Comments on: What makes us happy http://anjamerret.com/?p=285 chatting to my generation Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:03:10 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: How to Be Happier | The BridgeMaker http://anjamerret.com/?p=285&cpage=2#comment-49102 How to Be Happier | The BridgeMaker Sun, 12 Jul 2009 12:45:43 +0000 http://anjamerret.com/?p=285#comment-49102 [...] What Makes Us Happy | Anja Merret [...] [...] What Makes Us Happy | Anja Merret [...]

]]> By: strip that fat http://anjamerret.com/?p=285&cpage=2#comment-34854 strip that fat Fri, 14 Nov 2008 05:41:03 +0000 http://anjamerret.com/?p=285#comment-34854 I guess if you are facing a serious decision, it's not typically a happy state. But I think this is a bit short sited. While the actual process of choice may not be happiness in itself, the end result of being able to make a wide variety of choices and consistently choosing good decisions can create a situation of happiness in the long run. I guess it depends on what granularity of choice your looking at. Sure having to choose between say 5 brands of bread may not be a significant freedom, and may not give your life anything. But what if you did not have the choice as to what profession you were to enter? Who you chose to spend your time with? Or lets take this to an extreme and even say the views you are able to communicate on the issues you see as important. Do you think this would be happiness? If so, I'll give it a miss. I guess if you are facing a serious decision, it’s not typically a happy state. But I think this is a bit short sited. While the actual process of choice may not be happiness in itself, the end result of being able to make a wide variety of choices and consistently choosing good decisions can create a situation of happiness in the long run.

I guess it depends on what granularity of choice your looking at. Sure having to choose between say 5 brands of bread may not be a significant freedom, and may not give your life anything. But what if you did not have the choice as to what profession you were to enter? Who you chose to spend your time with? Or lets take this to an extreme and even say the views you are able to communicate on the issues you see as important. Do you think this would be happiness? If so, I’ll give it a miss.

]]> By: andrew http://anjamerret.com/?p=285&cpage=2#comment-27328 andrew Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:30:44 +0000 http://anjamerret.com/?p=285#comment-27328 really interesting interchange. I find myself rally impressed by the theory and yet in sympathy wit the more negative comments on the page - but then I also think it is wrong to draw an analogy between the Holocaust, for example, and reasonable expectations of happiness. Rather as in quantum physics, I suspect the research breaks down under extreme conditions. The really interesting idea/hook/concept that Ted offers is the synthetic versus natural happiness. I say this because I suspect that in my own life I privilege one over the other and yet,rationally, why is that the case? If I could learn to be create happiness in the situation I cannot alter, wouldn't I actually be happier? (Happiness may itself not be a good word to use here - perhaps satisfied, or content is better). The critique that ted offers is rally about the proliferation of choice and neuroscience and psychology have for decades been showing that too much choice stress the organism, rather it be rats of teenagers. IN Spain, the government is now examining the idea of the consumidor racional, or the rational consumer; i.e. buying, consuming more rationally - not putting limits on what we want or need but trying to educate us to find put own way to limit what we want or need. Given the recent stresses on the planet isn't this a sensible way forward? P.S. I am a Chinese language graduate and I am tempted to disagree very strongly with the assumption above that consumer culture is making the Chinese as a people happier; Outside of extreme events (like Maoist China) the Chinese seem happiest in traditional, predictable, contained and slowly evolving environments. I'm not sure that is China today. Have Carrefour and Big Macs made China a happier country? Answers on a post card please.... really interesting interchange. I find myself rally impressed by the theory and yet in sympathy wit the more negative comments on the page – but then I also think it is wrong to draw an analogy between the Holocaust, for example, and reasonable expectations of happiness. Rather as in quantum physics, I suspect the research breaks down under extreme conditions. The really interesting idea/hook/concept that Ted offers is the synthetic versus natural happiness. I say this because I suspect that in my own life I privilege one over the other and yet,rationally, why is that the case? If I could learn to be create happiness in the situation I cannot alter, wouldn’t I actually be happier? (Happiness may itself not be a good word to use here – perhaps satisfied, or content is better). The critique that ted offers is rally about the proliferation of choice and neuroscience and psychology have for decades been showing that too much choice stress the organism, rather it be rats of teenagers. IN Spain, the government is now examining the idea of the consumidor racional, or the rational consumer; i.e. buying, consuming more rationally – not putting limits on what we want or need but trying to educate us to find put own way to limit what we want or need. Given the recent stresses on the planet isn’t this a sensible way forward? P.S. I am a Chinese language graduate and I am tempted to disagree very strongly with the assumption above that consumer culture is making the Chinese as a people happier; Outside of extreme events (like Maoist China) the Chinese seem happiest in traditional, predictable, contained and slowly evolving environments. I’m not sure that is China today. Have Carrefour and Big Macs made China a happier country? Answers on a post card please….

