ABOUT ELLEN
Digital pioneer, assumption-challenging neuroscience educator, author and retreat leader, Ellen grounds her life’s work in a deep understanding of the human brain and how lived experiences condition its functions and impact.
Her 2016 TEDx talk, Happiness by Design, anticipated the impact of technology on wellbeing, a topic explored in her bestselling “user’s manual for the brain,” The Happiness Hack (2017); also available on Audible.
Happiness by Design, TEDx Berkeley
Ellen’s first TEDx talk warned of changes enacted in the brain via interaction with technology – specifically addressing changes to our neurochemistry intentionally activated by tech products designed to be habit forming. Today, the message rings truer than ever.
Meet three wisdom bearers whose messages feel essential today…
-
Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, Citizen Potawatomi Nation
Poet, botanist, celebrated Professor, and author of the bestselling Braiding Sweetgrass and the recent The Serviceberry, Robin uses wisdom from Indigenous tradition to generate hope – and action – in our inner and outer worlds.
-
Tyson Yunkaporta, Apalech Clan in Far North Queensland
In his fascinating book Sand Talk and across his work in applying traditional thoughtways to modern challenges, Tyson’s insights expand how we see reality. Explore this Google search and click below for his work at Australia’s Deakin University.
-
Dr. Lyla June Johnston, Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne),
Lyla June introduces herself as a musician, orator, scientist, and
Servant to Future Generations. Explore her website through the button below and listen to her TEDx talk: 3,000 Year-Old Solutions to Modern Problems.
Recommended resources
Resources to explore…
My podcast, The Brain and Beyond, explores modern life through the lens of neuroscience
Books that inspire and teach me include:
The Sex Contract by Dr. Helen Fisher
A History of the Human Brain by the late, and very great, Bret Stetka; gone too soon
The Chalice and the Blade, a prophetic ‘80s classic, by Dr. Riane Eisler. It’s dense reading; perhaps explore via her website and YouTube. She predicted the future we’re living today as a natural outcome of our separation from nature and each other.
Movies worth watching include Feminists: What Were They Thinking? and The Divided Brain by Dr. Iain McGilchrist, who is also very discoverable on YouTube
Anything by Wade Davis. We all should listen.
