Succeeding Without Trying
What if the secret to success lies in doing less, not more?
Episode 3 of the How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality podcast, hosted by PRX, titled "Succeeding Without Trying" was published on October 13, 2024 and runs 36 minutes.
October 13, 2024 ·36m · How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality
Summary
We spend a lot of time on How God Works talking about how spirituality can offer tools to become better versions of ourselves. And while learning to be happier, healthier and more resilient are all positive things to strive for, they can also lead us down a different path - an obsession with productivity and self-optimization… which can lead to a culture of trying to grind or life-hack our way through everything. But what if the secret to success lies in doing less, not more? On this episode, we’ll explore the Chinese concept of wu wei, effortless action. We'll talk to Edward Slingerland about how modern cognitive science has proven many early Chinese thinkers right, why wu wei is still relevant today, and how learning how not to try can help us forge a different path toward the good life. Edward Slingerland is a professor of religion at the University of British Columbia and the author of Trying Not To Try: Ancient China, Modern Science and the Power of Spontaneity. Find out more about his work, and his other books, on his website. Other texts we’ve discussed during this episode include: -Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi -Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, by Immanuel Kant -The Analects or Sayings of Confucius, attributed to Confucius -The Tao Te Ching or Laozi, attributed to Laozi -The Mencius, attributed to Mencius
Episode Description
We spend a lot of time on How God Works talking about how spirituality can offer tools to become better versions of ourselves. And while learning to be happier, healthier and more resilient are all positive things to strive for, they can also lead us down a different path - an obsession with productivity and self-optimization… which can lead to a culture of trying to grind or life-hack our way through everything.
But what if the secret to success lies in doing less, not more? On this episode, we’ll explore the Chinese concept of wu wei, effortless action. We'll talk to Edward Slingerland about how modern cognitive science has proven many early Chinese thinkers right, why wu wei is still relevant today, and how learning how not to try can help us forge a different path toward the good life.
Edward Slingerland is a professor of religion at the University of British Columbia and the author of Trying Not To Try: Ancient China, Modern Science and the Power of Spontaneity. Find out more about his work, and his other books, on his website.
Other texts we’ve discussed during this episode include:
-Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
-Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, by Immanuel Kant
-The Analects or Sayings of Confucius, attributed to Confucius
-The Tao Te Ching or Laozi, attributed to Laozi
-The Mencius, attributed to Mencius
Similar Episodes
Apr 8, 2026 ·38m
Apr 1, 2026 ·47m
Mar 25, 2026 ·20m
Mar 18, 2026 ·42m
Mar 11, 2026 ·63m