

What Makes Us Happy? - toffer
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200906/happiness

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tremendo
Very long article but I still found it valuable. It identifies a few factors
as being better predictors of happiness in later life, not just having say
factor #1 or #3 but a combination of them simultaneously, the more--of course
--the better.

It does seem to put more weight on how we deal with adversity as being
probably more important, having a range of "strategies" from the more immature
to the more advanced, which suggests that they are learned or one can
eventually make the leap to the better ways. Also it mentions how physical
health as a young adult is a better predictor of mental health later in life,
but not so much of physical health. And of course, that warm, deep personal
relationships are very important too, not so much quantity, but quality.

Have not watched the TED video suggested by badger7, but I believe there is
value in this article too. Do not dismiss it for being too "narrative" or
simply long.

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spon
Here's an interesting passage from the article:

"But what does it mean, really, to be happier? For 30 years, Denmark has
topped international happiness surveys. But Danes are hardly a sanguine bunch.
Ask an American how it’s going, and you will usually hear 'Really good.' Ask a
Dane, and you will hear 'Det kunne være værre (It could be worse).'

"'Danes have consistently low (and indubitably realistic) expectations for the
year to come,' a team of Danish scholars concluded. 'Year after year they are
pleasantly surprised to find that not everything is getting more rotten in the
state of Denmark.'"

"Of course, happiness scientists have come up with all kinds of
straightforward, and actionable, findings: that money does little to make us
happier once our basic needs are met; that marriage and faith lead to
happiness (or it could be that happy people are more likely to be married and
spiritual); that temperamental “set points” for happiness—a predisposition to
stay at a certain level of happiness—account for a large, but not
overwhelming, percentage of our well-being. (Fifty percent, says Sonja
Lyubomirsky in The How of Happiness. Circumstances account for 10 percent, and
the other 40 percent is within our control.) But why do countries with the
highest self-reports of subjective well-being also yield the most suicides?
How is it that children are often found to be a source of “negative affect”
(sadness, anger)—yet people identify children as their greatest source of
pleasure?"

~~~
biohacker42
_Danes have consistently low (and indubitably realistic) expectations..._

Life consistently sucks, but if you accept that, you can be pleasantly
surprised.

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jseliger
The answer would tend to be "not what you think." I'm surprised the article
doesn't mention Daniel Gilbert's book Stumbling on Happiness (see more about
it here: [http://jseliger.com/2009/04/23/stumbling-on-
happiness-—-dani...](http://jseliger.com/2009/04/23/stumbling-on-
happiness-—-daniel-gilbert) ), which discusses the role of income, perception,
consumption, and more.

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cgs
Interesting bits from the article:

In an interview in the March 2008 newsletter to the Grant Study subjects,
Vaillant was asked, “What have you learned from the Grant Study men?”
Vaillant’s response: “That the only thing that really matters in life are your
relationships to other people.”

“What we do,” Vaillant concluded, “affects how we feel just as much as how we
feel affects what we do.”

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nearfar
For a completely different take on happiness (24x7 happiness, not the typical
affective pleasure), see:

<http://actualfreedom.com.au/>

------
known
Happiness? Quite Simple. Practice Altruism.

~~~
Luff
Happiness? Not that simple. Where does happiness come from? Most rationals
would answers evolution. If that's the case, then it should have a function.
Figure that one out and you will also learn how to become happy.

~~~
derefr
"Happiness" is a vague emotion, like love, not an objective, short-term,
measurable one, like calm, contentment, or excitation. However, all states of
happiness usually share in common a factor of endorphin release.

Endorphins are basically one of two basic mechanisms for "fitting" data in the
brain-as-neural-net, with the other being pain: pain is the reinforcement
mechanism that trains your neurons to _not do that again_ , while endorphins
tell your brain to _do_ please do that again. People are "happy" (have
endorphins) when they're doing things that their body encourages them to do.
To be happy is simply to be one with your body's material desires (though note
that your brain is _part_ of your body, and it has material desires of its
own, for things like friendship.)

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badger7
The following talk is required viewing before any discussion on happiness can
take place. It's absolutely and completely vital to understand the points
demonstrated in this talk to have an informed opinion on the subject.

[http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_...](http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html)

Long story short: Choice makes us unhappy, yet we believe that it's what will
make us happy and so we strive for it. We actively seek out that which will
make us unhappy in the search for happiness.

~~~
akamaka
I couldn't get halfway through the article, as it's filled with pointless
details.

This TED talk, on the other hand, is straight to the point.

Watch it instead.

~~~
greendestiny
The article truly has nothing to do with the role of choice on happiness, its
about the study of entire lives with depth.

~~~
silentbicycle
I thought this was a good capsule summary, actually:

Yet, even as he takes pleasure in poking holes in an innocent idealism,
Vaillant says his hopeful temperament is best summed up by the story of a
father who on Christmas Eve puts into one son’s stocking a fine gold watch,
and into another son’s, a pile of horse manure. The next morning, the first
boy comes to his father and says glumly, "Dad, I just don’t know what I’ll do
with this watch. It’s so fragile. It could break." The other boy runs to him
and says, "Daddy! Daddy! Santa left me a pony, if only I can just find it!"

His study seems to support the idea that the way people react to problems in
their lives affects their overall happiness more than the problems themselves.

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bf
Drat, I was hoping for a link to a Hannah Montana website, because that would
make <i>me</i> happy.

~~~
bf
"Hacker News" doesn't support HTML tags? Are you f __*ing kidding me?

~~~
pg
<http://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc>

