Harvard Psychologist Dan Gilbert on Happiness

[liveonearth]

On Mercola's email newsletter today there was a link to a fast-paced 20 minute video of Gilbert. He is a strong looking bald man who strides back and forth across the stage while speaking cogently. He starts out with a little background on the development of the human brain and of the unique capacities we have because of our frontal lobes.

Finally he makes a solid case, citing lots of interesting research, for the idea that we humans "synthesize" happiness quite well in certain situations. It turns out that the more choice we have, and the more freedom we have to change our minds, the less happy we tend to be about our choices. On the other hand, the more we feel there is no turning back from a given choice, the happier we make ourselves with that choice. It appears that we have the ability to completely reprogram our innate preferences to match our reality.

Fascinating vid, I recommend!

Comments

[kateherself.livejournal.com]

I watched that last night. I found it very inspiring!

[liveonearth.livejournal.com]

What are you going to do differently based on seeing that video? I haven't figured out yet how to apply it---other than to go ahead and commit to things and get happy about it later.

[kateherself.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what I'm going to do differently yet either- but I have been thinking about it.

One of the thoughts that I had is that if what we generally to consider to be the most traumatic things end up being the most amazing experiences in the long run, then there really isn't anything to be afraid of.

That's a liberating thought.

[liveonearth.livejournal.com]

Yes! Amen. Even the worst crisis is a blessing in disguise. That's a useful takehome message. Thanks.