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- Start date
- September 30, 2013
- Finish date
- October 5, 2013
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This book offers a comprehensive, statistically-derived (if slightly dated) look at what makes individuals and our country as a whole happy. The narrative is very readable, and I found myself switching back and forth from the text to the notes so I could get the background for the data.
Most of the narrative seemed quite rational, even if it didn't feel intuitively correct. The statistical analysis is fascinating, and I liked his way of explaining the concepts. It's not all that long of a book, b This book offers a comprehensive, statistically-derived (if slightly dated) look at what makes individuals and our country as a whole happy. The narrative is very readable, and I found myself switching back and forth from the text to the notes so I could get the background for the data.
Most of the narrative seemed quite rational, even if it didn't feel intuitively correct. The statistical analysis is fascinating, and I liked his way of explaining the concepts. It's not all that long of a book, but I found that I digested it slowly, and with several breaks in between.
One of the concepts I found surprising was his discussion about wealth inequality in America. After watching this video, I couldn't help but wonder if the conditions in America still exist for the lowest ranks of individuals to pull themselves up into the higher echelons of earning merely by hard work, talent, opportunity and potential. It isn't all that encouraging, to be honest, and I wonder if we're an unhappier country for it.
Which brings me to another point. This book was published in 2008, which doesn't seem to be that long ago, but when he mentions the threat of Osama bin Laden or the unknown of who would replace President George W. Bush as the next leader of our nation, the book feels quite dated. I think a revised edition with some small updates would really bring this book back into relevance. It was a worthwhile read, just out of synch at times.
One final note: I saw that there's a link to a test that assesses both happiness and unhappiness, the Positive Affectivity and Negative Affectivity Scale (PANAS) - Momentary Feedback Test that is a self-rated test of moods - good and bad. (p. 6) It's very short and pretty common sense list of feelings that will help gauge if a person is feeling good and/or bad feelings. It may not change how a person feels at any given time, but the data collected overall can assist the researchers in assessing our national happiness levels. The website can be found here and has some interesting articles to read, too.
interesting quotes:
" In the Declaration of Independence, the founders did not treat happiness as some fuzzy concept - they obviously believed people knew it, wanted it, and had the right to pursue it. Happiness was - along with life and liberty - the connection between the Creator and our nation's destiny. The ability of citizens to pursue and achieve their happiness was a measure of the effectiveness and morality of the state." (p. 2)
"...it turns out that happiness and unhappiness, while not unconnected, are not exactly opposites either. Images of the brain show that the left cerebral cortex is more active than the right when we are experiencing happiness, whereas the right side becomes active when we are unhappy." (p. 5)
"Martin Seligman, the eminent psychologist who has done more than any other scholar to popularize the study of positive moods, believes that happiness (like alcoholism) is one of the traits over which we have significant behavioral control." (pp. 11-12)
"The fact that Americans are generally quite happy actually has a downside. Researchers have found that as a result of being generally accustomed to happiness, negative events bring us down more than they do people in other countries, and positive events have less of an uplifting effect on us. A 2007 study measured the number of positive events it takes to offset a negative event in our lives. For Americans, this number is about two. For Koreans and Japanese - whose baseline happiness levels are quite a bit lower than Americans' - the number is closer to one. In other words, greater average happiness brings greater expectations." (p. 13)
"I believe that the pursuit of happiness is a deeply moral obligation, on both the personal and the national level. You will learn in this book that your happiness affects me. Happy people treat others better than unhappy people do. They are more charitable than unhappy people, have better marriages, are better parents, act with greater integrity, and are better citizens. Happy people not only work harder than unhappy people, but volunteer more, too - meaning that they increase our nation's prosperity and strengthen our communities. In short, happy citizens are better citizens. Better citizens are vital to making our nation healthy and strong. And a strong, prosperous America can and should be a happy leader for the world." (pp.16-17)
