People Are Good — Aren’t they? Welcome to the first episode of a project that has been stewing in my brain for a long, long time. Yummy!
Over the next who-knows-how-many weeks, we’re going to be exploring the hypothesis that “People Are Good”. At the end, we’ll have an answer. Either people are good or I implode.
Seriously, I am going to take this week by week, diving in to the question of whether people are ultimately good or…not. I will consider a premise each week — a quote, a snippet from a conversation — then collect data in the form of an article or two, an interview, etc. Then I will share a story.
Our first episode begins with a quote from my favorite podcast. I’m a Murderino, a huge fan of “My Favorite Murder” and in episode #185, Karen Kilgarith and Georgia Hardstark nailed it when they said the title of Karen’s next book will be: “Shut Up: You’re the A*****e” — You need to admit, with humility, that you are always an a-hole, and move forward accepting that.
The premise today is that you need to give up being a good person in order to do good stuff.
The story that I use to really drive that home is the story of dearly beloved, all around “good person” and worldwide hero, Winston Churchill.
What I talked about:
* First, The way that Karen K. and Georgia H. nailed what I wanted to talk about today made me want to force everyone I know to listen to their podcast. Yes, there’s true crime. Yes, there’s comedy. I come for that stuff but stay for the free life coaching.
* Second, Scott Jefferies, life coach, writes in his article at Psych Central that you must let go of the idea of being a good person if you want to actually do good. I realted that to Carol Dweck’s idea about a Growth Mindset.
* Third, I tell the story of Winston Churchill with an emphasis on the things he got very very wrong.
* Fourth, The implication may be that, perhaps, the more one holds tightly to the idea that they are 100% good, the more heinous the evil may be that escapes unwittingly. Perhaps.
Notes:
* My Favorite Murder — My Favorite Podcast. Really.
* Why You Should Stop Being A Good Person — Scott Jefferies article at Psych Central
* Growth Mindset — Carol Dweck speaking at Google on her idea of the Growth Mindset
* Quotes (Answers to who said what in the podcast):
* Churchill
* Neither — attributed to Churchill but there is no evidence he actually said it.
* Hitler
* Hitler
* Churchill
Onward — The next few weeks we’re talking about how we’re connected! Look for the Monday morning newsletter, and a conversation from the Wild and Precious podcast episode on Thursday.
What do you think? Are people good? Lets talk about it! (I’m nervous but excited to get a conversation going)
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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit peoplearegood.substack.com
