead. From the moment nomadic humans first settled down until the aftermath of the Second World War, our species has confronted repeated crises that we could only survive by changing our behavior. As McCullough argues, these choices weren’t enabled by an evolved moral sense, but with moral invention — driven not by evolution’s dictates but by reason. Today's challenges — climate change, mass migration, nationalism — are some of humanity’s greatest yet. In revealing how past crises shaped the foundations of human concern, The Kindness of Strangers offers clues for how we can adapt our moral thinking to survive these challenges as well.
In this sweeping psychological history of human goodness — from the foundations of evolution to the modern political and social challenges humanity is now facing — psychologist Michael McCullough answers a fundamental question: How did humans, a species of self-centered apes, come to care about others?Ever since Darwin, scientists have tried to answer this question using evolutionary theory. McCullough shows why they have failed and offers a new explanation instead. From the moment nomadic humans first settled down until the aftermath of the Second World War, our species has confronted repeated crises that we could only survive by changing our behavior. As McCullough argues, these choices weren’t enabled by an evolved moral sense, but with moral invention — driven not by evolution’s dictates but by reason. Today’s challenges — climate change, mass migration, nationalism — are some of humanity’s greatest yet. In revealing how past crises shaped the foundations of human concern, McCullough offers clues for how we can adapt our moral thinking to survive these challenges as well. Shermer and McCullough also discuss: Darwin’s Dictum: All observation must be for or against some view if it is to be of any service. the problem to solve: why are people kind to strangers (i.e., origins of empathy, altruism, and kindness)? why we don’t need “divine command” theory to explain real morality, which can be derived through evolutionary theory plus philosophical ethical systems, evolutionary “by-product” theory: when we help strangers in the modern world we are following ancient rules of thumb that worked well enough in a world in which meeting someone for the first time was a reasonably good indicator that you’d meet them again, Frans deWaal and the “thin veneer” theory of human morality and civilization he thinks Dawkins holds, and why our morals are a thick veneer on our evolved nature, Peter Singer’s expanding circle, Norbert Elias’ The Civilizing Process and his etiquette books advisories, why stranger-adaptation and blessed-mistake theories are too simplistic, a brief overview of the past 10,000 years of moral progress, our evolved human instincts: (1) our social instincts for helping others in hopes of receiving help in return, (2) our instinct for helping others in pursuit of glory, (3) our ability to track incentives, and (4) our capacity for reason, the 7 Ages of human history: Age of Orphans, Age of Compassion, Age of Prevention, First Poverty Enlightenment, Humanitarian Big Bang, Second Poverty Enlightenment, Age of Impact, and the end of poverty, UBI, and other social tools for creating a more just society of strangers. Michael McCullough is a professor of psychology at the University of California, San Diego. The winner of numerous distinctions for his research and writing, he is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. He lives in La Jolla, California.
Just thinking about forgiveness can get overwhelming. Where do you start? How do you do the hard work? And is it worth it in the end?Today's episode unpacks this struggle and offers a practical strategy to address the need for us to ask for and extend forgiveness. Using the acronym GRACE, we acknowledge these volatile barriers that keep us stuck in an unforgiving pattern and offer a tool for moving forward. G - Get real with yourself R - Remember what forgiveness is, and isn't A - Affirm the value of forgiveness C - Commit to the process E - Examples of forgiveness Show Notes:4:00 The first step in forgiveness might surprise you, but here's why Getting real about the difficulty of forgiveness is important to acknowledge.6:10 It's easy to confuse what forgiveness is and isn't. Remembering this definition will help clarify what it means to choose to forgive. 9:40 Without this Affirmation, it will be easy to abandon the plan to forgive and sit in our unforgiveness.10:30 Everyone says we should forgive others, but why? These physical benefits of forgiveness confirm what the Bible says on the topic.13:00 Unforgiveness blocks us from experiencing this to the fullest and should be one of the biggest motivators to forgive others.15:20 Want more control of your emotions? This advice is counter-intuitive but works.16:00 Forgiveness won't happen overnight, which is why your Commitment to this is step is critical. 18:00 Listen here to understand how being image-bearers of Christ impact our desire for reconciliation.19:30 Cultivate this "little" thing to help you forgive the big things.20:30 Need encouragement to continue the forgiveness process? Remembering inspiration Examples of forgiveness can help keep you on track.Sources: The Forgiveness Instinct by Michael E. McCullough, March 1, 2008 published by UC Berkeley's Greater Good Magazine.Mayo Clinic Articlehttps://mayocl.in/2ZmuIrZ
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