"Most scholars and intellectuals would tell you in no uncertain terms that, notwithstanding all the rage and despair of the political left during the presidency of George W. Bush, liberals are, and always have been, happier than conservatives. But this is hardly surprising; after all, intellectuals are disproportionately political liberal. And it is human nature to believe your own tribe has the best minds, the best looks, the best jokes - and the happiest people." (pp. 23-24)
"Living in San Francisco by itself would make a conservative of any age emotionally rigid and prone to weeping." (p. 25)
"The happiness gap between conservatives and liberal is, in fact, astonishingly large and enduring, and it doesn't have anything to do with who is winning elections." (p. 27)
"The solution is for the level-headed - from liberal to conservative - to take back our political discourse. Our mainstream presidential candidates and are not radicals or reactionaries, and they should have the courage and integrity not to cater to the fringes in trying to win elections. The rest of us, for own happiness, need to send market signals that devalue the radicals - by shutting off their shrill voices when they are participating in politics ourselves, and by refusing to vote for the most extreme political candidates." (p. 38)
"Some might say children, conjuring up the image of a man and a woman joyfully embracing one another as they look down upon their new baby. But in fact many studies have shown that children do not make for happier marriages. On the contrary, the evidence shows that marital happiness takes a nosedive as couples move from childlessness to having their first baby; it continues southward until about the time the oldest child starts school. At this point, marriages rebound slightly, until the oldest child is an adolescent, at which point marital happiness falls even further. But this is the nadir: From that point until the kids leave home and beyond, marriages improve. Some studies find that relationships at this stage are happier than before the kids were born, although no doubt that is due to the fact that only the happiest marriages have survived to this point." (p. 64)
"Surveys of married couples conducted over the years find that there are many components far more conducive than children to marital bliss. In fact, a 2007 poll found that the top five factors people consider essential to happiness within marriage are, in order: sharing household chores, good housing, adequate income, a happy sexual relationship, and faithfulness. (Parenting comes in eighth on this list.)" (pp. 64-65)
"People find meaning in providing unconditional love for children. But this unconditional love itself is a source of happiness." (p. 69)
"'Hell is other people,' wrote the French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre. This is probably true if the 'other people' in question are a bunch of French existentialists. For the rest of us, other people are a secret to happiness." (p. 74)
"I suggest that the evidence on happiness shows that too many moral choices leave us insecure and searching, unable to distinguish right from wrong, and thus miserable. Men and women are innately moral beings. As Albert Einstein famously put it, 'Morality is of the highest importance - but for us, not for God.'" (p. 96)
"To constrain actions legally affects morality very little. Rather, it entices people to behave in a way that avoids penalties - or to hide their actions from the law. This sort of approach not only fails to increase happiness, but also turns immoral people into criminals." (p. 97)
"Within the bounds of decency and sanity, I can write whatever I think is correct and valuable, even if others - even the people I work for - disagree with me. Part of the reason I enjoy this freedom (freedom that makes me very happy, by the way) is that I have a high level of job security - it is easier to get rid of fire ants than a tenured professor." (pp. 100-101)
"To add insult to injury, research indicates that the security measures we have taken cannot legitimately be considered effective or necessary. Even before the measures were taken, the chances of being on an airplane struck down by a terrorist were about one in 20 million, and there is no evidence that this probability has improved as a result of the policies." (p. 104)
"The dignity of the goal of defeating worldwide terrorism is hopelessly degraded when, in the next breath, we declare war on helmetless motorcycle riding and secondhand smoke." (p. 108)
"But once countries get past the prosperity level that solves large-scale health and nutrition problems, income differences pale in comparison with differences in more important factors - like culture and faith - in predicting happiness." (p. 115)
