Our Untapped Superpower: Connecting With Others, with Nicholas Epley

About this episode

Nicholas Epley discusses the importance of social connection and how our misconceptions about it can lead to solitude instead of happiness.

As humans, we have a biological need for connecting with others, but in today's modern world, we tend to avoid it. This paradox is something that Prof. Nicholas Epley of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business has been fixated on in his research. In his new book, A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection, Epley shows why we consistently underestimate the positive impact of reaching out to others. From experiments tracking commuters on the train to deep conversations with hedge fund executives, Epley reveals that our beliefs about social interaction are often “precisely backwards” leading us to choose solitude even when engagement would make us happier and healthier.

People in this episode

Guest: Nicholas Epley

Topics covered

• social connection
• human behavior
• psychology
• happiness
• health

Keywords

• social interaction
• biological need
• modern world
• experiments
• commuters

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Books & works: A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection

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