Mindlessness is a pervasive issue we all experience, according to social psychologist and Harvard University professor Ellen Langer. "Virtually all of us, almost all of the time, are not there," she said at the Aspen Institute in Aspen, CO. And, she said, this matters because "all of our suffering — personal, interpersonal, societal — is a function, directly or indirectly, of this mindlessness."