Research On Religion » well-being

Bradley Wright on the Science of Sinning

tonygill — Sun, 13 Aug 2017 08:00:24 +0000

Proverbs 25:28 states, “Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.” The lack of self-control is often a pathway into religious sin. To discover what self-control is and what promotes self-control (or the lack thereof), we invited Prof. Bradley Wright (University of Connecticut, Sociology) to discuss his latest research that appeared as a lead article in Christianity Today (April 2017). To be honest, we’re not talking about sinning per se, but rather about self-control. Prof. Wright provides a definition of self-control, we cite a few Bible verses to give the topic some credibility for a podcast on religion, and then dive into the factors that enhance or detract from self-control. Definitionally, self-control represents the ability to align our short-term desires with our long-term goals, whatever those may be. As such, the exercise of self-control is often context specific. Brad points out all the personal and social benefits that the exercise of self-control can bring about, but Tony challenges this assertion by pointing out that Keith Moon of The Who was one of the greatest rock drummers ever. Brad counters by saying that self-control need not be practiced in all areas of life and that rock stars, no matter how out-of-control with booze and drugs still maintain some levels of self-control in other realms such as practicing and showing up for concerts. We then survey some of the earlier research done by Brad’s colleague Roy Baumeister (Florida State) and the interesting experiment he did with undergraduate students, cookies, and radishes. We learn that there are two types of self-control: trait and state. The former represents one’s underlying personality and tends to be fixed in the long-term. State self-control on the other hand varies throughout the days and weeks. We learn that self-control tends to be strongest in the morning and wanes on specific days, most notably Tuesday and Wednesday. Self-control is also determined by habit (automated self-control) and effort (controlled self-control). It is noted that conscious effort to exert self-control often leads to “ego depletion,” or the exhaustion of the ability to be in control. Habit formation, on the other hand, allows an individual to maintain a steady path of control over time with little effort. Prof Wright then reviews what the SoulPulse project is, noting that data collection ended after a 3 1/2 year effort back in April. Using data mined from thousands of users over the course of days and weeks, Brad and his team were able to determine that there were two major factors that influenced state-based self-control. These were the quality of sleep one had the night before, with better sleep yielding more self control, and the proximity of interpersonal conflict. Having experienced an argument or other conflict with someone recently reduced one’s self-control. Both of these factors had very strong effects on one’s willpower, stronger than Brad had anticipated. He also noted that individuals who are highly religious (self-reported) tended to exhibit greater amounts of self-control overall, representing “trait self-control.” Tony asks whether those who prayed frequently were able to enhance their self-control given that personal meditation is thought to reduce the tensions associated with interpersonal conflict. Brad admitted to not examining that variable, but said he would get right on it. (We will follow up to see if he does.) The interview concludes with Prof. Wright discussing how his own personal life has been affected by his studies of self-control and a TedX Talk by BJ Fogg about how little habits can help change your life. He “brags” about his one burpee a morning regiment and how that helped him to routinize exercise and build up to a more vigorous program. He also finishes off with some hints at new research to come. Recorded: August 1, 2017.

Daniel Russell on Ideals and Virtues

tonygill — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 09:00:27 +0000

What are virtues? Where do the virtues come from? How do we develop virtue in our daily lives and how does this all relate to human well-being and religion? These are a few of the questions addressed with Prof. Daniel Russell, a professor of philosophy at the University of Arizona’s Center for the Philosophy of Freedom. This interview represents a slight departure from our normal fare in that we do not address issues of religion directly, although the topic of virtue lingers large in theological thinking and in ritual practice. We do examine the relationship of virtue to religion (both belief and institutional organization) at the end of the discussion.

Prof. Russell first explains how he came to be a philosopher as compared to a welder. He also puts Tony’s mind at ease by noting that Hegel was not one of his favorite thinkers (as Tony honestly admits that he couldn’t understand anything that German philosopher wrote). Dan reveals that he also had a strong interest in “starting at the beginning,” which led him to the study of Aristotle and other ancient philosophers, from whereupon he builds his study of virtue. Prof. Russell also makes a case for why Aristotle, particularly The Nicomachean Ethics, is important for the study of virtue. He explains how Aristotle’s approach to well-being and virtue is “mundane,” meaning not that it is boring or typical, but rather it is embedded “in the world.” We also learn that the concept of “happiness,” from Aristotle’s perspective, is not merely an emotion that one experiences from time-to-time, but rather is a “name of a life that you are going about” (i.e., a life well lived). All of this focuses philosophy in a certain practical importance rather than an abstract concept that is distant from individuals. This notion is integral for Dan’s view of philosophy.

We then dive into defining what ideals and virtues are, given that definitions are important in the field of philosophy. Dan differentiates a number of different concepts of an “ideal.” He tends to focus on “ideals” as abstract model that helps to focus thought as compared to a “perfect example.” He illustrates this notion by relating it to a pendulum in a perfect vacuum without any other forces at work on them. Prof. Russell also defines “virtue” as a long-standing attribute of someone’s character that relies upon practical reasoning and emotional soundness, a process that relies upon practice in the world. This leads us to an interesting discussion on the notion of personality in psychology and how it relates to philosophy. This becomes one of the most fascinating moments of an extremely interesting discussion in that Dan ties together many different fields of study that would seem rather distant from one another. Tony probes Dan further on “virtue” on whether there is a closed list of virtues (e.g., generosity, trustworthiness, etc.) and to what extent an Aristotelian approach might lead down the path of moral relativism. Dan explains that relativism is not necessarily an outcome of this philosophical approach.

We continue to explore the development of virtue with an eye to both psychology and philosophy. This intertwining of fields is important as Dan explains how psychology explains how people “get better” when it comes to developing virtues whereas philosophers help us understand what “get better” means. Personality comes up as a concept here and we look at stability and consistency in one’s personality. The notion of consistency becomes important in understanding virtues from an Aristotelian perspective. Understanding real world limitations are also important when it comes to understanding the development of virtues as well. Dan then explains how we know when we are adequately successful in developing our virtues and uses a number of illustrative examples to help simplify this difficult philosophy. We finish with some of Dan’s thoughts about how all of this psychology and philosophy stuff might relate to our general concept of religion — both in terms of spiritual beliefs and institutional organization (“churches”). Recorded: December 21, 2015.