14 Oct Here is the simple secret to the most enduring form of happiness
via Fast Company by Jenn Lim
As we know, science is an ongoing work of questioning, testing, and drawing new conclusions. Things we all learned in school that were
“scientifically proven” might not be considered true anymore because the more we apply the scientific method, the more evidence and new
hypotheses we gain. Now we know bats can actually see…dinosaurs had feathers…Mars has water…Pluto is no longer a planet(I cried
myself to sleep when I first learned of that one). But it just reminds us that science will always be an adaptive process.
What I appreciate about the science of happiness is that it’s actively going through its evolutionary phases as well—from a universally
human point of view. The original definitions of happiness go back to philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, when they considered
the meaning of life. These days we hear terms like positive psychology, subjective well-being, and flourishing being used interchangeably
with the word happiness. In the end, I think subjective is the most operative word. Depending on who we are and where we live in the
world, happiness means different things to different people. But regardless of what we call it, the current definitions and research on
happiness are derived from two perspectives: the hedonic (which focuses on pleasure and pain) and Aristotle’s eudaemonistic (which
focuses on meaning and self-realization).
On the hedonic side, happiness is associated with positive emotions like pleasure, comfort, hope, and inspiration. From this perspective, happiness comes from the presence of positive emotions and the absence of negative ones.
The eudaemonistic side aligns more with Maslow’s hierarchy in that happiness is associated with self-actualization. As Tony [Hsieh] and I learned in Martin Seligman’s book Authentic Happiness, there are a few different types of happiness that speak to the hedonic and eudaemonistic sides. This is how we shared them in Delivering Happiness, based on how sustainable each type is…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE