New York Times journalist David Brooks and Nick Spencer discuss personhood, societal crisis, moral formation, historical ideas, interconnectedness of body and brain, understanding others through personality traits, and deeply seeing and understanding others in a thought-provoking conversation.
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insights INSIGHT
Relational Breakdown
Western societies face rising suicide, depression, and loneliness.
These trends, accelerating since 2013, signal a breakdown in societal relational fabric.
insights INSIGHT
Decline Timeline
The decline in social connection began around 2000, accelerating by 2013.
Factors include smartphones, economic inequality, and reduced community involvement.
insights INSIGHT
Shifting Ethos
A shift in societal ethos occurred post-WWII, from viewing humans as inherently flawed to inherently good.
This led to a decline in moral formation, as it was deemed unnecessary for self-actualization.
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This series of Reading our Times has looked at a number of scientific issues that have cast questions of, and sometimes shadows on, human personhood. So, in our final episode this series, we are asking specifically about that personhood.
What does it means to be a human person? And how do we come to know that personhood - not philosophically, not empirically but, well, personally. In an age in which technology threatens to remake us, even despite our intentions, how can we come to know and honour our deepest existence?
In this week's episode, Nick Spencer speaks to David Brooks about his book How To Know a Person.
You can buy a copy of David's book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Know-Person-Seeing-Others/dp/0241670292
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