
The Life Project: British cohort study turns 70 - bootload
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/27/the-life-project-what-makes-some-people-happy-healthy-successful-and-others-not
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hardcandy
Apropos of the title, Dennis Prager's ''Happiness Is a Serious Problem''
([http://fave.co/1LPTkKH](http://fave.co/1LPTkKH)) is the best book I read in
2015. It was published almost 20 years ago but I think it might be even more
relevant in today's pursuit of happiness obsessed world. It helped me
understand why I have trouble feeling ''happy'' and why that is OK.

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_98fj
Best, and most scientific [0] book in this regard: "the emotional life of your
brain" by Richard J. Davidson.

One of the TLDR: the feeling of being happy and being sad are not the same
brain-function with a sign reversed. Just because you're not happy doesn't
imply you are sad and vice versa, just because you're not sad doesn't imply
you're happy.

You have to train not-being-sad and being-happy independently!

[0] every hypothesis was experimentally tested!

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EwanG
Great discussion of the cohort studies in the UK, and what results are coming
out from the late 40s, 80s, and Millennial cohorts.

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ufukbay
I agree but the title is quite misleading and has a clickbaity sound to it.

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dang
Ok, we changed the title. If someone suggests a better one, we can change it
again.

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VLM
"Just last year, scientists compared the way that people in all five
generations have gained weight during their lives. This study was gargantuan."

Subtle British humour. The article is full of stuff like this. Just trying to
help those who don't get it, or don't understand where the "happy" is found
from the title.

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neves
The title is misleading, but it was one of the best articles I've read
recently. It is an impressive project that influenced multiple public policies
in a whole country. It is Science at its best.

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neves
Here is the review of a book on the subject:
[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/28/the-life-
pro...](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/28/the-life-project-
helen-pearson-review-cohort-study)

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vmorgulis
In this kind stuff, there is positive psychology:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology#Happiness_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology#Happiness_measurement)

Human sciences lack of a shared model (like in physics). Most studies remain
separated and become dead branches. It's a bit sad.

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ASpring
> Most studies remain separated and become dead branches. It's a bit sad.

I have a hard time believing this is much different in Psychology compared to
other disciplines. What are you basing this on?

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vmorgulis
I'm not a specialist at all. I know a bit Carl Rogers thinking and random
stuff in sociology.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Rogers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Rogers)

I know they use different models. Some models can be common across multiple
disciplines (like psychology and sociology).

Biology is probably the smallest denominator.

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magic_beans
This article didn't touch on the happiness of those studied at all.

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papapra
Well... they don't say what makes some people happy...

