David DeSteno
@daviddesteno.bsky.social
Psychological Scientist, Author, and host of PRX podcast "How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality." Studying the Science of Emotion, Morality, & Religion. Words frequently in NYT, WSJ, etc. https://davedesteno.com https://www.howgodworks.org
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David DeSteno
@daviddesteno.bsky.social
· Nov 12
Opinion | What Science Can Learn From Religion (Published 2019)
Hostility toward spiritual traditions may be hampering empirical inquiry.
www.nytimes.com
A quick 🧵for new followers. If you want to know why an agnostic scientist hosts a podcast called How God Works, I laid it out 👇🏻. When it comes to understanding religion, the right question isn’t whether God exists. It’s how the practice of religion shapes our mind www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/o...
An essay as beautiful as it is insightful from @michaelpollan.bsky.social on the self & consciousness. The Buddhists figured out a good deal about how the mind works centuries ago, and there are few better guides than @joanhalifax.bsky.social, as Michael discovered.
How to Have a ‘Don’t-Know Mind’
My quest to understand consciousness took me to a cave in New Mexico and then deep into the cosmos.
www.theatlantic.com
January 27, 2026 at 1:36 AM
An essay as beautiful as it is insightful from @michaelpollan.bsky.social on the self & consciousness. The Buddhists figured out a good deal about how the mind works centuries ago, and there are few better guides than @joanhalifax.bsky.social, as Michael discovered.
Reposted by David DeSteno
We all have an innate need to feel like we matter. But as author Jennifer Wallace notes, that need often goes unmet. We talk about how to solve this mattering deficit. I also chat with Duke's Patty Van Cappellen about the wisdom spiritual traditions offer to help podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
January 25, 2026 at 4:59 PM
We all have an innate need to feel like we matter. But as author Jennifer Wallace notes, that need often goes unmet. We talk about how to solve this mattering deficit. I also chat with Duke's Patty Van Cappellen about the wisdom spiritual traditions offer to help podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
We all have an innate need to feel like we matter. But as author Jennifer Wallace notes, that need often goes unmet. We talk about how to solve this mattering deficit. I also chat with Duke's Patty Van Cappellen about the wisdom spiritual traditions offer to help podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
January 25, 2026 at 4:59 PM
We all have an innate need to feel like we matter. But as author Jennifer Wallace notes, that need often goes unmet. We talk about how to solve this mattering deficit. I also chat with Duke's Patty Van Cappellen about the wisdom spiritual traditions offer to help podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
Proud How God Works is a finalist for best personal growth/spirituality pod for the Ambies! Join me, an agnostic psychologist, to explore the science behind how & why spiritual practices help people flourish, whatever their beliefs. howgodworks.org @podcastacademy.bsky.social @prx.org
January 21, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Proud How God Works is a finalist for best personal growth/spirituality pod for the Ambies! Join me, an agnostic psychologist, to explore the science behind how & why spiritual practices help people flourish, whatever their beliefs. howgodworks.org @podcastacademy.bsky.social @prx.org
If you're looking to improve life in 2026, you might want to think about...sin. Not in the fire & brimstone sense, but as @elizabetholdfield.bsky.social notes, as something that separates us from others or, simply put, just F's things up. Join us as we rethink sin. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
January 11, 2026 at 3:17 PM
If you're looking to improve life in 2026, you might want to think about...sin. Not in the fire & brimstone sense, but as @elizabetholdfield.bsky.social notes, as something that separates us from others or, simply put, just F's things up. Join us as we rethink sin. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
As @ezraklein.bsky.social points out, all of this is an assault on hope. The point is to wear people out -- to give them a sense they have no control to stop it and thereby remove hope & the will to act. But there is a way to overcome that despair... 1/2 @nytimes.com
Opinion | Venezuela, Renee Good and Trump’s ‘Assault on Hope’
www.nytimes.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:08 PM
As @ezraklein.bsky.social points out, all of this is an assault on hope. The point is to wear people out -- to give them a sense they have no control to stop it and thereby remove hope & the will to act. But there is a way to overcome that despair... 1/2 @nytimes.com
Reposted by David DeSteno
Why you’re wise on Tuesday and foolish on Sunday: Practising #wisdom in uncertain times - a brief sunday read & a mild rant against "one trick" gurus & substakers. theconversation.com/why-youre-wi... @theconversation.com
Why you’re wise on Tuesday and foolish on Sunday: Practising wisdom in uncertain times
Wisdom fluctuates. New longitudinal evidence suggests wise reasoning is a trainable toolkit —not a trait — and repeated distanced self-reflection can strengthen it in daily life.
