“Too often when we find someone disagreeing with us, our question is about why. Why do you believe this ridiculous thing? What tends to work better is a how question... This kind of approach helps to view the real complexity of a situation and reveals gaps in knowledge.”
— Adam Grant
Organizational psychologist & bestselling author on work culture and human potential

The quote archive

Psychology

A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.

I think everyone should meditate. It's important to relax your brain and body, even just 10 minutes a day. You can do a lot to protect and build your immune system by controlling your stress and living a well-rounded life.

— Dr. Bob Lahita

Rheumatologist and lupus researcher; author on autoimmune diseases

There's a direct link between mental health and immunity. If you go through a divorce, if you are in a car accident, or if you suffer some major trauma to your body… your cortisone rises, adrenaline goes-up. You could have enough of an immune response to get pneumonia.

— Dr. Bob Lahita

Rheumatologist and lupus researcher; author on autoimmune diseases

Today's workers don't want their own reputation soiled by working for a company that doesn't have a good reputation. They want to feel their work has meaning, and the companies they work for have a purpose.

— Andy Last

The right idea is one that fascinates you, that you can't get out of your mind, that's a puzzle you want to solve. The path from a raw idea to success is a long one- full of frustration, dead-ends. If you don't have something that genuinely fascinates you, you're going to give-up long before the point you finally stumble on the thing that works.

— Marc Randolph

Co-Founder of Netflix & Streaming Pioneer

Power is relational; we talk about seizing power but ultimately – at least in democratic societies – you need the followers to be powerful, and it's important therefore for us to understand the cognitive biases that mean that we keep gravitating towards people who are clearly unfit for the job.

— Brian Klaas

Political scientist & author specializing in authoritarianism and democracy

If someone is commanding in their presence, it directly correlates to how a group judges their skill level! Someone who is commanding in presence is often followed over someone who is far more effective but who is quiet, hesitant, or timid.

— Brian Klaas

Political scientist & author specializing in authoritarianism and democracy

Our brains are adapted to pick leaders based on characteristics that are no longer adaptive, or necessary today. In times of crisis, we are wired to gravitate towards strong men – strong males who are overconfident and speak of solutions in simplistic terms.

— Brian Klaas

Political scientist & author specializing in authoritarianism and democracy

There's an innate tendency in human-beings to sort ourselves by how much we want power. Some of us don't want it at all, some of us are absolutely obsessed with it. The interaction between the individual and the system is therefore critical.

— Brian Klaas

Political scientist & author specializing in authoritarianism and democracy

Our brains are constantly taking shortcuts to inform us about the world and this introduces an intrinsic error which our brains are filling in. By the time we 'see' something perceptually, we're a fraction of a second behind real-time.

— Guy Leschziner

Sleep medicine specialist and NHS consultant neurologist studying sleep disorders

If our senses are really how we understand the world, and there are differences in those sensory windows, then our internal world will be different. Perhaps these differences explain the diversity of beliefs.

— Guy Leschziner

Sleep medicine specialist and NHS consultant neurologist studying sleep disorders

What we perceive to be the absolute truth of the world around us is a complex reconstruction, a virtual reality created by the complex machinations of our minds. We have no idea about the world that we inhabit and what the brain is doing is really creating an entire shortcut that enables us to understand the world without being able to physically really understand the reality in which we inhabit, which is a mind-blowing concept.

— Guy Leschziner

Sleep medicine specialist and NHS consultant neurologist studying sleep disorders

Humanity has the arrogance to believe that our intelligence is the only form of intelligence. Of course, we're arrogant enough to believe that we are the most intelligent being on the planet. We don't really know what intelligence is.

— Mo Gawdat

Former Google Executive & Author of "Solve for Happy

Consciousness is at the root of human identity. Fundamentally, we relate to each other as beings with feelings and experiences. Consciousness is at the root of everything that really matters in life from deep emotions, subtle thoughts, these are the things that make life worth living.

— Philip Goff

Philosopher specializing in consciousness and panpsychism

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.

— Philip Goff

Philosopher specializing in consciousness and panpsychism

Sometimes it doesn't matter if the other side doesn't care about fairness; provided you do, you explain what's going on. Now it's arbitrary versus arbitrary versus principle versus arbitrary.

— Barry Nalebuff

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

I think the people who are larger or those who have more resources like to think they're the ones who have greater power… and they have benefited from that illusion.

— Barry Nalebuff

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