01: Happiness vs. Pleasure : What is the goal of life?

In our very first episode, Nate G talks with Dr. Doug Lisle, PhD about the purpose of life, happiness vs. pleasure, and the psychological mechanisms that guide our behavior.   

Dr. Lisle talks about some important findings that suggest that the purpose of life (biologically) is quite simple - to spread our own genes and ensure their survival into the next few generations.  Because of this, our entire biology, physiology, and psychology is built around this goal.  It's been like this for the entire history of our species and we have survived in nature due to this goal.  All of a sudden, comes the modern environment of convenience and innovation in an incredibly short time frame.  With this new environment comes a new set of challenges that our brains were never designed to solve. In this podcast and in future episodes, Dr. Lisle methodically describes what role the mind and, therefore, our behavior plays in our life experience and satisfaction.