372. The Art of the Interesting with Lorraine Besser

What if there's more to happiness and fulfillment than what you've been taught? Speaking about her book The Art of the Interesting, Lorraine Besser questions accepted notions of what constitutes a fulfilling life. She doesn’t just explore happiness and meaning; she challenges their dominance, exposing how chasing these ideals can sometimes leave us feeling empty and disillusioned.

Lorraine invites us to consider a different path: pursuing a psychologically rich life. This isn’t about endless joy or a sense of fulfillment that’s always just out of reach. It’s about diving into experiences that are novel, complex, and challenging—experiences that make us think deeply and feel intensely. Drawing from her own life and philosophical reflections, Lorraine shows us how to find interest and meaning in the every day, and she offers practical advice on how to weave psychological richness into the fabric of our lives.

This is more than just a conversation; it’s an important call to rethink what it means to live fully.

Listen and Learn: 

• Challenging the traditional notions of happiness and meaning as the sole keys to a fulfilling life 
• Why the pursuit of constant happiness is unrealistic and how understanding the limits of pleasure can lead to a more fulfilling and realistic approach to a good life.
• The elusive nature of fulfillment and why achieving your dreams often leads to unexpected feelings of emptiness
• The historical evolution of the concept of individual purpose
• The roles of philosophers and psychologists in exploring happiness
• The concept of "the interesting" as the third pillar to a fulfilling life
• How embracing unexpected moments of curiosity and novelty can subtly enrich your life
• Distinguishing "Mindfulness 2.0" from traditional mindfulness 
• How embracing "psychologically rich moments" can turn your everyday struggles and mundane tasks into powerful opportunities for personal growth and deeper insight
• Finding "psychologically rich moments" to help you engage with and grow from challenging situations in life 
• How being open and honest in your friendships can transform your connections
• The biggest misconception about achieving a psychologically rich life 

Resources: 

• The Art of the Interesting: What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life and How to Cultivate It
• https://www.instagram.com/lorbesser/?hl=en
• https://lorrainebesser.com/
• https://twitter.com/LorraineBesser
• https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/lorraine-besser-ph-d/the-art-of-the-interesting/9781538743201/

About Lorraine Besser

Lorraine Besser, PhD, is a professor of philosophy at Middlebury College, who specializes in the philosophy and psychology of the good life and teaches popular courses for undergraduates on happiness, well-being, and ethics. An internationally recognized scholar, she was a founding investigator on the research team studying psychological richness. She is the author of two academic books (The Philosophy of Happiness: An Interdisciplinary Introduction and Eudaimonic Ethics: The Philosophy and Psychology of Living Well) and dozens of professional journal articles on moral psychology.

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