theconversation.com
January 4, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Why you’re wise on Tuesday and foolish on Sunday: Practising #wisdom in uncertain times - a brief sunday read & a mild rant against "one trick" gurus & substakers. theconversation.com/why-youre-wi... @theconversation.com
AI developers have been leveraging psychology to make chatbots seem like ideal social partners. But what our minds find most immediately attractive isn’t always in our long term best interest. As Samuel Kimbriel notes, philosophy can be a guide for design (or at least regulatory constraints). 1/2
Opinion | ‘I’ve seen it all’: Chatbots are preying on the vulnerable
A growing roster of suicides should draw attention to manipulative AI chatbots.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 3, 2026 at 2:22 PM
AI developers have been leveraging psychology to make chatbots seem like ideal social partners. But what our minds find most immediately attractive isn’t always in our long term best interest. As Samuel Kimbriel notes, philosophy can be a guide for design (or at least regulatory constraints). 1/2
Reposted by David DeSteno
For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful — one the world’s spiritual traditions figured out long ago. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/o...
Opinion | For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful
www.nytimes.com
January 1, 2026 at 2:34 PM
For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful — one the world’s spiritual traditions figured out long ago. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/o...
Reposted by David DeSteno
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com
“Our modern conception of hope is flawed,” the research psychologist David DeSteno writes. “It practically invites hopelessness when the stakes are greatest.”
“Our modern conception of hope is flawed,” the research psychologist David DeSteno writes. “It practically invites hopelessness when the stakes are greatest.”
Opinion | For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful
Hope is a virtue to be practiced, not an aspiration to be managed.
nyti.ms
January 1, 2026 at 11:45 PM
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com
“Our modern conception of hope is flawed,” the research psychologist David DeSteno writes. “It practically invites hopelessness when the stakes are greatest.”
“Our modern conception of hope is flawed,” the research psychologist David DeSteno writes. “It practically invites hopelessness when the stakes are greatest.”
Psychologists & self-help gurus advise limiting hopes to ward off despair. But that keeps us from working on big challenges. As the world’s faith traditions realized long ago, hope is about fighting the darkness daily without expecting success. @nytimes.com
Opinion | For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful
www.nytimes.com
January 1, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Psychologists & self-help gurus advise limiting hopes to ward off despair. But that keeps us from working on big challenges. As the world’s faith traditions realized long ago, hope is about fighting the darkness daily without expecting success. @nytimes.com
For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful — one the world’s spiritual traditions figured out long ago. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/o...
Opinion | For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful
www.nytimes.com
January 1, 2026 at 2:34 PM
For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful — one the world’s spiritual traditions figured out long ago. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/o...
“In the long run, resolutions that keep others in mind tend to have greater staying power.”-Valerie Trapp. There’s something special about making resolutions together. And what better time than now!
A Better Way to Think About New Year’s Resolutions
The best way to improve yourself is to help others too.
www.theatlantic.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:20 PM
“In the long run, resolutions that keep others in mind tend to have greater staying power.”-Valerie Trapp. There’s something special about making resolutions together. And what better time than now!
Dec. 31 brings up thoughts of endings, but also of renewal for the year ahead. As Dr. Kim Haines-Eitzen points out, the same is true for the ancient understanding of the apocalypse. It wasn’t the end of everything, as we think of it now, but rather a transition. www.howgodworks.org/podcast/seas...
December 30, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Dec. 31 brings up thoughts of endings, but also of renewal for the year ahead. As Dr. Kim Haines-Eitzen points out, the same is true for the ancient understanding of the apocalypse. It wasn’t the end of everything, as we think of it now, but rather a transition. www.howgodworks.org/podcast/seas...
Reposted by David DeSteno
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Donate: givedirectly.org/pods
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givedirectly.org
December 30, 2025 at 6:09 PM
⌛️ Two days left to double your donation to @give-directly.bsky.social for #PodsFightPoverty!