]]> By: Anonymous http://anjamerret.com/?p=285&cpage=1#comment-21852 Anonymous Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:03:30 +0000 http://anjamerret.com/?p=285#comment-21852 <strong>...</strong> is there any help after a failed marriage... …

is there any help after a failed marriage…

]]> By: Amir http://anjamerret.com/?p=285&cpage=1#comment-20635 Amir Tue, 13 May 2008 10:28:26 +0000 http://anjamerret.com/?p=285#comment-20635 We create our perception of reality. This is something we can get better at when practicing well and there are so many different techniques (both religious and non-religious) to learn how to better control your mind. So be happy :) We create our perception of reality.
This is something we can get better at when practicing well and there are so many different techniques (both religious and non-religious) to learn how to better control your mind.

So be happy :)

]]> By: Dan http://anjamerret.com/?p=285&cpage=1#comment-9655 Dan Sat, 15 Dec 2007 14:45:53 +0000 http://anjamerret.com/?p=285#comment-9655 Many of these posts seem to take these suggestions about limited freedom and happiness too literally. He is not saying that all people across the board will instantly be happy when they have no freedom of choice. It is an attitude or an unconscious action that many people on todays modernized culture cannot relate to. We have had all the choices imaginable for as long as most of us have been alive. He is trying to show the dangers of the great human ability to predict the outcomes of certain events in the future. If there is always another option to choose, or another path to follow for every decision we ever make then we can unwillingly use this ability against ourselves and second guess everything we've ever done. This may lead us to make major life changes based solely on these predictions, which are not always accurate. Everyone, even people who didn't watch this video can agree than some things don't turn out how you think they will. The video says that people who do not have this freedom of choice can be happy with the things that they have. This also doesn't imply a that this happiness excludes any motivation to succeed. There can still be a desire to achieve great things, have more wealth or be a better person. It is just a sense of satisfaction with the reality of any situation. If people spend their time constantly comparing their achievements, possessions and lives to that of others then envy and desire for bigger, better, faster and newer things is inevitable. What I took away from this video is that all people have the ability to be happy in any situation. In this situation ability and willingness are miles apart. It all boils down to how you view the world. If you constantly are re-evaluating and second guessing your every decision, and then making predictions about different/alternate life paths which we know aren't usually correct we are bound to be less happy then if we just accept things that are beyond our control. This does not say this is the correct way of life, or that a life of constantly pursuing that which could have been and quite frankly I am not sure that either of these two forms would exist in pure states. But before many people dismiss this as insanity think about the culture we live and the ideals it endorses. American culture is one that wants everything, drives straight to the top and takes no mercy along the way. If this is the only culture we know and grow up in then of course it feels like the way things ought to be. On the other end of the spectrum are tribal cultures who have nothing except what the earth provides naturally and they are most likely happier than most of us. Many of these posts seem to take these suggestions about limited freedom and happiness too literally. He is not saying that all people across the board will instantly be happy when they have no freedom of choice. It is an attitude or an unconscious action that many people on todays modernized culture cannot relate to. We have had all the choices imaginable for as long as most of us have been alive.

