I’m auditing the Yale “Science of Well-Being” course over at Coursera. It just began this week. Would anyone like to take it with me, and maybe discuss here? (Also: is this an appropriate topic for the BBS? If not, please shut me down with impunity.)
I’ve just finished week one, which is mostly just the overview, but one tidbit I thought was fun: The GI Joe fallacy. The lecturer uses the example of the Muller-Lyer illusion to illustrate.
If you are familiar with this illusion. You know that the lines are of equal length. But even knowing that, it really, really looks like one line is much longer. So the GI Joe fallacy: knowing isn’t always half the battle.
Savouring: stepping outside an experience to review and appreciate it
Savouring improves your life in three ways
Thwarts hedonic adaptation; helps you remember the good things in life
Keeps your mind from wandering, keeps you in the moment
Increase gratitude; makes you thankful for the experiences
Just take part in an activity you enjoy
Take a second to realise why it makes you happy
Take a picture to help remember it later
Track what you savoured
Gratitude
Strengthens immune system and lowers blood pressure
Strengthens social connections
Just write down, or take pictures of the things for which you’re grateful
Really try and experience the gratitude you feel
Things we think will make us happy, but won’t
People think material success will make you more happy
They also believe that people who don’t achieve these things will be unhappy
Example of not getting a job people really wanted:
Expected drop in happiness > 2 points
Actual drop < 1 point
Salary: how much do you feel you need?
Currently making $30K needs $50K
Currently making $100K needs $250K
Not a fixed amount, increases whenever salary increases
National Freshman Survey (US 2005): dramatic increase in people who though material success is most important, decrease in people who thought meaningful life was important
Actual correlation between income and life satisfaction: 0.10 (10%)