Donate: givedirectly.org/pods
Donate: givedirectly.org/pods
Why do many people think the End Times & Rapture are just around the corner? I talk with writer Dina Nayeri about what it's like to live with that expectation, and Cornell Prof. Kim Haines-Eitzen about what we get wrong about religious views of the apocalypse. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
December 29, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Why do many people think the End Times & Rapture are just around the corner? I talk with writer Dina Nayeri about what it's like to live with that expectation, and Cornell Prof. Kim Haines-Eitzen about what we get wrong about religious views of the apocalypse. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
Richard Davidson & me on The Spiritual Power of the In-Between Times (and how to find more of them). www.templeton.org/news/the-spi... @templetonfdn.bsky.social
The Spiritual Power of the In-Between
www.templeton.org
December 26, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Richard Davidson & me on The Spiritual Power of the In-Between Times (and how to find more of them). www.templeton.org/news/the-spi... @templetonfdn.bsky.social
Great piece by @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social. Religions offer a powerful technology to move hearts & minds. Whether it’s for good or for ill often depends on the motives of those wielding it. BUT, if you engage with the practices deeply, they point to compassion.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/o...
Opinion | Christianity Is a Dangerous Faith
www.nytimes.com
December 21, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Great piece by @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social. Religions offer a powerful technology to move hearts & minds. Whether it’s for good or for ill often depends on the motives of those wielding it. BUT, if you engage with the practices deeply, they point to compassion.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/o...
Science & religion can work together. On this episode, we look at how Tibetan Buddhist monks & American neuroscientists are working together to study lucid dreaming using a practice called dream yoga which allows control of dreams. www.howgodworks.org/podcast/seas... @mindandlife.bsky.social
December 18, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Science & religion can work together. On this episode, we look at how Tibetan Buddhist monks & American neuroscientists are working together to study lucid dreaming using a practice called dream yoga which allows control of dreams. www.howgodworks.org/podcast/seas... @mindandlife.bsky.social
Reposted by David DeSteno
Can you control your dreams? Tibetan Buddhists found a way centuries ago. I talk with neuroscientist Ken Paller (paller.bsky.social) about lucid dreaming, and with neuroscientist Robin Nusslock & Geshe Thabkhe about how monks & scientists are studying it together. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
December 14, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Can you control your dreams? Tibetan Buddhists found a way centuries ago. I talk with neuroscientist Ken Paller (paller.bsky.social) about lucid dreaming, and with neuroscientist Robin Nusslock & Geshe Thabkhe about how monks & scientists are studying it together. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
Can you control your dreams? Tibetan Buddhists found a way centuries ago. I talk with neuroscientist Ken Paller (paller.bsky.social) about lucid dreaming, and with neuroscientist Robin Nusslock & Geshe Thabkhe about how monks & scientists are studying it together. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
December 14, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Can you control your dreams? Tibetan Buddhists found a way centuries ago. I talk with neuroscientist Ken Paller (paller.bsky.social) about lucid dreaming, and with neuroscientist Robin Nusslock & Geshe Thabkhe about how monks & scientists are studying it together. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
Reposted by David DeSteno
New preprint: Empathy, Thick and Thin
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
It is perhaps foolhardy to attempt to say something new about a topic as widely studied as empathy. I tried anyway! 1/
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
It is perhaps foolhardy to attempt to say something new about a topic as widely studied as empathy. I tried anyway! 1/
December 11, 2025 at 8:50 PM
New preprint: Empathy, Thick and Thin
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
It is perhaps foolhardy to attempt to say something new about a topic as widely studied as empathy. I tried anyway! 1/
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
It is perhaps foolhardy to attempt to say something new about a topic as widely studied as empathy. I tried anyway! 1/
Shamanism isn't just part of small faiths. As @mnvrsngh points out, you can find some elements of it in fast growing areas of Christianity too. On this week's episode of How God Works, we explore the how's & why's of shamanism's continued re-emergence. www.howgodworks.org/podcast/seas...
December 3, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Shamanism isn't just part of small faiths. As @mnvrsngh points out, you can find some elements of it in fast growing areas of Christianity too. On this week's episode of How God Works, we explore the how's & why's of shamanism's continued re-emergence. www.howgodworks.org/podcast/seas...
Shamans have always been with us. This week, we explore how shamanism works with @manvir.bsky.social and why forms of it pop up in some surprising places, from modern medicine and CEO culture to charismatic Christianity. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
November 30, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Shamans have always been with us. This week, we explore how shamanism works with @manvir.bsky.social and why forms of it pop up in some surprising places, from modern medicine and CEO culture to charismatic Christianity. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
When things are difficult, gratitude can feel out of reach. That's when it's important to remember that gratitude isn't an act of complacency. It can be an act of resistance - a way to know you matter, a way to find strength and resilience. www.wbur.org/onpoint/2025...
November 29, 2025 at 4:57 PM
When things are difficult, gratitude can feel out of reach. That's when it's important to remember that gratitude isn't an act of complacency. It can be an act of resistance - a way to know you matter, a way to find strength and resilience. www.wbur.org/onpoint/2025...