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Something You Should Know

Why Success is Never Quite Good Enough & How Evolution Gave Us Free Will - SYSK Choice

Something You Should Know

Mike Carruthers | OmniCastMedia

Science, Social Sciences, Self-improvement, Education, Health & Fitness

4.64K Ratings

🗓️ 22 November 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Texting and email may be convenient, but sometimes a phone call is the best way to make a real connection. So how do you ensure the person actually calls you back? I’ll reveal a few clever tricks — backed by communication science — that can dramatically increase your chances. Source: Bill Jensen, author of Simplicity Survival Handbook (https://amzn.to/3MMDmt7) Have you ever achieved something big… only to feel restless right after? That’s the strange emotional hangover of success — what my guest Laura Gassner Otting calls Wonderhell. It’s that moment when your achievement opens the door to an even bigger dream — and with it, pressure, doubt, and possibility. Laura, frequent guest on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and Harvard Business Review, joins me to unpack this fascinating space between accomplishment and ambition from her book Wonderhell: Why Success Doesn’t Feel Like It Should and What to Do About It (https://amzn.to/40EycFi). Do we truly have free will — or are all our choices predetermined by biology and circumstance? Some scientists say free will is an illusion. Others, like Kevin Mitchell, argue that evolution gave us control over our decisions. Kevin, associate professor of genetics and neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin and author of Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will (https://amzn.to/49vncy2), joins me to explore what neuroscience, genetics, and philosophy reveal about human choice — and why it matters for everything from morality to justice. (For the counterargument, check out my earlier conversation with Robert Sapolsky: https://www.somethingyoushouldknow.net/566-do-we-really-have-free-will-how-to-handle-rejection-better/) And finally — you’ve probably heard people say, “That’s a whole nother story.” But is nother even a real word? The answer is surprisingly nuanced. https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/whole-nother PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! INDEED: Get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ right now! QUINCE: Give and get timeless holiday staples that last this season with Quince.  Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Quince.com/sysk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns! DELL: It’s time for Black Friday at Dell Technologies. Save big on PCs like the Dell 16 Plus featuring Intel® Core™ Ultra processors. Shop now at: ⁠⁠⁠ https://Dell.com/deals ⁠⁠⁠ NOTION: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Notion brings all your notes, docs, and projects into one connected space that just works . It's seamless, flexible, powerful, and actually fun to use! Try Notion, now with Notion Agent, at: ⁠⁠⁠https://notion.com/something⁠⁠⁠ PLANET VISIONARIES: In partnership with Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative, this… is Planet Visionaries. Listen or watch on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Here's the truth about AI. AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into.

0:05.7

ServiceNow puts AI to work for people across your business, removing friction and frustration

0:11.2

for your employees, supercharging productivity for your developers, providing intelligent tools for

0:16.9

your service agents to make customers happier. all built into a single platform you can

0:21.9

use right now. That's why the world works with ServiceNow. Visit ServiceNow.com

0:27.8

slash UK slash AI for people. Today on something you should know, when you need to get a hold of

0:35.9

someone on the phone, how do you make sure they

0:38.3

call you back? Then some interesting insight into how success works that can make you more successful.

0:45.9

My favorite quote from Eleanor Roosevelt is we would worry much less about what people thought of us

0:51.0

if we realized how seldomly they did. So that's the first thing that we should remember is that nobody's actually paying attention

0:56.4

to us.

0:57.4

You have so many chances to fail without anybody noticing before you actually become that overnight

1:00.9

success.

1:01.9

Also, you know the phrase, a whole another story?

1:05.6

Is another really a word?

1:07.8

And free will.

1:09.1

Do you make your own decisions?

1:10.7

Are you responsible for your actions?

1:12.6

Some people believe not.

1:14.6

If it can't be said that you really made a decision, then how could you be held responsible

1:20.6

for it?

1:21.6

That's the payoff.

...

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