Woman cuddles, plays with her dog at home, fetaured image of new episode titled Awake and Aware: The Science of Becoming a Better Human and Society with Stuart Shanker & Jim Davies PhD

Awake and Aware: The Science of Becoming a Better Human and Society

Original Air Date Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Since 1995, the amount of stress Americans feel has skyrocketed and is still escalating. This time correlates with the accessibility of personal computing in our homes.

Today, the constant barrage of distractions from smartphone notifications and other electronic media have penetrated our ability to concentrate and seriously slashed our productivity. So, how do we take back our lives and become better aware humans and a better society?

To explore strategies to keep us awake and aware, Harvesting Happiness Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two doctors about optimizing our lives.

Dr. Stuart Shanker discusses the many types of stress and his latest book, REFRAMED: Self-reg for a Just Society and Jim Davies Ph.D. walks us through his book, Being the Person Your Dog Thinks You Are, and what science says about how we can become better people and a better society.

Tune in:

Meet Our Guests:

Awake and Aware: The Science of Becoming a Better Human and Society with Stuart Shanker & Jim Davies PhD

Stuart Shanker is a distinguished research professor emeritus of philosophy and psychology at York University, and founder of the MEHRIT Centre, Ltd. He is a world-leading authority and bestselling author on the topic of self-regulation and child development, and the former president of the Council of Early Child Development.

Book: REFRAMED: Self-reg for a Just Society

Dr. Stuart Shanker — Becoming an aware Society:

  • What is self-regulation and maladapted self-regulation? {1:47}
  • The five types of stress and how excessive stress causes polarization. {5:32}
  • The stress levels in the U.S. have crept upward since 1995 and continue to rise every year. {8:37}
  • Hidden stresses can be remedied with time and patience. {13:58}
  • Stuart’s latest book, REFRAMED explores human nature, human development, and IQ. {22:41}
  • The triune brain has three parts, the neocortex, the limbic system, and the reptilian brain. {26:14}

Follow Dr. Stuart Shanker:

Awake and Aware: The Science of Becoming a Better Human and Society with Stuart Shanker & Jim Davies PhD

Jim Davies is a professor of cognitive science and author of three books, Riveted, Imagination, and Being the Person Your Dog Thinks You Are, to be released in February 2021. He is an award-winning teacher and researcher and co-hosts the podcast Minding the Brain.

Book: Being the Person Your Dog Thinks You Are: The Science of a Better You

Jim Davies Ph.D. — The Science of Being a Better Aware Human:

  • The three components of optimizing our lives. {34:57}
  • What biases do we have toward charities and why do we give to certain charities but not others? {40:27}
  • Shifting priorities and changing habits is the secret to happiness. {43:03}
  • Jim shares the causes that save the most lives for the least amount of money. {49:17}
  • The science of intuition and when to defy your gut instinct. {52:40}
  • Distractions and interruptions, how they affect productivity, and what we can do to avoid them. {57:08}

Follow Jim Davies PhD:

Shareables:

“There are 447 different definitions of self-regulation but self-regulation is how we handle stress.” @stuart_shanker on @HHTalkRadio Share on X “Stress is anything that requires us to burn energy to keep the system going.” @stuart_shanker on @HHTalkRadio Share on X “Interruptions are the bane of productivity. If someone can remove distraction from their life it is almost like a superpower.” @drjimdavies Share on X “If we punish stress behavior because we thought it was misbehavior we add to the child’s stress load. We make things worse.” @stuart_shanker Share on X

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