In this episode Matt speaks with Associate Professor Vic Counted, a psychologist of religion at Regent University and a faculty affiliate of Harvard's Human Flourishing Program. Vic takes attachment theory, usually used to explain the bond between a child and a parent, and asks what happens when we apply it to our relationship with God or with whatever we hold sacred. It is a conversation about where meaning actually comes from, and why wellbeing science tends to leave this part alone.
What we cover
- Why Vic defines God in a way that works for believersand non-believers alike, and why he often just says "the sacred"instead
- Safe haven and secure base, and how a relationship withthe sacred shifts from one to the other over time
- Why Vic argues the gym, academia and even politicsfunction as religions for the people inside them
- What happens when that bond is disrupted, and whyprotest, despair and detachment show up in faith the same way they show up in a breakup
- What the COVID lockdowns revealed about how attachedpeople were to their workplaces, schools and shopping centres
- Why Western countries score low on meaning in theGlobal Flourishing Study, and what Vic thinks that has to do with the sacred
- Whether some things are better or worse to hold sacred,and what that means for young people chasing influence
Chapters
03:07 - Welcome, and what drawsVic to this work
07:13 - Is "science andreligion" an oxymoron?
09:54 - The Delphi study wherespirituality didn't reach consensus
11:28 - Five continents,displacement, and place attachment
17:34 - Defining God so it worksfor believers and non-believers
18:31 - God as an attachmentfigure
27:13 - Making it concrete forpeople with no belief
28:09 - Why the gym is areligion
34:41 - Is the sacred apsychological need?
39:56 - Safe haven and securebase, explained through a marriage
43:18 - The four kinds of placeswhere people sense the sacred
50:54 - "Nothing is sacredto me"
51:20 - Separation anxiety,protest, despair, detachment
57:00 - What COVID lockdownsrevealed about attachment to place
1:00:01 - Losing your faith as adetachment phase
1:05:33 - Does wellbeing scienceignore the sacred?
1:08:35 - Why the West scoreslow on meaning
1:09:40 - Are there better andworse things to hold sacred?
1:13:29 - Marx, Freud, andreligion as a character strength
1:18:49 - Contentment, and theChristian Flourishing Index
1:21:10 - Where to find Vic
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Wellbeing Explained is hosted by Be Well Co's Head of Research & Translation. Better wellbeing practice starts with better conversations. We bring in the experts to answer questions that others won't, bust myths, and go deeper into the science. Be Well Co is a social enterprise by Camp Quality that focuses on proactive mental health and wellbeing care.
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