Society
Psychology
Acclaimed authors and experts Annie Murphy Paul, Sheena Iyengar, and Keith Sawyer explore the multifaceted nature of decision-making, choice, and creativity. Through their unique perspectives, this trio delves into the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, and social dynamics, shedding light on how our choices and creative processes shape our lives and the world around...
Over the past decade, levels of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide have increased dramatically, but the causes are more nuanced than the headlines suggest. This session unpacks the data and real-world learnings to shed light on the changes — at the policy, family, school, and community levels — that have the most potential to improve kids’ well-being.
Renowned psychologists Lisa Damour, author of The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, and Laurence Steinberg, author of You and Your Adult Child, delve into the complex landscapes of adolescence and young adulthood in today’s society. Both have devoted their careers to studying and understanding adolescents — Damour as a clinical psychologist working with families and organizati...
Author and Harvard professor Arthur Brooks introduces the exploding science of happiness, which combines philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience into a set of actionable strategies for everyday life. Learn how emotional self-management can transform the way we experience the world and improve all facets of life.
“Self-care” is the buzzword of the moment. But far before face masks and digital detoxes, ancient philosophers were thinking of ways to enhance human flourishing. How do their ideas match up to today? Yale philosophy professor Tamar Gendler sits down with author Bruce Feiler, who traveled across the U.S. collecting stories on how we deal with life’s transitions. From mille...
DOORS OPEN AT 6PM. In the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Kate Winslet’s character erases painful memories of her ex-boyfriend. Could this be possible in real life? Neurotechnology, like decoded neurofeedback, offers ways to modify or erase unpleasant memories. Advocates believe it could improve mental well-being and heal emotional trauma. Forgotten memories co...
Rates of depression, disconnection, and suicide among today’s youth are alarming. Hear how leaders from the Aspen Forum for Community Solutions and a group of community partners — including donors and young people — are working together to help the rising generation thrive, along with insights and connections to other funding strategies and initiatives provided by the Aspe...
As the nation’s top doctor, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy helps to advance the health and well-being of all Americans. He has described the growing youth mental health crisis in America as the “defining public health crisis of our time” and warned that social media carries a “profound risk of harm to the mental health of children and adolescents.” Murthy has also highlig...
A healthcare worker shortage is today’s reality, putting safe, quality healthcare at risk for everyone. According to the US Surgeon General's Advisory on Building a Thriving Health Workforce, the realities are that many of our health workplaces and practices are exhausting and demoralizing for our talented, caring, and overworked healthcare professionals. The emotional, ph...
Today’s kids are facing a mental health crisis unlike any before them, with rates of severe loneliness, anxiety, and depressive episodes reaching new heights. It’s an urgent concern with far-reaching impacts, especially for those in historically marginalized communities who too often do not have access to the help they need. How can organizations leverage their scale to ma...
The trauma associated with natural disasters, refugee flight, teenage bullying, or gun violence can endure for a lifetime if appropriate mental health services are not provided. Just as we don’t wait for a wound to become infected before providing treatment, so too we must act quickly to curb emotional damage before it festers. Models of mental health first aid training sh...
From climate change to school shootings to cherry-picking history curricula, younger generations have a lot to be skeptical about when it comes to who’s in charge. How can we build trust across generations? Does anyone over the age of 25 deserve it? Learn more from this multi-generational discourse.
Join this roundtable discussion — led by Aspen Digital’s Vivian Schiller and Zaki Barzinji — for an engaging conversation about the impact of emerging technologies and platforms on youth. We will also be joined by diverse Gen Z leaders, researchers, and industry experts, who will talk about what they see as both the threats and opportunities of today’s digital world, part...
Protecting wild spaces helps to conserve the species that call them home — and is one of the best strategies for meeting global climate goals. National parks and other protected areas can cultivate a healthy relationship between humans and the land they depend on. How much more land — and ocean — do we need to preserve in order to maintain ecological and social wellness? W...
Philosophers debate the nature of beauty, and poets write tributes to it, but how does science answer the age-old question of whether beauty is in the eye of the beholder? The growing field of neuroaesthetics seeks to illuminate our understanding of how our brains respond to people, places, and things we find beautiful. Designers and architects are now using what science t...
If there is one thing every human shares, it’s the inevitability of aging. Yet in a society that places such a high premium on youth, people over 50 are often dismissed from conversations around beauty, considered consumerist has-beens for fashion, culture, and pretty much every product excluding pharmaceuticals. Enter a new crowd of the unabashedly aging, demanding to be...
How do you impact climate change? How does climate change — and the fraught conversation about it — impact you? Are feelings of climate doom even justified? What are the best ways to combat hopelessness? In this panel, the country’s leading climate-anxiety psychologist joins a popular TikTok science communicator to explore our personal relationship with the crisis.
Legendary, award-winning artist David Byrne joins in conversation with astrophysicist Janna Levin, director of sciences at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. Byrne co-created an immersive science theater project opening in Denver in September. Theater of the Mind uses narrative to explore perception, memory, attention, and our sense of self, and incorporates the work of neuroscien...
Intelligence is more than the gray matter sloshing around in your skull, and more than the nerves that make sense of your environment. Your mind utilizes extra-neural resources, including the perceptions and knowledge in the minds of others — so the more people you surround yourself with, the bigger your brain is. In this session, we’ll dive into the research that shows ho...
Our children are in crisis. Globally, one in seven children, ages 10-19, has some kind of mental illness, notably depression, anxiety, or behavioral disorders. Horrifically, almost 19% of US high school students have given serious thought to suicide and an astonishing 9% have actually tried to kill themselves. To turn back that kind of despair, we need to listen to young p...