The Mattering Instinct (Robert Wright & Rebecca Goldstein)

About this episode

The episode discusses Rebecca Goldstein's new book, 'The Mattering Instinct', exploring various types of mattering experiences and their implications on the meaning of life.

Rebecca’s past work on mind and matter(ing) ... Rebecca’s new book, The Mattering Instinct ... Varieties of mattering experience ... Mattering type 1: Heroic Strivers ... Mattering type 2: Socializers ... Mattering type 3: Transcenders ... Mattering type 4: Competitors ... “The” meaning of life problem ... Does what drives us divide us? ... Heading to Overtime ...

People in this episode

Host: Robert Wright

Guest: Rebecca Goldstein

Topics covered

• mattering experience
• meaning of life
• psychology
• social behavior
• philosophy

Keywords

• mattering
• heroic strivers
• socializers
• transcenders
• competitors

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Mattering Instinct

More episodes of Bloggingheads.tv

• The AI Lobby’s Dirty Tricks (Robert Wright & Tyler Johnston) · June 12, 2026 · 1h 0m
• The Secret of AI’s Power (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom) · June 10, 2026 · 1h 0m
• Seeing China Clearly (Robert Wright & Tianyu Fang) · June 4, 2026 · 1h 0m
• AI, Evolution, and The God Test (Increments Podcast) (Robert Wright, Ben Chugg, Vaden Masrani) · June 2, 2026 · 1h 0m
• Trump’s Iran War Merry-Go-Round (Robert Wright, Derek Davison, and Daniel Bessner) · May 29, 2026 · 1h 0m
• The Pope Takes On AI (Robert Wright & Nikita Petrov) · May 27, 2026 · 1h 0m