62 - Scott Barry Kaufman - What We Are Capable of Becoming

You can find out more about Scott’s work here: https://scottbarrykaufman.com/ Scott’s book, Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualisation: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/552566/transcend-by-scott-barry-kaufman-phd/9780143131205 Scott’s interview on Sam Harris’ Making Sense podcast: https://samharris.org/podcasts/209-a-good-life/ Scott’s interview with Sean Carroll: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2020/04/06/91-scott-barry-kaufman-on-the-psychology-of-transcendence/ Follow Scott on Twitter: @sbkaufman Further References The OCEAN personality test: https://www.psychometrictest.org.uk/big-five-personality/ Kim Stanley Robinson, Mars trilogy: Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars (1993) Derren Brown, Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine (2016) Sci fi series Salvation: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6170874/ P. D. James, The Children of Men (1992) Peter D. Ward, Robert Brownlee Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe (2000) George Eliot, Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life (1871–72) Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning (1943) John Keats, “Ode on Melancholy” (1819): https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44478/ode-on-melancholy Timestamps 2:35 The pyramid image versus Scott’s sailboat metaphor 13:37 Ascetic orders, basic needs & transcendence. Can monks be self-actualizing? 21:19 My general assessment of Scott’s book 23:44 The D-realm (“deficiency” realm) 26:52 Scott’s interview with Sam Harris 29:15 Disagreeableness 30:44 Axes of human personality 31:51 Stability and plasticity 34:08 Introversion and extraversion 38:54 The B-realm (“being” realm) 42:59 How easy is to access the B-realm and to find transcendence? 53:34 Peak experiences, flow states, transcendence 1:01:05 Maslow’s discoveries at the end of his life 1:02:58 Demotivation and how to fight it 1:07:04 Attachment styles and other ways in which the D- and B-realms are inextricably intertwined