Something Understood

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BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Religion & Ethics

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life, taking a spiritual theme and exploring it through music, prose and poetry

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Something Understood: Anticipation

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Anticipation

BBC Radio 4 - Something Understood, Anticipation

Mark Tully looks at both sides of anticipation and how we relish or dread what is to come.

Mark Tully considers how we relish or dread the future. Is the anticipation of something worse than the actual event - or the prospect of a treat better than the treat itself?

Mark Tully looks at both sides of anticipation and how we can either relish or dread what is to come. He considers the problems of anticipating too much, or too little, with the help of Thomas Hardy, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Linda Pastan and Winnie the Pooh.

Can neuroscience explain why the anticipation of something bad is often worse than the actual event or the prospect of a treat sometimes better than the treat itself? And does the anticipation of the future, either good or bad, mean that we risk squandering the present? Or as Seneca said, "Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today."

Producer is Adam Fowler.
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