Advice columnist and science writer Amy Alkon sheds light on the evolutionary roots of modern impoliteness. She shares research on how to cure rudeness and make the world a friendlier place. Scott and Amy get personal as they cover topics like living with ADHD, being a starving artist, how to live a good life and the joy of being “weird.”
In this episode you will hear about:
- How our “our modern skulls house stone age minds”
- How population growth and technology have produced pervasive rudeness
- How a kind act can make the world into one big neighborhood
- 3 easy tools for more positive communication
- How to give advice that will actually get used
- How to deal with rude people
- The essential parts of a good apology
- Amy and Scott’s eccentricities.
- What it’s like to have ADHD and some surprising benefits of the diagnosis
- Amy’s opinions regarding the stigma of psychiatric medication
- Pathological altruism
- Injecting meaning into your life
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Resources:
- Amy’s website
- Amy’s book, Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck
- Scott’s article "The Creative Gifts of ADHD"
- An explanation of “Dunbar’s number”
- Mark Goulston’s book, Just Listen
- Barbara Oakley’s book, Pathological Altruism
- “Witnessing excellence in action: the ‘other-praising emotions of elevation, gratitude, and admiration” by Sara Algoe and Jonathan Haidt
- Sonja Lyubomirsky’s website
“Amy Alkon writes The Advice Goddess, an award-winning, syndicated column that runs in more than one hundred newspapers across the United States and Canada. She is also the author of I See Rude People. She has been on Good Morning America, The Today Show, NPR, CNN, MTV, and Entertainment Tonight and has a weekly radio show called Advice Goddess Radio. She has also written for Psychology Today, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Daily News (New York), and Pravda, among others. She lives in Venice, California.” –Blurb taken from Amazon.com
This article originally appeared on Scientific American.