"It takes lots and lots of cash to make you feel less miserable - which suggests that other strategies (such as working on spiritual or family life, or volunteering for charity) might be more cost-effective than simply striving to get more money." (p. 117)
"It is success (not money) that we really crave." (p. 122)
[President Franklin Delano Roosevelt] "Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort." (p. 127)
"Materialism is common and grave error in which we substitute the symbols of success for success itself." (p. 132)
"Statistically, income equality does not explain any of the fluctuations in happiness or unhappiness over the past three decades." (p. 136)
"People's happiness rises when the average income increases relative to their own income, if they believe they have opportunities to succeed; they interpret the income average as a measure of their own potential." (p. 144)
"It is absolutely true that there is economic inequality in America - in fact, the gap between the richest and poorest members of society is far wider than in many other developed countries. But there is also far more opportunity, which is what is fundamentally important to both our personal happiness and our gross national happiness. Hard work and perseverance do hold the key to jumping from one economic class to the next. While it is true that we must solve the problems of absolute deprivation, such as hunger and homelessness, we must also recognize that the promise of rewards for hard work render the remaining inequality benign at worst - and a positive stimulant to achievement at best." (p. 148)
"Work also brings happiness because it gives our lives meaning - and meaning brings happiness, sooner or later. Work allows us to create value in an easily measurable way. As long as we do not lose sight of the fact that compensation for our efforts is only a symbol of this value, work reminds us that we are creators - that the world would be less valuable if we were not here. It is something that makes us feel like our lives are worth living. In terms of meaning, work is similar to parenting, which is also generative and creative." (p. 162)
"To the extent that work gives people a sense that they are in charge of their lives it will bring them joy. If work - or the lack of work - strips people of control, it will bring misery." (p. 165)
"Several studies have shown that teenagers who give and volunteer have higher self-esteem and optimism than those who don't give. In one study researchers followed 1,000 teenagers over five years and measured the extent of their charitable attitudes and behaviors through such questions as, 'For the job you expect to have in the future, how important is helping people?' and, 'How often do you spend time performing community service outside school?' The teenagers who were the most giving were least likely to be involved in street violence and teen pregnancies. They were also least likely to experience stress and negative feelings." (p. 179)
"Giving delivers direct psychological and physiological benefits. But it also benefits us in an indirect way: It makes other people like us more. There is evidence that we are held in higher esteem and rewarded when people see us behaving generously." (p. 184)
"But no matter what a person's political views or religious affiliation, charity by itself makes one happier." (p. 192)
"The pursuit of happiness is central to everything we do, and our values are what make this pursuit possible." (p. 195)
"In truth, America is an oasis of happiness-producing freedom in a world that generally doesn't believe citizens can handle freedom - and doesn't trust them to try. But the truth is that freedom brings happiness, and so we must guard it jealously and fight against its abridgment. Furthermore, the idea of freedom is America's gift to the world, which is why we must not only promote it aggressively, but also use it in our own country in a responsible way - a way that demonstrates why it makes us a happy nation." (p. 199)
"As an economist, I adore economic growth. But for an already-rich country, economic growth is important only because of what it indirectly provides: the opportunities for people to work, to support themselves instead of relying on the state, to serve others, and to succeed in their personal and professional lives. Economic growth is not, and can never be, a direct measure of our national happiness. A narrow focus on gross domestic product, without a conversation about how it meshes with and enhances our culture and values, will not necessarily enhance our gross national happiness. It may, in fact, take us in the wrong direction altogether." (p. 201)
"If you want $100 in authentic happiness, give that money away to your favorite charity. You will experience a 'Helper's High,' lower your stress hormones, and maybe even identify yourself as a leader to others and become more successful as a result. Given the price of therapy and prescriptions these days, this is about the best deal in town." (pp. 203-204)
And finallly....
