The Obvious Question

What is life all about? I think we could say that life is about being happy. Well, one way to be happy is to do things that you enjoy, right? So this said, if given the time and money, would a life of pleasure for the sake of it make you happy? Or would that get tiresome? Is there a better way that would ultimately lead to a fuller and richer existence?

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Imagine a situation where someone you're close to is getting a raw deal. How do you know when you should step in to help, or when to let them fight their own battle? If you step in, are you sure you won't cause more harm than good?

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Picture a friend or a family member who is participating in an activity (a sporting event or maybe they’re in a band) and you want to support them. What does that mean? What if you think they’re terrible at that sport or that their music is horrendous, do you still support them? Is your support somehow different now? Flipped around, when you do something, and you’re looking for the support of your friends and family, what are you looking for?

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Of all of the qualities that humans possess, being able to trust someone else may be at the very top. It is the cornerstone of many of our relationships and the reason why we’re able to function together as families, friends, coworkers, and total strangers - we, generally speaking, trust that total strangers won’t harm us, as they can trust us to do the same. So what is trust and how do we build it? What if it is taken from us, can we get it back? What can I do, personally, to make myself trustworthy to others?

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If you noticed something bad or offensive about a stranger - could you tell them about it in an effective way... in a way that would be helpful and well-received? There are loads of books about giving feedback to people who we’re close to, whether they’re family members, friends, or coworkers, but what about people we don’t know? Is there anyway to do this without sounding like a total jerk?

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For many of us, we’re fortunate to live in a time of unprecedented convenience where cars park themselves, home utilities can be managed through your phone, and turning out the lights can be accomplished by simply uttering aloud, “OK Google, ask Alexa to tell Siri to turn the lights off.” But what price do we pay for this convenience? Are we losing something important when we give these seemingly simple or mundane human activities over to technological solutions?

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Do the clothes make the man, or in this case, ‘the Bob.’ This episode starts out with Bob asking a very different question, being “why do we make fun of people”, but what we really find ourselves talking about is clothes - what they say about ourselves and what they make us say about others. We try to figure out how what we wear impacts how we feel, how we treat other people, how we want to feel and be treated, and in the end, are we OK with it all.

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Most of us lead incredibly hectic and busy lives, but are we spending our precious and finite time wisely? Are we spending enough time on things that we would say are important and truly worthwhile? Certainly, there are things that we have to do - commitments that we can’t or shouldn’t get around, but do we do a good job of balancing these with things that make our lives meaningful?

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When a cashier at a store gives you back a little too much change, do you always give it back? This week, we try to understand for ourselves what motivates petty theft. As you’ll hear, some jerks stole from Joe (he tells the story), and we try to understand what could be going on in the head of someone who is taking from someone else (when it isn’t a life or death situation). We usually try to stay away from questions that have been well-researched and already have answers, but with this one we’re trying to come at it from a more personal perspective than an academic or psychological one - what does it mean to us for someone to steal like this and how does it shape our thinking about people who do it?

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“Let’s just agree to disagree” is an expression that is commonly heard, but is this ever even possible? Lately, many people here in the US are noticeably divided on a number of very important issues that no one seems to be able to budge on. This said, how can we begin to communicate effectively and find common ground, recognizing that our opinions are coming from very different perspectives?

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