A bit about me
Hi. I’m Steve, a behavioral scientist based in Chicago with my wife and two kids. In my day job, I lead a team of researchers who design products and communications to help people overcome behavioral obstacles. I’ve written two secular books on applied behavioral science in the past.
With Spiritual Design, I thought I’d try writing something more personal. For myself, I’m a Quaker and I’ve struggled for most of my life to simply spend time learning about and exploring spiritual matters. Over the last few years though, I found myself applying lessons from my work to my home life: intentionally building up small spiritual habits, subtly changing my environment to support reading and thinking about faith.
I’ve seen how small frictions in our daily lives create a gap between our intentions (for example, to read the Scriptures, or to meditate daily) and our actions. I’ve also seen how we sometimes beat ourselves up for not being ‘good enough’ Christians / Buddhists / whatever in our spiritual lives: because we don’t attend church regularly, or don’t follow the teachings of our faith. But as a behavioralist, I know that we’re all simply limited. We have limited memory, limited attention, limited willpower, and that’s just how we are.
I believe that lessons from behavioral science can help. That doesn’t mean: science tells you to do X. There’s no “behavioral science guide to spirituality”, and, this book does not try to offer one. That research simply hasn’t been conducted. Instead, this book is a two-way translation: a translation between the language of spirituality and faith on the one side, and behavioral science on the other. As I’ve followed my own spiritual path, I’ve found ideas from both domains to be immensely useful. I offer these translations in the hope that others might find them rewarding as well.
P.S.: while I’m Quaker, I don’t assume that you are (hey, there just aren’t that many Quakers in the world, for better or worse). The book doesn’t advocate any set of religious beliefs. Instead, it’s about practical lessons for translating behavioral science in one’s own spiritual practice: regardless of the spiritual path you’re on.