"Nine main lessons for increasing our gross national happiness:
1. Right or left, political extremism is bad for our nation's happiness
2. America must defend its tradition of religious faith
3. Family life must be protected
4. We should be quick to defend freedom, but slow to abridge it
5. For happiness, our national priority should be success, not just economic growth
6. We must look for ways to promote opportunity, not economic equality
7. We should celebrate our work, not impose greater leisure
8. A happy America must continue to be a giving nation
9. Happiness is easiest to find in limited government" (pp. 196-204)
new word: riven ...more
Most of the narrative seemed quite rational, even if it didn't feel intuitively correct. The statistical analysis is fascinating, and I liked his way of explaining the concepts. It's not all that long of a book, b This book offers a comprehensive, statistically-derived (if slightly dated) look at what makes individuals and our country as a whole happy. The narrative is very readable, and I found myself switching back and forth from the text to the notes so I could get the background for the data.
Most of the narrative seemed quite rational, even if it didn't feel intuitively correct. The statistical analysis is fascinating, and I liked his way of explaining the concepts. It's not all that long of a book, but I found that I digested it slowly, and with several breaks in between.
One of the concepts I found surprising was his discussion about wealth inequality in America. After watching this video, I couldn't help but wonder if the conditions in America still exist for the lowest ranks of individuals to pull themselves up into the higher echelons of earning merely by hard work, talent, opportunity and potential. It isn't all that encouraging, to be honest, and I wonder if we're an unhappier country for it.
Which brings me to another point. This book was published in 2008, which doesn't seem to be that long ago, but when he mentions the threat of Osama bin Laden or the unknown of who would replace President George W. Bush as the next leader of our nation, the book feels quite dated. I think a revised edition with some small updates would really bring this book back into relevance. It was a worthwhile read, just out of synch at times.
One final note: I saw that there's a link to a test that assesses both happiness and unhappiness, the Positive Affectivity and Negative Affectivity Scale (PANAS) - Momentary Feedback Test that is a self-rated test of moods - good and bad. (p. 6) It's very short and pretty common sense list of feelings that will help gauge if a person is feeling good and/or bad feelings. It may not change how a person feels at any given time, but the data collected overall can assist the researchers in assessing our national happiness levels. The website can be found here and has some interesting articles to read, too.
interesting quotes:
" In the Declaration of Independence, the founders did not treat happiness as some fuzzy concept - they obviously believed people knew it, wanted it, and had the right to pursue it. Happiness was - along with life and liberty - the connection between the Creator and our nation's destiny. The ability of citizens to pursue and achieve their happiness was a measure of the effectiveness and morality of the state." (p. 2)
"...it turns out that happiness and unhappiness, while not unconnected, are not exactly opposites either. Images of the brain show that the left cerebral cortex is more active than the right when we are experiencing happiness, whereas the right side becomes active when we are unhappy." (p. 5)
"Martin Seligman, the eminent psychologist who has done more than any other scholar to popularize the study of positive moods, believes that happiness (like alcoholism) is one of the traits over which we have significant behavioral control." (pp. 11-12)
"The fact that Americans are generally quite happy actually has a downside. Researchers have found that as a result of being generally accustomed to happiness, negative events bring us down more than they do people in other countries, and positive events have less of an uplifting effect on us. A 2007 study measured the number of positive events it takes to offset a negative event in our lives. For Americans, this number is about two. For Koreans and Japanese - whose baseline happiness levels are quite a bit lower than Americans' - the number is closer to one. In other words, greater average happiness brings greater expectations." (p. 13)
"I believe that the pursuit of happiness is a deeply moral obligation, on both the personal and the national level. You will learn in this book that your happiness affects me. Happy people treat others better than unhappy people do. They are more charitable than unhappy people, have better marriages, are better parents, act with greater integrity, and are better citizens. Happy people not only work harder than unhappy people, but volunteer more, too - meaning that they increase our nation's prosperity and strengthen our communities. In short, happy citizens are better citizens. Better citizens are vital to making our nation healthy and strong. And a strong, prosperous America can and should be a happy leader for the world." (pp.16-17)
