Scott Barry Kaufman is a cognitive scientist and humanistic psychologist exploring the mind, creativity, and the depths of human potential. He is founder and director of the Center for the Science of Human Potential and an Honorary Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Wellbeing Science. Dr. Kaufman has taught at Columbia University, Yale, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. In 2015, he was named one of “50 groundbreaking scientists who are changing the way we see the world” by Business Insider.

Dr. Kaufman’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Scientific American, Psychology Today, and Harvard Business Review, and he is the author and editor of 9 books. In his latest book Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, he presents a new hierarchy of human needs for the 21st century, one that allows for the fulfilment of individual potential as well as the actualization of transcendent purpose and peak experiences. Dr. Kaufman hosts the #1 psychology podcast in the world, The Psychology Podcast, which has received over 20 million downloads and was included in Business Insider’s list of “9 podcasts that will change how you think about human behavior.‍

In this episode of Intersections, Prof. Hitendra Wadhwa has a conversation with Scott Barry Kaufman on the topic “Self-Actualization in the 21st Century”.

What makes us, as human beings, flourish. What is our highest potential? What new understanding of human nature has science discovered since the days we were taught Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in school?

“The comparison isn't with others; it's with your former and future selves.”

Scott Barry Kaufman

The episode “Self-Actualization in the 21st Century” offers key insights on:

• Living unconventionally and making sacrifices in the pursuit of your purpose
  ‍
• The need for belonging and intimacy
  ‍
• How to deal with extreme uncertainty and the boundless human capacity to be resilient