He is trying to show the dangers of the great human ability to predict the outcomes of certain events in the future. If there is always another option to choose, or another path to follow for every decision we ever make then we can unwillingly use this ability against ourselves and second guess everything we’ve ever done. This may lead us to make major life changes based solely on these predictions, which are not always accurate. Everyone, even people who didn’t watch this video can agree than some things don’t turn out how you think they will. The video says that people who do not have this freedom of choice can be happy with the things that they have.

This also doesn’t imply a that this happiness excludes any motivation to succeed. There can still be a desire to achieve great things, have more wealth or be a better person. It is just a sense of satisfaction with the reality of any situation. If people spend their time constantly comparing their achievements, possessions and lives to that of others then envy and desire for bigger, better, faster and newer things is inevitable.

What I took away from this video is that all people have the ability to be happy in any situation. In this situation ability and willingness are miles apart. It all boils down to how you view the world. If you constantly are re-evaluating and second guessing your every decision, and then making predictions about different/alternate life paths which we know aren’t usually correct we are bound to be less happy then if we just accept things that are beyond our control.

This does not say this is the correct way of life, or that a life of constantly pursuing that which could have been and quite frankly I am not sure that either of these two forms would exist in pure states. But before many people dismiss this as insanity think about the culture we live and the ideals it endorses. American culture is one that wants everything, drives straight to the top and takes no mercy along the way. If this is the only culture we know and grow up in then of course it feels like the way things ought to be. On the other end of the spectrum are tribal cultures who have nothing except what the earth provides naturally and they are most likely happier than most of us.

]]> By: Mikko Cowdery http://anjamerret.com/?p=285&cpage=1#comment-7247 Mikko Cowdery Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:35:47 +0000 http://anjamerret.com/?p=285#comment-7247 Thank you for this Anja. For years my brother and I had a Minnesota State Fair concession, and we noticed that children almost invariably left the state fair frustrated and unhappy because there were so many choices of things to do and see, and they always seemed to feel the ones they missed were better than the ones they had experienced. We came to call this kind of unhappiness "the state fair syndrome" and found that it also applied to children in any situation which offered many choices of fun things to do. We also noticed that the happiest people we saw leaving the fair grounds were those in wheelchairs. My brother said it was because their feet weren't sore, but I think it was because they had adjusted their thinking to the fact that there was only so much they could do. Thank you for this Anja. For years my brother and I had a Minnesota State Fair concession, and we noticed that children almost invariably left the state fair frustrated and unhappy because there were so many choices of things to do and see, and they always seemed to feel the ones they missed were better than the ones they had experienced. We came to call this kind of unhappiness “the state fair syndrome” and found that it also applied to children in any situation which offered many choices of fun things to do.
We also noticed that the happiest people we saw leaving the fair grounds were those in wheelchairs. My brother said it was because their feet weren’t sore, but I think it was because they had adjusted their thinking to the fact that there was only so much they could do.

]]> By: wamylove http://anjamerret.com/?p=285&cpage=1#comment-5520 wamylove Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:11:59 +0000 http://anjamerret.com/?p=285#comment-5520 I guess ignorance is bliss, but there have been studies showing people have high levels of stress in jobs where they have no choices. Other studies show people feel happy if they think they are doing better than other people. I guess ignorance is bliss, but there have been studies showing people have high levels of stress in jobs where they have no choices.

Other studies show people feel happy if they think they are doing better than other people.

]]> By: Some Diggs Last Week - My Online World http://anjamerret.com/?p=285&cpage=1#comment-5469 Some Diggs Last Week - My Online World Mon, 15 Oct 2007 00:56:41 +0000 http://anjamerret.com/?p=285#comment-5469 [...] What Makes us Happy by Anja Merret [...] [...] What Makes us Happy by Anja Merret [...]

]]> By: pitush http://anjamerret.com/?p=285&cpage=1#comment-5439 pitush Sun, 14 Oct 2007 13:47:42 +0000 http://anjamerret.com/?p=285#comment-5439 If it makes you happy - it can't be that bad. If it makes you happy – it can’t be that bad.

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