What is Humanism?
Reminder that people are subjects, not just objects of study
* Subjective Experience
* Free Will
* Meaning
* Happiness
* Sacredness
Does meaning cause behavior?
Yes
e.g. Money is just a piece of paper but we all agree is has meaningful value and work for it.
What are people willing to do when seeking meaning?
- make sacrifices
e.g.
Meaningful job - May be worth a paycut
Having Children
* Increases self-reported meaning in life
* BUT Decreases self-reported happiness and marital satisfaction (TRADEOFF) - mainly seen in the USA where there is fewer supportive policies for having children such as work leave for babies
What is Essentialism?
- Things have essences that can increase or decrease their value
- Meaning behind the object
e.g. a jacket worn by ASAP Rocky will be worth more to people than if it was never worn by him
What is the state of flow?
- Totally focused on meaningful task
- Immersed
- Time seems to fly by
- Just right amount of challenge
What are the two types of happiness?
- Hedonism
- Eudaimonia
What is Hedonism & Eudaimonia?
- Hedonism: What makes you happy is to seek pleasure and avoid pain
e.g. Eating a cake - Eudaimonia: What makes you happy is to live rightly, morally
- Not very happy, but very meaningful
e.g. . Caring for a sick child
What is the relationship between wellbeing and connection?
- Need to belong
- Family/friend ties better predictor of wellbeing than money
What is the relationship between Kindness and happiness?
- Acts of kindness make the giver and receiver happier
- Only if they’re freely chosen!
- Forced kindness doesn’t work
What is Neoliberalism?
- Basis of world’s economic/public policies since 1970s
- Attempts to measure peoples happiness (utility) using money (as measuring happiness is hard and subjective)
- Replace hard measure (utility) with an easy one: money
What is the problem with using money as a measure of utility/happiness?
- Money is not utility
- Undervalues other things
- Environmental damage not considered
- Counts bad things: war spending
- Goodhart’s law: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure
- Measurement becomes the goal in itself
–> Aiming to be rich instead of happy
e.g. teaching for the test rather than actual content
or Science targets more publications instead of new knowledge
- Overjustification effect
What is the Overjustification effect
- Payments can sap intrinsic motivation (our internal motivation to want to do something) to do things
What is Goodhart’s law?
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure
What Big 5 traits are good for happiness?
Low Neuroticism
High Extraversion
High Agreeableness
~ Openness
~ Conscientiousness
Can Money Buy Happiness?
Yes, but it has diminishing returns (a comfortable living is adequate)
What was the best study ever and what did it find?
- All participants get $20
- Random assignment
- Spend money on yourself
- Spend money on others
- Measure happiness in a week
- Spending on others = HAPPIER
What is the Hedonic Treadmill theory?
- Once you have something, it becomes the new normal
What is the most effective way of long-term happiness?
- Only changes in meaning alter long term happiness
What determines our happiness set point?
- Genetics
- Habituation
e.g. Even a jetski will eventually get old - Normal life changes
What is Materialism?
Happiness derived from buying things
- Does not last long
e.g. jetski
What is true about income and happiness in developed countries?
Relative income affects happiness more than absolute income in developed countries
Experiences vs. Things for happiness
- Happiness comes from experiences
- Things only give experiences indirectly
- Spend your money on experiences
- Spend money on time for things you value
Maximizers and Satisficers
- Maximizers
- Find the best possible thing!
- Satisficers - usually happier (least time researching for best product)
- Find a thing that’s good enough!
- For most things: Satisficing!
- Really important things: Maximize
What was Descartes’ legacy?
- “I think, therefore I am.”
- Everything else might be an illusion
- BUT cannot doubt the existence of consciousness
