#388: Lisa Ling — Exploring Subcultures, Learning to Feel, and Changing Perception

We’re learning so much about the trauma kids are experiencing between the ages of 1 and 7… If you don’t address that trauma, then it can go on to harm you for the rest of your life and trigger you in ways you’d never expect.

If you’ve never taken the time to understand your parent’s lives, I’d really urged you to do so. It’ll bring so much more clarity as to who your parents really are and why they made the decisions they made.

If you find yourself on any given week having the day-to-day experience of not having uncomfortable conversations or reading things that make you uncomfortable … in the sense of deeply and legitimately stress testing beliefs or narratives you have about the world, yourself, or other people, then you’re really not living properly… So much of what we tell ourselves is utter bullshit—it’s just complete nonsense. As soon as you start to stress test it, it falls apart.

Investing in therapy... It's such an important investment because you're investing in your future and mental health. Those are things that shouldn't be ignored.

Right now, humanity is so addicted to devices that we're not connecting with people. It's ironic; we're so connected with the world—we can find out any score to any game at the tip of our fingertips—but we're more isolated and lonely than ever because we're defaulting to these devices and not communicating enough with human beings.

It's easy to live in a bubble, be told what to think, and then spew what you've been told... It's hard to try and understand the truth, or take the time and energy it requires to get invested in other people's stories, but I do in my heart of hearts believe that you emerge a better and smarter human as a result of taking that time. It is in no way a waste.

We all experience something as a child that continues to live with us, and in some cases, haunt us or debilitate us. Until we take steps to address it, it could continue on.

How you relate to the world and treat others is often mirrored in how you relate to and treat yourself.

Our healthcare system is not conducive for allowing people to find therapists or even having insurance cover therapy; it’s so ass-backward in every possible way. That's why so many doctors are prescribing pharmaceutical drugs for people to put a Band-Aid on their pain.

Any kid with a device, or access to a device, can access an unlimited amount of porn. Its having a devastating effect on a generation and the way they perceive sex and relationships.

Honestly, I'm absolutely terrified by a lot of these pharmaceutical drugs. But what terrifies me even more is that a lot of the doctors who are prescribing them don't really know the consequences and how to help people get off of them if they find themselves dependent.

Everything that I do now, in both my work and life, is to make this a better place for them [Lisa's kids], and to try and bring people together and ignite dialogue, especially in this period of ugliness and hostility. I've always believed that the more we know about each other, the more we'll respect each other and the better we become, ultimately.

Parents need to wake up and realize that the moment they give their kids a device, they have unfettered access to extreme amounts of pornography.

Isn’t it curious these medications are so widely prescribed yet our culture is more anxious than ever?

The more labels you apply to other people and yourself, the dumber you become, to paraphrase a Paul Graham expression.

When we're out in the field, we're truly living the story. Every second of the day is consumed by the story. I meet people and they share with me things they haven’t even shared with their closest friends or family members. As a result, you can’t help but build a bond or develop a relationship.