Psychology

We seem to be in a strange period of history where our official world view, our official picture of the universe denies the reality of the thing that's most evident and the thing that gives life value. I think people do feel this at an intuitive level, and it can lead to a deep sense of alienation, a sense that we don't fit into the world somehow.

Philosopher specializing in consciousness and panpsychism

The first thing I'd say is a big mistake is not caring about what the other side wants. Oftentimes people are thinking I have to say no to the other side. My goal is to say yes to them. It's to figure out what it is they want and give it to them.

Co-Author of "Co-opetition" & Yale School of Management Professor

I think people all the time, hide or lie about information that would be useful to share. If you think about somebody who's selling their business because they want to climb the seven summits and they think, Oh… that's sort of embarrassing, it's selfish ….and so they say, I'm doing it because I'm retiring. We hide things that are ultimately good reasons.

Co-Author of "Co-opetition" & Yale School of Management Professor

We have angels in mythology which fly everywhere, we have fairies, we have myths like the Greek myth of Icarus. It does have a great hold over our imagination. I feel it's such a wonderful thing to be able to leave the tyranny of gravity to leave the ground and fly wherever you will.

Evolutionary Biologist & Author of "The Selfish Gene

Magical thinking is a bi-product of cognitive process that were useful in our evolutionary survival. We're so good at pattern matching that we see patterns everywhere, even when they don't exist. It's better to believe the movement in the dark is a tiger, rather than the wind blowing thru a bush. Its better to be wrong on that, than the other way around.

We have to be aware of our cognitive fallacies to build some immunity to our cognitive traps. One simple thing we can all do is work on our own confirmation bias from time to time. I try to read things by people I disagree with for example, because I want to hear their best arguments and see whether my beliefs and values stand-up to them.

We are a product of evolution, and the mechanism of evolution is natural selection. Evolution is selecting for survival, and the qualities we have are evolved to help us survive as well as possible. Our cognitive capability to reason has not evolved to find truth, it evolved to help us survive and that means that we sometimes find it easier to stay with a group rather than believe the correct thing.

When you're involved in conflict, you're not sane. You may start out being sane, and in those early stages it's certainly possible to mediate and arbitrate. Using those tools you often end up cutting the baby in half – you give a little, I give a little, you give a little more, I give a little more, and suddenly everyone is miserable.

Creator and star of TV show "Judge Judy" for 25 years

Without music, life would be hollow. Music is like food, we need it. It's essential. It's invisible, and doesn't require our attention, and so it gets threaded into our lives. Music becomes a strong part of our memories, our sense of self, and identity.

Georgian-British singer-songwriter known for "Nine Million Bicycles

Songs are like a cleanse for the nervous system. I was walking through London the other day, and my mind was full of my to-do list, work, and so much more. I put on She's Always a Woman by Billy Joel and I just suddenly felt psychologically lifted.

Georgian-British singer-songwriter known for "Nine Million Bicycles

When I got better, even simple things like being able to wake-up, go for a walk, speak, and observe life, felt viscerally stunning and good. I found a state of being – a state that gave me perspective and feeling about life and my place in it.

Georgian-British singer-songwriter known for "Nine Million Bicycles

Cruel optimism is where someone comes along with a very simple app which says you can mediate for a few minutes a day and it will give you your attention back. It's optimistic because you're offering a solution in an upbeat tone – but it's cruel because solution is small, and incommensurate to the scale of the causes.

Journalist and author known for books on addiction and depression

Think about anything you've ever achieved in your life that you're proud of... It will have taken a huge amount of sustained focus and attention. When your ability to focus and pay attention breaks down, so too does your ability to achieve goals.

Journalist and author known for books on addiction and depression

Your attention hasn't collapsed, it's been stolen from you by big forces. Once we understand those forces, we can begin to build meaningful solutions.

Journalist and author known for books on addiction and depression

What are you responsible for and what are you not responsible for? That's a fundamental question in life. If we start feeling bad about things over which we have no control, that is the inevitable source of a downward spiral.

Author of "Drive" & Leading Work Culture Expert

What we think of as important today is rarely what really matters. In 10 years' time, you're not going to regret using the wrong Instagram filter, or not getting enough likes on a social media post. You will however, regret not reaching out to someone before it was too late.

Author of "Drive" & Leading Work Culture Expert