"Most scholars and intellectuals would tell you in no uncertain terms that, notwithstanding all the rage and despair of the political left during the presidency of George W. Bush, liberals are, and always have been, happier than conservatives. But this is hardly surprising; after all, intellectuals are disproportionately political liberal. And it is human nature to believe your own tribe has the best minds, the best looks, the best jokes - and the happiest people." (pp. 23-24)
"Living in San Francisco by itself would make a conservative of any age emotionally rigid and prone to weeping." (p. 25)
"The happiness gap between conservatives and liberal is, in fact, astonishingly large and enduring, and it doesn't have anything to do with who is winning elections." (p. 27)
"The solution is for the level-headed - from liberal to conservative - to take back our political discourse. Our mainstream presidential candidates and are not radicals or reactionaries, and they should have the courage and integrity not to cater to the fringes in trying to win elections. The rest of us, for own happiness, need to send market signals that devalue the radicals - by shutting off their shrill voices when they are participating in politics ourselves, and by refusing to vote for the most extreme political candidates." (p. 38)
"Some might say children, conjuring up the image of a man and a woman joyfully embracing one another as they look down upon their new baby. But in fact many studies have shown that children do not make for happier marriages. On the contrary, the evidence shows that marital happiness takes a nosedive as couples move from childlessness to having their first baby; it continues southward until about the time the oldest child starts school. At this point, marriages rebound slightly, until the oldest child is an adolescent, at which point marital happiness falls even further. But this is the nadir: From that point until the kids leave home and beyond, marriages improve. Some studies find that relationships at this stage are happier than before the kids were born, although no doubt that is due to the fact that only the happiest marriages have survived to this point." (p. 64)
"Surveys of married couples conducted over the years find that there are many components far more conducive than children to marital bliss. In fact, a 2007 poll found that the top five factors people consider essential to happiness within marriage are, in order: sharing household chores, good housing, adequate income, a happy sexual relationship, and faithfulness. (Parenting comes in eighth on this list.)" (pp. 64-65)
"People find meaning in providing unconditional love for children. But this unconditional love itself is a source of happiness." (p. 69)
"'Hell is other people,' wrote the French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre. This is probably true if the 'other people' in question are a bunch of French existentialists. For the rest of us, other people are a secret to happiness." (p. 74)
"I suggest that the evidence on happiness shows that too many moral choices leave us insecure and searching, unable to distinguish right from wrong, and thus miserable. Men and women are innately moral beings. As Albert Einstein famously put it, 'Morality is of the highest importance - but for us, not for God.'" (p. 96)
"To constrain actions legally affects morality very little. Rather, it entices people to behave in a way that avoids penalties - or to hide their actions from the law. This sort of approach not only fails to increase happiness, but also turns immoral people into criminals." (p. 97)
"Within the bounds of decency and sanity, I can write whatever I think is correct and valuable, even if others - even the people I work for - disagree with me. Part of the reason I enjoy this freedom (freedom that makes me very happy, by the way) is that I have a high level of job security - it is easier to get rid of fire ants than a tenured professor." (pp. 100-101)
"To add insult to injury, research indicates that the security measures we have taken cannot legitimately be considered effective or necessary. Even before the measures were taken, the chances of being on an airplane struck down by a terrorist were about one in 20 million, and there is no evidence that this probability has improved as a result of the policies." (p. 104)
"The dignity of the goal of defeating worldwide terrorism is hopelessly degraded when, in the next breath, we declare war on helmetless motorcycle riding and secondhand smoke." (p. 108)
"But once countries get past the prosperity level that solves large-scale health and nutrition problems, income differences pale in comparison with differences in more important factors - like culture and faith - in predicting happiness." (p. 115)
"It takes lots and lots of cash to make you feel less miserable - which suggests that other strategies (such as working on spiritual or family life, or volunteering for charity) might be more cost-effective than simply striving to get more money." (p. 117)
"It is success (not money) that we really crave." (p. 122)
[President Franklin Delano Roosevelt] "Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort." (p. 127)
