04 Sep Adaptation and happiness
I’ve copied below a short extract from an interesting happiness related story upon which I stumbled this morning…
Happiness is a slippery concept. For starters, it’s subjective-like all emotions, happiness” causes and expressions vary from person to person. Yet, although it varies from person to person, we all want it. As pioneer psychologist William James once said, “How to gain, how to keep, how to recover happiness is in fact for most men at all times the secret motive for all they do.” The choices we make are largely determined by what we think-hope-will make us happy. Unfortunately, making these decisions is not always as clear-cut as one might wish.
A psychological principle important in understanding happiness is the adaptation-level phenomenon.
…to read more about happiness and adaptation – click here