Science Meets Ancient Chinese Philosophy, with Dr. Edward Slingerland

Amy Alkon HumanLab -- The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science. On tonight’s show, science gets together with ancient Chinese philosophy, and it likes what it finds.  Dr. Edward Slingerland, an internationally renowned Chinese philosophy expert, draws on both cutting-edge science and ancient Chinese strategies to show how our modern Western approach of striving our guts out doesn’t seem to lead to success or happiness. In fact, he observes, it seems that getting practiced enough in something that it comes naturally is the way to avoid forcing things in the moment (which is actually counterproductive to succeeding). Dr. Slingerland will talk about this, how achieving that sort of effortlessness is the way to personal charisma, and much more on tonight’s show. His book he’ll be discussing is “Trying Not To Try: The Art And Science of Spontaneity.” Join us and see how we can better our work, relationships, and lives -- if we can just get out of our own way. Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Please order my new book, the science-based and funny "Good Manners For Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" -- only $11ish at Amazon. Orders help support my writing and the work I do to put out this show and are much appreciated!