Agency
Episodes about this book
5 episodesPositive Psychology Founder: How To Stop Your Negative Thoughts - Martin Seligman - #1167
Martin Seligman promotes his new book Agency, which frames human agency around three components—efficacy, optimism, and imagination—and traces their role across history from hunter-gatherers to modern times to explain when civilisations flourish or stagnate. He describes chapters on ancient China and biblical Israel, and notes that AI (Claude) helped him write a transition between those chapters after years of being unable to see it himself.
What It Takes to Make Progress When the Future Feels Out of Control
Martin Seligman, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, is interviewed about his new book. The conversation covers his three-component definition of agency (efficacy, optimism, and imagination), how individuals and organizations can cultivate these qualities, the reciprocal causal relationship between psychological states and real-world developments (illustrated through the Wright brothers), research linking employee well-being to profitability, and how AI and hallucination relate to creativity and imagination.
705: Dr. Martin Seligman - Positive Psychology, Learned Optimism, Grit, PERMA, Agency, Resilience, and Predicting the Future
Martin Seligman, founder of Positive Psychology, discusses his new book with host Ryan Hawk. He explains that it founds a field he calls psychohistory, examining how psychological variables—principally agency (comprising efficacy, optimism, and imagination)—shape the course of history and cultures. He argues that cultures with high agency progress while those without stagnate, and that the book's tools can predict future outcomes including presidential elections and individual wellbeing.
322. Talk Back: Why Arguing With Yourself Can Help You Flourish
Martin Seligman describes Agency as the culmination of 60 years of work and 'the most informative tool we have both about our futures and the human future.' He explains that agency comprises three components: efficacy (belief in achieving present goals), optimism (belief in achieving future goals), and imagination (the range of goals one can envision). Matt Abrahams says he found the book fascinating.
Get Situated for Success (with Angela Duckworth)
Angela Duckworth recommends Agency by her PhD advisor Marty Seligman. She describes Seligman as known for his work on optimism and learned helplessness; now 83, he argues that imagination—especially imagining possible futures, a capacity unique to humans—is one of the most important forms of human agency and a key driver of civilizational progress. Duckworth explicitly recommends the book to the host and listeners.
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