28 Dec 2015

Happiness

From TED Radio Hour, 9:00 am on 28 December 2015

Is There A Secret To Happiness? When are humans most happy? To answer that question, researcher Matt Killingsworth built an app that lets people report their feelings in real time. Among the results: We're often happiest when we're lost in the moment.

Journalist Carl Honore believes our society's emphasis on speed erodes health, productivity and quality of life. He says we might be surprised what happens when we slow down our modern lives.

Can having less stuff, in smaller rooms, lead to more happiness? Writer Graham Hill makes the case for taking up less space.

 We're doomed to be miserable if we don't get what we want - right? Not quite, says psychologist Dan Gilbert. He says we have a "psychological immune system" that lets us feel truly happy even when things don't go as planned.

We all want to be happy, says Brother David Steindl-Rast. And happiness, he suggests, is born from gratitude. An inspiring lesson in slowing down, looking where you're going, and above all, being grateful.

From NPR's TED Radio Hour.

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