"Materialism is common and grave error in which we substitute the symbols of success for success itself." (p. 132)
"Statistically, income equality does not explain any of the fluctuations in happiness or unhappiness over the past three decades." (p. 136)
"People's happiness rises when the average income increases relative to their own income, if they believe they have opportunities to succeed; they interpret the income average as a measure of their own potential." (p. 144)
"It is absolutely true that there is economic inequality in America - in fact, the gap between the richest and poorest members of society is far wider than in many other developed countries. But there is also far more opportunity, which is what is fundamentally important to both our personal happiness and our gross national happiness. Hard work and perseverance do hold the key to jumping from one economic class to the next. While it is true that we must solve the problems of absolute deprivation, such as hunger and homelessness, we must also recognize that the promise of rewards for hard work render the remaining inequality benign at worst - and a positive stimulant to achievement at best." (p. 148)
"Work also brings happiness because it gives our lives meaning - and meaning brings happiness, sooner or later. Work allows us to create value in an easily measurable way. As long as we do not lose sight of the fact that compensation for our efforts is only a symbol of this value, work reminds us that we are creators - that the world would be less valuable if we were not here. It is something that makes us feel like our lives are worth living. In terms of meaning, work is similar to parenting, which is also generative and creative." (p. 162)
"To the extent that work gives people a sense that they are in charge of their lives it will bring them joy. If work - or the lack of work - strips people of control, it will bring misery." (p. 165)
"Several studies have shown that teenagers who give and volunteer have higher self-esteem and optimism than those who don't give. In one study researchers followed 1,000 teenagers over five years and measured the extent of their charitable attitudes and behaviors through such questions as, 'For the job you expect to have in the future, how important is helping people?' and, 'How often do you spend time performing community service outside school?' The teenagers who were the most giving were least likely to be involved in street violence and teen pregnancies. They were also least likely to experience stress and negative feelings." (p. 179)
"Giving delivers direct psychological and physiological benefits. But it also benefits us in an indirect way: It makes other people like us more. There is evidence that we are held in higher esteem and rewarded when people see us behaving generously." (p. 184)
"But no matter what a person's political views or religious affiliation, charity by itself makes one happier." (p. 192)
"The pursuit of happiness is central to everything we do, and our values are what make this pursuit possible." (p. 195)
"In truth, America is an oasis of happiness-producing freedom in a world that generally doesn't believe citizens can handle freedom - and doesn't trust them to try. But the truth is that freedom brings happiness, and so we must guard it jealously and fight against its abridgment. Furthermore, the idea of freedom is America's gift to the world, which is why we must not only promote it aggressively, but also use it in our own country in a responsible way - a way that demonstrates why it makes us a happy nation." (p. 199)
"As an economist, I adore economic growth. But for an already-rich country, economic growth is important only because of what it indirectly provides: the opportunities for people to work, to support themselves instead of relying on the state, to serve others, and to succeed in their personal and professional lives. Economic growth is not, and can never be, a direct measure of our national happiness. A narrow focus on gross domestic product, without a conversation about how it meshes with and enhances our culture and values, will not necessarily enhance our gross national happiness. It may, in fact, take us in the wrong direction altogether." (p. 201)
"If you want $100 in authentic happiness, give that money away to your favorite charity. You will experience a 'Helper's High,' lower your stress hormones, and maybe even identify yourself as a leader to others and become more successful as a result. Given the price of therapy and prescriptions these days, this is about the best deal in town." (pp. 203-204)
And finallly....
"Nine main lessons for increasing our gross national happiness:
1. Right or left, political extremism is bad for our nation's happiness
2. America must defend its tradition of religious faith
3. Family life must be protected
4. We should be quick to defend freedom, but slow to abridge it
5. For happiness, our national priority should be success, not just economic growth
6. We must look for ways to promote opportunity, not economic equality
7. We should celebrate our work, not impose greater leisure
8. A happy America must continue to be a giving nation
9. Happiness is easiest to find in limited government" (pp. 196-204)
new word: riven ...more
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