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In this episode, host Michael C. Patterson explores Dr. Gene Cohen’s groundbreaking concept of developmental intelligence—the idea that our minds can continue growing in complexity, depth, and wisdom throughout life. Drawing on Cohen’s framework for postformal thinking—relativistic, dualistic, and systematic—Michael shares insights from his book Welcoming Wisdom and discusses how mature minds can cultivate new ways of seeing, thinking, and contributing to a flourishing future.

Developmental Intelligence

• Relativistic Thinking
• Dualistic Thinking
• Systemic Thinking

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In this episode of Flourish As You Age, host Michael C. Patterson explores the often-overlooked strengths of the mature mind. Drawing from his upcoming book Welcoming Wisdom, he challenges the myth of inevitable cognitive decline, offering instead a vision of aging as a period of continued mental development, creative growth, and integrative insight.

Through reflections on Plato’s Republic, Anne Rice’s wise vampire Marius, and Dr. Gene Cohen’s beloved metaphor of “Sky Above Clouds,” this episode reveals how age can bring about a powerful form of intelligence—what Cohen called developmental intelligence. It’s the synergy of cognition, emotional maturity, life experience, and social wisdom that allows us to think not just faster, but deeper.

You’ll come away with a fresh sense of what’s possible in life’s later chapters—and a renewed commitment to grow, contribute, and flourish.

Coming next: A deep dive into the three postformal thinking styles that power the mature mind: relativistic, dualistic, and systemic thinking.

🎧 Listen now and rise above the clouds

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What happens when we finally get the free time we longed for—only to find it strangely unsettling? In this episode of Flourish As You Age, host Michael C. Patterson explores leisure as a vital (and often overlooked) condition of human flourishing. 

Drawing from his book Welcoming Wisdom, he traces how cultural expectations around work have shaped our identity, how the pandemic opened space for reimagining daily life, and how emerging technologies may lead to a future with much more free time. 

The question is: will we be ready to use that time well? Learn how leisure, when approached with intention and creativity, can become one of the most meaningful contributions of our later years.

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In this final episode of our opening series on Flourishing, we explore the deeper dimensions of what it means to live a meaningful and well-lived life. Drawing from awe research, contemplative neuroscience, and classical philosophy, we reflect that flourishing is not a fixed state but an emergent, relational process—one shaped by attention, moral insight, and reverence for life itself.

You’ll hear excerpts from Welcoming Wisdom: How Mature Minds Can Shape a Kinder, Wiser Future, including:

• A fresh take on awe as a catalyst for connection and transformation
• Iain McGilchrist’s insights into the “sense of the sacred” as a mode of perception
• Socratic wisdom on the examined life and the moral core of flourishing
• A synthesis of ancient virtue ethics, modern psychology, and ecological well-being

This episode concludes our foundational exploration of flourishing and sets the stage for the next series: The Mature Mind. Join us as we continue uncovering the unique capacities of aging minds to lead, imagine, and help shape a more compassionate world.

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What does it mean to live a virtuous life—and how does virtue relate to human flourishing? In this episode, we explore the moral dimensions of flourishing through both Western and developmental lenses. Drawing on classical ideas from ancient philosophy, we ask whether virtue is grounded in reason, emotion, or something deeper. 

We focsu on the work of psychologist Darcia Narvaez, whose research suggests that our capacity for virtue is rooted in the benevolent care and emotional attunement we receive in early childhood. From Aristotle to affective neuroscience, this conversation invites you to reconsider how virtue emerges, why it matters, and how it shapes our ability to flourish in a complex world.

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What does it really mean to flourish as we age? In this second episode of Flourish As You Age, host Michael C. Patterson draws from his forthcoming book, Welcoming Wisdom: How Mature Minds Can Shape a Kinder, Wiser Future, to explore timeless and evolving ideas about the good life—from Aristotle and the Stoics to Buddhist teachings and modern psychology. 

This  episode invites listeners to clarify what flourishing means to them—beyond comfort or achievement—and to consider how purpose, connection, and resilience shape a life worth living.

Follow the Flourish As You Age podcasts.

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In this inaugural episode of Flourish As You Age, host Michael Patterson introduces a new podcast series drawn from his forthcoming book, Welcoming Wisdom: How Mature Minds Can Shape a Kinder, Wiser Future. 

The episode offers an overview of the book’s foundational ideas—redefining what it means to flourish as we age, exploring the cognitive strengths of mature minds, and presenting the provocative hypothesis that we may be living on the edge of a Second Axial Age. 

Through science, story, and philosophical reflection, Patterson invites listeners into a new vision of aging as evolution—and a call to use our wisdom to guide humanity towards a better future.

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When do we start aging?

What is aging? 

What causes aging?

These were some of the questions posed to aging experts (professionals, professors, graduate students) who were attending a conference on aging called “Systems Aging.” 

The big takeaway from the survey was that there is no consensus about what aging is. The experts disagree about the definition of aging, its causes, when it starts and what it would mean to be rejuvenated. 

The experts DO agree that aging is process of decline.  They also agree that this process of decline can be modulated; it can be accelerated or slowed down.  I believe the aging process can be slowed using the same levers used to promote brain health.

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GLP-1 Drugs, like Ozempic and Wegovy, originally developed to treat diabetes, have been found to lower risk-factors for a broad-range of conditions that accelerate the aging process.  But there are also risk factors that need to be taken into account. 

The benefits of GLP-1 drugs include reduced risk of seizures, heart attack, stroke, other cardiovascular concerns, suicide ideation, self-harm, bulimia and psychotic disorders. They decrease inflammation in the brain and reduce the risk of neurocognitive disorders such as dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

The risks include gastrointesinal problems such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. More concerning, there are rare cases of "paralysis of the stomach," and new information that GLP-1 drugs can have serious adverse effects on the pancreas and kidneys. 

If you plan to use GLP-1 drugs, do so with medical supervision and continue to monitor for signs of pancreatitis and abnormal kidney function. 

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In this episode I focus on how our socioeconomic ecosystems affect our ability to flourish - or, more to the point, how they makes it harder for us to flourish. 

Early this year, 2025, as the Trump administration took power, a group of politically diverse scholars published a Report Card on American Well-Being. On the one hand, the economy is doing great - for the wealthy. But by most other measures the nation is floundering. We are a wealthy nation, but an unhappy nation. By many of the measures of well-being (health and happiness) the United States is doing worse than many other rich nations, and there has been a downward trend in our well-being since the 1990s, when the tracking began.

In 2021, medical anthropologist Daniel R. George and neuroscientist Peter Whitehouse wrote a provocative  and insightful book called American Dementia: Brain Health in an Unhealthy Society. They explored the political, economic, social and environmental factors that contribute to cognitive decline,  dementia and well-being. In this episode I revisit an interview I did with Danny George and focus on his insightful explanations of our "American Dementia."  

Danny George is a professor of Humanities and Public Health Policy at Penn State University and he is acutely aware of America’s malaise. 

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