An Ethics Professor on Figuring Out What the ‘Good Life’ Means to You

“Invest in relationships. When I sat down to interview two researchers working on the longest running study ever conducted on happiness, I was delighted to learn that their findings were both simple and actionable. The one thing that has the greatest impact on happiness across all socioeconomic barriers…having close relationships.” -Lee C. Camp

LCC: “Be curious, not judgmental. I got to spend a long weekend with Malcolm Gladwell and interview him twice in front of live audiences. I was interested in investigating the sources of why Malcolm is Malcolm. Our conversation, I think, is a great window into specifically what healthy curiosity looks like, and the sort of human flourishing curiosity might engender.”

LCC: “Don’t seek comfort first. I traveled to California to conduct this interview in person with Catholic peace activist John Dear. John straightforwardly challenges the notion that the good life is a merely comfortable. He says: ‘A good life is not the easy life. It's not being comfortable, and therefore it's not about making money, or being successful… But how do you live a good life in a world of thirty wars, thirteen thousand nuclear weapons, four billion people in subhuman poverty, racism, gun violence, child hunger? One could go on and on—and then, catastrophic climate change...So for me, doing the good life is actively working to make the world better.’”

LCC: “Pursue beauty. Numerous philosophers have maintained that truth, goodness, and beauty are central to a good life. But I was surprised at how Elise Hu’s deep dive into South Korean beauty culture illuminated what true beauty might actually be. What’s more, I think her vulnerability about her own relationship to beauty as a mother of a young daughter is both comforting and practical.”

LCC: “Forgive those who have hurt you. My conversation with Azim was one of those that I found devastatingly beautiful and hopeful. Here I was talking to a man whose 20 year old son was murdered by a 14 year old gang member. What did Azim do? In time, he forgave the young man who murdered his son, and befriended him. And out of his pain, Azim began to teach hundreds of thousands of school-aged children principles of non-violence, compassion, and conflict management. His lessons on grief, and how to transform destruction into some new beauty, are crucial.”

LCC: “Engage in wonder and awe. This was a special night: sitting with one of the country’s top astrophysicists, who is also a senior project scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope, under the expanse of Sudekum Planetarium in Nashville, gazing at the marvel that is our universe, being invited to awe. Dr. Jennifer Wiseman discussed the ways the pursuit of scientific discovery produces wonder, and the centrality of wonder in being human.”

LCC: “In a world of such intense social and political hostility, and with a platform as vast as that available to a New York Times Opinion columnist, why would David Brooks set aside political punditry to profess the crucial importance of learning the skills of knowing another person? Precisely because he does in fact think we are in the midst of a social crisis, and one of the great needs we have in the midst of this crisis is learning to see another deeply and well, and allowing ourselves to be seen deeply and well.”

LCC: “We are grateful to be a public radio show and I love the colliding of worlds in this episode. One of our previous guests, Elise Hu, interviews another previous guest, Anna Lembke on a public radio podcast, NPR's Life Kit. Anna Lembke's research on dopamine and addiction has helped me have practical tech boundaries and I think will help you too!”

LCC: “Let yourself be sad. Maurice Sendak’s vulnerability about the end of life gets me every time in this classic Fresh Air interview animated by The New York Times.”

LCC: “Do things ‘just because.’ I love Australian YouTuber Beau Miles. He’s a zany adventurous kind of guy, but also quite thoughtful. Here’s one of his many films that reminds me that living a good life sometimes involves going on a silly adventure because… well, why not? He’s an expert at making-up ridiculous challenges for himself that imbue his life with meaning that wasn't there before.”