Is our obsession with chasing pleasure putting our well-being — and our chance to live meaningfully — at risk?

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr Bhuvan Awasthi, a cognitive neuroscientist and global leader in the science-policy-diplomacy space. Currently a Senior Behavioural Scientist with the Canadian Government, Bhuvan’s work draws on insights from neuroscience, emotion, and decision-making research.

Named Australia’s Neuroscientist of the Year for his outreach work, Bhuvan brings fascinating behavioural insights to help us better understand ourselves. Together, we unpack the difference between pleasure and well-being, where meaning fits in, and practical ways to help us make better decisions and live more meaningfully.

Resources:

• The Dunedin Study: https://dunedinstudy.otago.ac.nz/

• • A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3041102/

Further reading on the relationship between self-control and well-being:

• Unraveling the Relationship Between Trait Self-Control and Subjective Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Four Self-Control Strategies: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00706/full

• High Self-Control Individuals Prefer Meaning Over Pleasure: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/19485506251323948

• See also a media write up on the above study: https://www.psypost.org/people-with-high-self-control-prefer-meaning-over-pleasure-study-finds/