Jonathan Haidt and Tom Munnecke talk about Positive Psychology, the emotions of elevation of elevation and awe, Christopher Alexander’s Pattern Languages, Group selection, morale psychology, evolutionary systems theory, fitness functions, Martin Seligman’s Akumai meetings, and the possibility of creating cascades of goodness. Barbara Marx Hubbard, who was interviewed separately, appears in the background. Filmed on the campus of UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 10, 2008. Videography by Jeremy Saville.
What interests me particularly, however, is the notion of what I’ll call positive genomics. Is it possible to understand the genome in terms of the positive, life-affirming qualities that make us whole, resilient, and adaptive? Can we find genetic contributors to Seligman and Peterson’ Character Strengths and Virtues? Rather than compiling endless taxonomies, can we find and understand what’s working? Given the information explosion that we are undergoing, how do we even begin to discover this positive informationOne interesting study of the wellderly seems to be a step in the right direction:
The ‘Wellderly Study’ is a joint initiative between the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland. It hopes to investigate the genomes of 2,000 people aged 80 or more who take no significant medication and have never suffered from any serious disease.
“We are looking at a cohort that we think is harbouring major secrets. They have disease susceptibility genes, but they don’t get the diseases you would have expected. Something has protected them. We hope to find out what that is,” says study leader Eric Topol, who is director of genomic medicine at Scripps.”
So, how do we bridge the information gap between the petabytes of genomic information inundating us to the notion of beauty, awe, and a a life well-lived? I’m not quite sure at the moment, but it’s a wonderful question to be asking. I am sure that we aren’t going to answer this question by breaking things and then looking for what fails.
I’m very open to hearing about other positive genomic research and efforts… mail me at munnecke@gmail.com if you have any suggestions, putting “Postive Genomics” in the subject line of your message.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, is a leading thinker in the field of Positive Psychology. This interview was recorded at the Purpose Prize Summit at Stanford University Sept 8, 2006 by Tom Munnecke.
One of the world’s leading authorities on the psychology of creativity, Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyiis the C.S. and D.J. Davidson Professor of Psychology at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and Director of the Quality of Life Research Center. He is also emeritus professor of human development at the University of Chicago.
Csikszentmihalyi holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago where he later returned as a professor. He has been a visiting professor at several universities both in the US and abroad. His research has been supported by the US Public Health Service, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Sloan Foundation, the W.T. Grant Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation.
A former resident scholar at the Rockefeller Center at Bellagio, resident fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, and senior Fullbright Fellow in Brazil and New Zealand, Dr. Csikszentmihalyi holds honorary doctor of science degrees from Colorado College and from Lake Forest College and a doctor of fine arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design.
In addition to the hugely influential Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (1990), he is the author of thirteen other books and some 225 research articles. His most recent book is Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning (2003).
This interview was recorded at the Purpose Prize Summit at Stanford University Sept 8, 2006 by Tom Munnecke.
