Dear Comrades,
I would like to share with you on this book - "Happier" that i bought recently.
About the Author - Prof Tal Ben-Shahar
Tal Ben-Shahar Ph.D is one of the Harvard University’s most popular
lecturers. He taught the largest course at Harvard on "Positive
Psychology" and the third largest on "The Psychology of Leadership”
which attract over 1,400 students per semester- Approximately 20 percent of all
Harvard graduates.
More information about the author : http://www.talbenshahar.com/
The Question of Happiness
When Tal was 16 years old, he won the Israeli national squash
championship. However he found out that the supreme happiness from this victory
did not last long. And he realise that he needed to think about happiness in
different ways, to deepen or changes his understanding of the nature of
happiness.He asked himself, how can he find long lasting happiness.
One day, when he eating burger, he came out with a Hamburger Model.
The Hamburger Model
Rat Race Archetype
-The rat racer illusion is that reaching some future destination will
bring him lasting happiness; he does not recognise the significant of the
journey. They become the slave to the future.
-Once we arrive at our destination, once we attain our goal, we
mistake the relief that we feel for happiness. The weightier the burden we
carried on our journey, the more powerful and pleasant is our experience of
relief. When we mistake these moments of relief for happiness, we reinforce the
illusion that simply reaching goals will make us happy.While there certainly is
value in relief- it is a pleasant experience and it is real-it should not be
mistaken for happiness.
-The rat racer suffers from the “ arrival fallacy” – the false belief
that reaching a valued destination can sustain happiness.
Hedonism Archetype
-A hedonist seek pleasure and avoid pain. However, without a long-term
purpose, devoid of challenge, life ceases to feel meaningful to us; we cannot
find happiness if we exclusively seek pleasure and avoid pain.
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
claims that “ the best moments
usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a
voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.
-Hedonist’s illusion is that only the journey is important. They
become the slave to the moment.
-The hedonist suffers from the “floating moment fallacy” - the false
belief that happiness can sustained by an ongoing experience of momentary
pleasures that are detached from a future purpose.
Nihilism Archetype
- A nihilist is a person who has given up on happiness, who had become
resigned to the belief that life has no meaning and captures the state of being
chained to the past.
-Studies from Martin Selingman reveal how easily we can learn to be
helpless. When we fail to attain a desire outcome, we often extrapolate from
that experience the belief that we have no control over our lives or over
certain part of it. Such thinking lead to despair.
-Nihilist given up on both the destination and the journey is disillusioned
with life. They become the slave to the past.
-Nihilism suffer from “misreading of reality”- the false belief that
no matter what one does, one cannot attain happiness.
Happiness Archetype
-To expect constant happiness, though, is to set ourselves up for
failure and disappointment. Not everything that we do can provide us both
present and future benefit. The objective is to spend as much time as possible
engaged in activities that provide both present and future benefit.
- Attaining
lasting happiness requires that we enjoy the journey on our way toward a
destination we deem
valuable. Happiness is not about making it to the peak of the mountain nor is
it about climbing aimlessly
around the mountain; happiness is the experience of climbing toward the peak.
Source：Tal Ben Shahar. (2007), Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy & Lasting Fulfillment, US:McGrawHill.
I will share with you more when i finish the next chapter.
Cheer!
Regards,
Chie Yuan
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