January 26, 2015

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Modern rudeness in Stone Age minds with Amy Alkon

Advice columnist and science writer Amy Alkon sheds light on the evolutionary roots of modern impoliteness. She shares research on how to cure rudeness and make the world a friendlier place.

By Scott Barry Kaufman

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

Advice columnist and science writer Amy Alkon sheds light on the evolutionary roots of modern impoliteness. She shares research on how to cure rudeness and make the world a friendlier place. Scott and Amy get personal as they cover topics like living with ADHD, being a starving artist, how to live a good life and the joy of being “weird.”

In this episode you will hear about:

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  • How our “our modern skulls house stone age minds”

  • How population growth and technology have produced pervasive rudeness

  • How a kind act can make the world into one big neighborhood

  • 3 easy tools for more positive communication

  • How to give advice that will actually get used

  • How to deal with rude people

  • The essential parts of a good apology

  • Amy and Scott’s eccentricities.

  • What it’s like to have ADHD and some surprising benefits of the diagnosis

  • Amy’s opinions regarding the stigma of psychiatric medication

  • Pathological altruism

  • Injecting meaning into your life

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Resources:

“Amy Alkon writes The Advice Goddess, an award-winning, syndicated column that runs in more than one hundred newspapers across the United States and Canada. She is also the author of I See Rude People. She has been on Good Morning America, The Today Show, NPR, CNN, MTV, and Entertainment Tonight and has a weekly radio show called Advice Goddess Radio. She has also written for Psychology Today, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Daily News (New York), and Pravda, among others. She lives in Venice, California.” –Blurb taken from Amazon.com

Scott Barry Kaufman is a humanistic psychologist exploring the depths of human potential. He has taught courses on intelligence, creativity and well-being at Columbia University, N.Y.U., the University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. He hosts the Psychology Podcast and is author and/or editor of nine books, including Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (with Carolyn Gregoire), and Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined. Find out more at http://ScottBarryKaufman.com. In 2015 he was named one of "50 groundbreaking scientists who are changing the way we see the world" by Business Insider. He wrote the extremely popular Beautiful Minds blog for Scientific American for close to a decade. Follow him on X.

More by Scott Barry Kaufman

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