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Nine Suggestions for Increasing Happiness

Nine Suggestions for Increasing Happiness. Dr. Mark Alfino Department of Philosophy Gonzaga University. Instead of an opening joke, an opening quote. "Ask yourselfwhether you are happy," Samuel Johnson wrote in his 1873 Autobiography, "and you cease to be so.“

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Nine Suggestions for Increasing Happiness

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  1. Nine Suggestions for Increasing Happiness Dr. Mark Alfino Department of Philosophy Gonzaga University

  2. Instead of an opening joke, an opening quote • "Ask yourselfwhether you are happy," Samuel Johnson wrote in his 1873 Autobiography, "and you cease to be so.“ • Happiness: "a good bank account, a good cook, and a good digestion.“ Rousseau • Happiness is good health and a bad memory. - Ingrid Bergman • Whoever said money can't buy happiness didn't know where to shop. • Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.  - Oscar Wilde

  3. Strategy for the talk. Suggestions Themes Research

  4. Four Points • Happiness is not a Mystery.

  5. 1. Happiness is Not a Mystery. • Mysteries vs. Puzzles • We have multiple sources of evidence and insight about happiness, from global culture to contemporary science.

  6. Four Points • Happiness is not a Mystery. • Happiness is Real.

  7. 2. Happiness is Real. • Happiness is a validated construct of several social sciences. • Results of research on happiness often corroborate ancient thought on and human experience of happiness. • Results of research on happiness lead to practical hypotheses that can be explored through reflection and self-study of daily life.

  8. Four Points • Happiness is not a Mystery. • Happiness is Real. • We know a lot about it.

  9. 3. We know a lot about happiness. 1. PA / NA --- LS(DS) 2. Some major explanatory variables for happiness: • Heritable factors • Love and Relationship • Religious Participation (or equiv.) • Material Sufficiency

  10. 3. We know a lot about happiness. 1. PA / NA --- LS(DS) 2. Some major explanatory variables for happiness: • Heritable factors • Love and Relationship • Religious Participation (or equiv.) • Material Sufficiency • Control

  11. Four Points • Happiness is not a Mystery. • Happiness is Real. • We know a lot about it. • We know that there are real challenges to increasing happiness.

  12. 4. We know that there are real challenges to increasing happiness. • Set Point Theory

  13. 4. We know that there are real challenges to increasing happiness. • Set Point Theory • Fragility of Conditions

  14. Happiness and Ice Cream Sandwiches, 1

  15. Happiness and Ice Cream Sandwiches, 2

  16. 4. We know that there are real challenges to increasing happiness. • Set Point Theory • Fragility of Conditions • Human Cognitive bias • The “hard problem” of happiness.

  17. Nine Suggestions for Increasing Happiness

  18. 9. Study Happiness • Studying happiness raises awareness of features of your experience relevant to your well-being. • Objective and cultural knowledge about happiness challenges our assumptions and personal biases about happiness.

  19. General audience…

  20. More science-oriented books on happiness…

  21. 8. Engage in Self-study • Self-observation and self-evaluation provide information and evidence for thinking about your subjective responses to situations. • You may need to make subjective changes in order to become the sort of person who can be happier.

  22. Contemporary and Classical Stoicism and Epicureanism

  23. Books addressing blind spots and opacity in self-awareness. Stumbling on Happiness Predictably Irrational Strangers to Ourselves

  24. 7. Factor in the Life Span. • Life Span Psychology • SOC Theory • Selection • Optimization • Compensation

  25. 6. Seek Flow

  26. Flow “flow” a state of engagement or absorption in tasks that combines high levels of challenge with high levels of skill.

  27. Mihalyi Csiksentmihalyi,Finding FlowFlow

  28. 5. Value Relationship

  29. 4. Savor

  30. Fred Bryant, Savoring

  31. 3. Cultivate Gratitude, Compassion, and Humility

  32. Emmons and McCullough,The Psychology of Gratitude

  33. 2. Live toward Death.

  34. Death of Socrates, Jacques –Louis David, 1787

  35. Quentin Metsijs, Saint Jerome, 1537

  36. Harmen Steenwyck, An Allegory of the Vanities of Human Life, 1640.

  37. 1. Seek the Integration of Pleasure and Life Satisfaction.

  38. Nine Suggestions for Increasing Happiness • Seek the integration of Pleasure and Life Satisfaction. • Live toward Death. • Cultivate Gratitude, Compassion, and Humility. • Savor • Value Relationship • Seek Flow • Factor in the Life Span • Engage in Self-Study • Study Happiness

  39. Themes • Pursuit of Self-Knowledge • Contemplative Practices • Pursuit of Knowledge • Integration of Pursuits • Development • Pleasure • Meaningfulness

  40. Themes • Pursuit of Self-Knowledge • Contemplative Practices • Pursuit of Knowledge • Integration of Pursuits • Development -- Becoming • Pleasure -- Present • Meaningfulness -- Symbolic

  41. Le Reve Du Bonheur, by Constance Mayer-Lamartinier, 1819.

  42. Matisse, Le Bonheur de Vivre, 1905

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