The Four Commitments: The Choices That Create Your Life
Setup
A successful life usually depends on making four major commitments: to a spouse or family, a faith or philosophy, a community, and a vocation. But how do we choose what we will commit to, and how do we execute those commitments? In later years, is it possible to launch a new booster stage with new or additional commitments? (Yes.) This will be another exploration of a life well lived.
Speakers
- 2016 Festival
The case for commitment in an era of evasiveness
The 21st century zeitgeist, according to New York Times columnist David Brooks, is not one that rewards commitments. Reasons for evasiveness may be manifold, but Brooks thinks the end result is the same: individuals and societies that are fragmented and listless. Without long-lasting commitments that weave through the fabric of your life, there’s nothing tying it all together. Whether shying away from big life decisions or ghosting a date, we are not inclined to commit to ourselves or others.
A definition for the times
2. How to make the leap of blind faith that commitments demand of you
Many of the big commitments we make in life, no matter how much planning or soul-searching goes into them, are still acts of blind faith. In the absence of cold logic to guide our decisions, David Brooks advocates for love and morality to be the foundation of our commitments:
-
David Brooks: The first thing love does is humbles us, it reminds us we're not even in control of ourselves. You can't control your own thinking when you're in love, when you look across the crowd you think you see your beloved sitting there. The second thing love does is it plows open hard ground. It opens up the crust of our lives that we've used to cover of ourselves, exposing soft flesh below. And it makes us more liable to suffer deep pain, but also deep joy. The third thing love does is it decenters the self. You realize your riches are not in yourself, they are in another person. And the final thing it does is it leads to a sort of fusion unity between two people.
A strong inner morality allows us to set aside what may seem like the logical choice and put a higher calling at the center of our decision-making. Morality decouples ourselves from our decisions, in a way, and can be a constant throughout decades of change.
What disciplines our commitments?
If love and morality compel our commitments, what maintains them over years and decades? What strengthens our commitments when love and morality butt heads with everything outside the mind? David Brooks has some suggestions:
Explore More
Science
Research on aging and extending life and healthspan has ventured beyond humans to our best animal friends – dogs. In less than a year, dog owners may be able to buy a drug tha...
The recognition that all things are connected is at once a scientific principle and a philosophical touchstone. Humans, animals, and the environment are intertwined in complex...
For as long as humans have looked at the skies, we’ve speculated about whether there is life in space. Scientists, the U.S. military and the CIA have all searched for proof of...
It sounds like sci-fi: Scientists are beaming solar energy from space, subbing seaweed for plastic and brightening clouds to reflect sunlight to lower temperatures in a warmin...
*No food or service animals allowed in this session.* The creator of Fat Bear Week in Alaska gives insight on the importance of wildlife education, and then ecologists unpack...
Brain-computer interfaces show potential to restore function to people impacted by incurable neurological conditions such as stroke, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury...
Scientists are developing life-extending drugs for dogs, and new advancements could bring them to market by 2025. Two leaders working to slow the aging process for Fido discus...
Few people are more deeply steeped in science than Francis Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health and the groundbreaking Human Genome Project, and forme...
Part 1. Contrary to Popular Opinion — Bill Maher in Real Time: The iconoclastic host of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” sits down with Tina Brown to talk about calling out...
The idea of gathering DNA samples into a vast database in order to identify disease risks and breakthrough therapies was once a distant dream. Not long ago, immunotherapy seem...
From in vitro fertilization (IVF), which combines human eggs and sperm outside the body, to in vitro gametogenesis (IVG), which uses stem cells to create gametes, pregnancy is...
The hormonal changes and hot flashes that accompany menopause are familiar to most women, but the accompanying brain changes have not received as much attention. We now know t...
The first drug in a class known as GLP-1 agonists was approved in 2005 to treat diabetes. GLP-1 drugs subsequently proved their mettle to treat obesity and prevent major cardi...
The communities we call home and the ways we live greatly influence health and longevity. By studying “Blue Zones” around the globe, Dan Buettner has uncovered the macro-level...
Scientific investigation is laser focused on psychedelics to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), ease end-of-life anxiety, and address mental health challenges, inclu...
Artificial intelligence is generating enormous excitement for its potential to predict health risks, speed diagnoses, and guide medical decision making. At the same time, the...
The health benefits of a nutritious diet are well-established, but just telling people to eat more plant-based foods and less unhealthy fat isn’t enough to reduce the toll of...
Managing disease is getting personal. With the genomic revolution upon us, we now understand that many diseases don't always follow the same predictable course and personalize...
To secure equitable global health and security, the world needs its own immune system. That’s the message from surgeon and author Atul Gawande, who leads global health assista...
In polite conversation, we don’t share much information about our gastrointestinal tract or daily bathroom rituals but gut health is crucial to overall wellbeing. Knowledge of...