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Most of us live mindlessly most of the time.
In this unconscious state, we drift into the illusion of certainty. But what if our pernicious attachment to knowing is precisely what prevents us from embracing the freedom that comes with uncertainty?
When we believe we fully understand something, we stop paying attention—and in that unconscious state, we miss the kaleidoscopic nature of reality itself.
My guest today is Dr. Ellen Langer, Harvard’s first tenured female psychology professor and a pioneering researcher who has transformed our understanding of consciousness and its relationship to physical reality. After our initial conversation (Ep. 813), she returns to delve even deeper into these waters.
Dubbed “The Mother of Mindfulness,” Dr. Langer has spent over four decades demonstrating how subtle shifts in mindset can create measurable changes in health, aging, and performance—challenging our most cherished assumptions about what is possible. Her book, “The Mindful Body,” synthesizes these discoveries, showing how simply noticing new things can transform our fundamental experience of being alive.
“The experience you have of any outcome is up to you.”
– DR. ELLEN LANGER
Today, we explore:
- Making Decisions vs. Making Them Right
- The Myth of Sleep Requirements
- Mindfulness Beyond Meditation
- The Power of Noticing New Things
For those who prefer a visual experience, the conversation is available on YouTube. As always, the audio version streams wild and free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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- Dr. Ellen Langer: Website | Instagram | X | Facebook
- Harvard University: Ellen J. Langer
- Book: The Mindful Body: Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health
- Book: Mindfulness (25th anniversary edition)
- Book: Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility
- Book: On Becoming an Artist: Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity
- Psychology Today: Ellen Langer
- Harvard Business Review: Mindfulness in the Age of Complexity
- The New York Times Magazine: What if Age Is Nothing but a Mind-Set?
- The Atlantic: How to Know That You Know Nothing
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Thank The Team: I do not do this alone. Send your love to Jason Camiolo for audio engineering, production, show notes and interstitial music; with additional audio engineering by Cale Curtis and additional music by Moby; Dan Drake & Morgan McCrae for video, & editing; graphics by graphics by Alejandro Ribadeneira & Bryan Lawrence; portraits by Davy Greenberg; copywriting by Ben Pryor; and theme music by Tyler Piatt, Trapper Piatt & Hari Mathis.
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