Every year the website Edge.org poses an annual question to dozens of scholars, scientists, writers, artists and thinkers. Among them is Robert Provine, professor of psychology.
NPR’s 13.7 blog wrote about this year’s question, “What should we be worried about?” in a January 14 post.
Themes that the blog detected in the answers included “the impact of technology on individual minds and human relationships,” “the growing disconnect between science and the rest of human knowledge and culture,” and “worry itself.”
Provine gave a positive spin on the question, urging people to “stop worrying about worry.” “Too much worry strands us in an agitated state of despair, anxiety and paranoia; too little leaves us without motivation and direction,” he wrote.
Based on Provine’s advice, readers are urged to “go ahead and read all 150-plus responses to this year’s challenge. But in the interest of worrying just the right amount, you might not want to do so in a single sitting.”
Tags: CAHSS, Psychology
