Social reality is so complicated that, once you join one team or the other, you become specialized in detecting certain patterns, but you become blind to other patterns.
Jonathan HaidtRead
Suppose you read about a pill that you could take once a day to reduce anxiety and increase your contentment. Would you take it? Suppose further that the pill has a great variety of side effects, all of them good: increased self-esteem, empathy, and trust; it even improves memory. Suppose, finally, that the pill is all natural and costs nothing. Now would you take it? The pill exists. It is meditation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Meditation can greatly enhance mental well-being and personal qualities without any negative effects.
This quote by Jonathan Haidt highlights the profound benefits of meditation, suggesting that it serves as a metaphorical 'pill' that can significantly improve one's mental health, self-esteem, and interpersonal skills. It emphasizes the idea that meditation is a natural, cost-free practice that can enhance life in ways that many might overlook.
Themes
MeditationAnxietyContentmentSelf-EsteemMindfulness
In practice
Example use cases
During a wellness seminar, I quoted Haidt to encourage attendees to consider meditation as a tool for better mental health.
More from Jonathan Haidt
All quotes →Understanding the simple fact that morality differs around the world, and even within societies, is the first step toward understanding your righteous mind.
Jonathan HaidtRead
Trying to run Congress without human relationships is like trying to run a car without motor oil. Should we be surprised when the whole thing freezes up?
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If you grow up in a WEIRD society, you become so well educated in the ethic of autonomy that you can detect oppression and inequality even where the apparent victims see nothing wrong.
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When you hear someone criticize a policy on the other side, that's fine. But when you start hearing motive-mongering and demonization, stand up to it just as you would if it were something that was racist or sexist. If we avoid the demonization, disagreements can be positive.
Jonathan HaidtRead
We humans are really good at forming groups to compete, and then dissolving the groups and reforming them along different lines to compete in a different way.
Jonathan HaidtRead
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