How to Make a Difference: Part 1
Hidden Brain

How to Make a Difference: Part 1

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 21, 202648 min
  • Interview
  • Relationships & psychology

Why do some people act on the possibilities before them, while others come to believe that nothing they do will make a difference? Psychologist Martin Seligman describes his groundbreaking research on learned helplessness, and explains how the stories we tell ourselves about setbacks can shape what we do next. We also explore how optimism can help us rediscover our ability to change things for the better. If you have a question or comment about the science of optimism and pessimism that you'd be willing to share with the Hidden Brain audience after listening to this episode, please...

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You can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

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B2 · Upper-intermediate

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0:00

This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedantam. You can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. It's an old saying, but it captures a fundamental truth about human nature. How often have you come by people who fail to seize the opportunities in front of them,

0:17

who decline to make the most of the privileges they've been given? If you're a parent or a teacher, you may have sometimes felt like saying to a kid, I can't make you want it. If you're a manager, perhaps you've told an employee, there's a ladder over here,

0:33

but you have to be the one to climb it. Sometimes the thing that needs to be seized is not an opportunity, but a lifeline. Do you know people stuck in bad situations, unhappy marriages, dead-end jobs, soul-crushing living conditions, who seem unwilling to escape even when the chance presents itself?

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