Evolve Faster with Scott Ely

Evolve Faster with Scott Ely


EF3 (S1-E1): All Aboard the Experience Machine: Destination…Unknown

December 18, 2018

What am I suppose to do? The journey to living a meaningful life can feel hopeless, like riding a train through the wilderness at night. But if there was an autopilot track that guaranteed a happy life, would you take it? Would this solve the nagging “What am I supposed to do” riddle? Jonathan finds himself forced between two paths: a meaningful life filled with risky choices, or a safe life that might be filled with regret. If only there were a way to make everything simple, like an autopilot that steers the train towards an easy, happy and perfect finish line for you. But he has just half a day to find the solution to the issue we all face on a daily basis—What’s the right decision? 12 hours, millions of questions and seemingly no answers. Is it even possible to make the “right” decision, especially when your hand is being forced? In this episode, we’ll find out what does Buddhism have to say about this mysterious happiness that western society seems some obsessed with finding. Jean-Paul Sartre, one of the most famous existentialist philosophers, felt we have a practical debt we owe to the world to be our highest selves. But what is the dept? Will you jump on board the train that might leave at any moment? So is there an auto-pilot, golden ticket to all of our life’s problems? Or are all the shortcuts just a one-way ticket towards mental suicide, as Robert Nozick, another famous philosopher, described it? The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a major undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) at https://evolvefaster.com/subscribe/