Aspen Ideas to Go

People have been thinking about happiness for thousands of years. In fact, ancient thinkers came up with strategies for cultivating pleasures over a lifetime, or creating a lasting capacity to take joy in the world. This long-term flourishing is different from immediate pleasures — it’s a richer notion of happiness. Laurie Santos is a professor of psychology at Yale and an expert on human cognition and the cognitive biases that impede better choices. She’s joined by Yale philosophy professor Tamar Gendler. Their conversation sheds light on the modern science behind ancient discoveries. aspenideas.org

The pain and discomfort brought on by a newly-developed chronic illness can be exhausting. On top of symptoms, millions of people also have frustrating and belittling encounters with the medical system while on a quest to diagnose and treat their illnesses. Journalist Meghan O’Rourke was one of them, and it took her more than a decade to convince a doctor to run the tests that would finally explain what she was experiencing. That journey led to treatments and improved health, and also became the basis for her latest book, “The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness.” She talks with Yale internal medicine professor and author of the New York Times Magazine “Diagnosis” column, Lisa Sanders, about the process of illuminating the often disconnected and isolated community of chronically ill people. As O’Rourke explains, simple recognition can go a long way for patients facing the unknown, but even that is frequently hard to come by. In this conversation from Aspen Ideas: Health, she uses research, scientific analysis and storytelling to chart a course for a medical system that digs deeper for answers and does better for these patients. aspenideas.org

Most of us know where to find quick hits of pleasure and enjoyment. But what about satisfaction that lasts for years, or decades, or a lifetime? It can be tempting to think the secret lies in pursuing more—more money, more accomplishments, more friends, more stuff—but we have overwhelming evidence that more doesn’t work. Maybe the secret is…wanting less? Arthur Brooks teaches classes on happiness at Harvard Business School, and is the author of the New York Times bestseller “From Strength to Strength,” among many other popular books and essays. He draws from the latest research in psychology, neuroscience, behavioral economics, and other disciplines to explain why our biology pushes us to accumulate and pursue but doesn’t have our long-term best interests in mind. The good news is we can circumvent that hard-wiring by shifting our perspectives, pointing in a new direction, and chipping away at what we’ve built up on the outside to find our true selves within. aspenideas.org

Psychedelics are emerging from a period of prohibition and association with counterculture into the rigorous world of medical research and treatment. The potential outcomes for people suffering from difficult-to-treat mental ailments, such as PTSD and depression, are exciting, but the landscape is complex. The line between recreational and therapeutic use is muddy, and professionals trained to guide us through psychedelic experiences and legislative debates on legalization are few and far between. Professor Rachel Yehuda has contributed groundbreaking research to the field of PTSD and intergenerational trauma, and began incorporating psychedelic therapy into her studies a few years ago. She joined nurse practitioner and professor Andrew Penn, also a researcher and an advocate for the perspective of nurses in psychedelic therapy, and Jeeshan Chowdhury, a biopharmaceutical entrepreneur working on psychedelics and addiction care, for an informative and nuanced conversation about the cutting edge of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Doctor and podcast host Shoshana Ungerleider moderates the discussion. aspenideas.org

Professor Zoe Chance, who teaches the most popular class at the Yale School of Management, illuminates the skills and strategies necessary to improve your natural ability to persuade.Tell us what you think about this episode by taking this quick survey. aspenideas.org

Cybersecurity gaps in the technological systems that run our lives are becoming more and more apparent. Hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear about another major institution hit with an attack. Many hospitals and healthcare organizations have suffered interruptions of service because of cyber hacks and ransomware, and the consequences for patients can literally be life or death. But could these kinds of threats go even deeper? What happens when we implant internet-connected devices into our bodies, like pacemakers and defibrillators? Electrical engineer and professor Kevin Fu researches medical device cybersecurity, and uses threat modeling to game out and catch every possible weak spot before the unthinkable happens to a patient. Jessica Wilkerson works on the regulation and enforcement side, developing policy at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for safe and effective medical devices. Vivian Schiller, the executive director of Aspen Digital, moderates a conversation between the two about what it takes to ensure safety against increasingly sophisticated bad actors when the stakes couldn’t be higher, and the exact methods and scenarios are unknown. aspenideas.org

The pandemic amplified political polarization. As doctors learned more about COVID-19, protocols changed and people started to question the guidance. Science itself, came under scrutiny. CPR Audio Innovations producer Emily Williams shares a conversation with Dr. Ashish Jha, a White House COVID-19 response coordinator.Tell us what you think about this episode by taking this quick survey. aspenideas.org

Looking around and experiencing the suffering and injustice in the world can make it difficult to believe that happiness exists. But the Judeo-Christian tradition teaches that it’s sinful to succumb to despair, and we have a responsibility to ourselves and others to try and find our way through dark times. On the other hand, when you avoid suffering, you avoid meaning, and therefore, you avoid happiness, says professor and author Arthur Brooks. One of the great secrets of happiness, he says, is unhappiness. Emerging from the pandemic, spiritual and intellectual leaders may have a lot to offer us about rebuilding our lives into something better and more meaningful, and Brooks joins writer Pico Iyer for this on-stage conversation about navigating the complex waters of making healthy life choices. Drawing on the teachings of the Dalai Lama and many other religious practitioners, Brooks and Iyer wind through loss and emptiness, opportunity and purpose, and biology and psychology. Each thread brings them back to the ongoing challenge of taking control of one’s mental state and landing at a destination full of life and intention. aspenideas.org

Robots as caregivers? Meet “Pepper,” a robot that can tell a joke, recognize emotions and help people remember special times in their lives. Rebekah Romberg, of Colorado Public Radio, guides us through this fascinating talk with Professor Arshia Khan of the University of Minnesota Duluth. She spoke at Aspen Ideas: Health.Tell us what you think about this episode by taking this quick survey.  aspenideas.org

Right when women feel like they have it all figured out, many of them enter a stage of life in our society where they feel dismissed, ignored and cast out. The pressure is strong to try and hold onto youth as long as possible via whatever means necessary, and shame tends to accompany all of the available options. How can we learn to embrace the inevitability of aging a little more, and push society to come along with us? Former models Paulina Porizkova, Yasmin Warsame, and Christie Brinkley are publicly changing the conversation about what it means to be a woman in her 50s and 60s, and raising questions about beauty standards, norms, and media representation. Editor-in-chief of Allure magazine, Jessica Cruel, moderates the lively on-stage conversation and poses provocative questions about how we see ourselves and each other. aspenideas.org