David DeSteno

Paul and I just talked a little about this today as part of recording a new ep on AI and religion. It’ll be out in late April.

Is religion a source of division, or can it offer a way to bring us together during these fractious times? Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, @dianabutlerbass, @simran, @kurtjgray and I take a deep dive on the question in one of our favorites from the archives podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Out now on @aspenideas.bsky.social podcast. Listen here podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

YouTube video by Soul Boom w/ Rainn Wilson Proving God's Existence With Science (w/ Dave Desteno) | Soul Boom

I enjoyed speaking with Rainn Wilson about the science behind spiritual practices, why it’s a mistake for the secular left to ignore religion, and what an agnostic scientist has come to learn about religious wisdom. @templetonfdn.bsky.social @prx.org

With political violence, social division, & despair on the rise, the US has clearly lost its way. I talked with Krista Tippett & @chrismurphyct.bsky.social about why the country is facing a spiritual, not just political, crisis and how to find our way back. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

How to Have a ‘Don’t-Know Mind’ My quest to understand consciousness took me to a cave in New Mexico and then deep into the cosmos.

An essay as beautiful as it is insightful from @michaelpollan.bsky.social on the self & consciousness. The Buddhists figured out a good deal about how the mind works centuries ago, and there are few better guides than @joanhalifax.bsky.social, as Michael discovered.

We all have an innate need to feel like we matter. But as author Jennifer Wallace notes, that need often goes unmet. We talk about how to solve this mattering deficit. I also chat with Duke's Patty Van Cappellen about the wisdom spiritual traditions offer to help podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

We all have an innate need to feel like we matter. But as author Jennifer Wallace notes, that need often goes unmet. We talk about how to solve this mattering deficit. I also chat with Duke's Patty Van Cappellen about the wisdom spiritual traditions offer to help podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Proud How God Works is a finalist for best personal growth/spirituality pod for the Ambies! Join me, an agnostic psychologist, to explore the science behind how & why spiritual practices help people flourish, whatever their beliefs. howgodworks.org @podcastacademy.bsky.social @prx.org

If you're looking to improve life in 2026, you might want to think about...sin. Not in the fire & brimstone sense, but as @elizabetholdfield.bsky.social notes, as something that separates us from others or, simply put, just F's things up. Join us as we rethink sin. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Opinion | For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful

If we embrace hope as a practice -- as a continual movement toward the good without expectation -- despair falls away. Hope is an act of resistance. It's not about what any one of us can control. It's a way to live our values. 2/2 @nytimes.com

Opinion | Venezuela, Renee Good and Trump’s ‘Assault on Hope’

As @ezraklein.bsky.social points out, all of this is an assault on hope. The point is to wear people out -- to give them a sense they have no control to stop it and thereby remove hope & the will to act. But there is a way to overcome that despair... 1/2 @nytimes.com

We’ve primarily stuck with that method in my lab, but it has been a challenge, as it is definitely slower work.

It’s back to lab research for many topics, my friends! That doesn’t need to mean reaction times or surveys, it’s actually an opportunity for real social psychology. Create immersive social situations with actors. Measure actual behavior. It’s slow science but good science.

By “right” I mean the people with whom you want to share ideas for future growth opportunities. Being in the metaphorical “room where it happens” is often more important for success and growth than having the biggest megaphone to the masses. You just need to know what that “room”
Is for you.

The trick is to value your product, not its reach. Hard if you have financial incentives tied in to online activity. But if you’re lucky enough not to, NEVER chase an audience. Be proud of what you produce. And often it’s more important to be speaking to the “right” people than just more people. 1/2

Why you’re wise on Tuesday and foolish on Sunday: Practising wisdom in uncertain times Wisdom fluctuates. New longitudinal evidence suggests wise reasoning is a trainable toolkit —not a trait — and repeated distanced self-reflection can strengthen it in daily life.

Why you’re wise on Tuesday and foolish on Sunday: Practising #wisdom in uncertain times - a brief sunday read & a mild rant against "one trick" gurus & substakers. theconversation.com/why-youre-wi... @theconversation.com

We need friends who challenge us to be better, not friends who are sycophantic. But with attention being the new coin of the realm, that will require some intentional & ethical rebalancing by the lords of Silicon Valley. 2/2

Opinion | ‘I’ve seen it all’: Chatbots are preying on the vulnerable A growing roster of suicides should draw attention to manipulative AI chatbots.

AI developers have been leveraging psychology to make chatbots seem like ideal social partners. But what our minds find most immediately attractive isn’t always in our long term best interest. As Samuel Kimbriel notes, philosophy can be a guide for design (or at least regulatory constraints). 1/2

Opinion | For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful

For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful — one the world’s spiritual traditions figured out long ago. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/o...

Opinion | For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful Hope is a virtue to be practiced, not an aspiration to be managed.

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com

“Our modern conception of hope is flawed,” the research psychologist David DeSteno writes. “It practically invites hopelessness when the stakes are greatest.”

Thanks, David.

Opinion | For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful

Psychologists & self-help gurus advise limiting hopes to ward off despair. But that keeps us from working on big challenges. As the world’s faith traditions realized long ago, hope is about fighting the darkness daily without expecting success. @nytimes.com

How God Works is a reference to studying how religion works scientifically. I (and we in the podcast) don’t debate God’s existence as it’s not something science can answer. Rather, we study how and why spiritual practices can improve life.

Opinion | For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful

Here’s a gift link to the piece www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/o...

Opinion | For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful

For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful — one the world’s spiritual traditions figured out long ago. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/o...

A Better Way to Think About New Year’s Resolutions The best way to improve yourself is to help others too.

“In the long run, resolutions that keep others in mind tend to have greater staying power.”-Valerie Trapp. There’s something special about making resolutions together. And what better time than now!

Dec. 31 brings up thoughts of endings, but also of renewal for the year ahead. As Dr. Kim Haines-Eitzen points out, the same is true for the ancient understanding of the apocalypse. It wasn’t the end of everything, as we think of it now, but rather a transition. www.howgodworks.org/podcast/seas...

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⌛️ Two days left to double your donation to @give-directly.bsky.social for #PodsFightPoverty!

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We try to find the positive!