"... positive psychology suggests we can ... actually re-wire our brains to be more optimistic... and we could make ourselves 10-15% happier."
-- Mark Easton reporting for BBC Two's The Happiness Formula
This is Part 2 in a series of three posts on The Science of Happiness. In Part 1, A Little Theory, I recommended some resources that provided a somewhat academic overview (including the origins) of the the Science of Happiness. In Part 3, Train Yourself to Be Happy, we'll get into specific steps you can take to train yourself to be happier. In this Part (Some Fun Stuff) we highlight some of the resources available from the website supporting the BBC Series, The Happiness Formula. To be fair, the resources recommended here aren't so much wild and crazy fun as they are entertaining and well-produced, in the typical BBC fashion.
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The Happiness Formula, an online resource from BBC News, is an entertaining collection of articles and videos that you can ramble through and get a sense of some of the different dimensions of the new Science of Happiness. Here are some of the materials available:
Articles
- The Science of Happiness (an overview of the field and the BBC series)
- Britain’s Decline in Happiness (What’s happened since the ’50s to contribute to the decline in Happiness in Britain… Much of this will sound familiar to many Americans!)
- The Politics of Happiness (Should governments try to improve happiness of their citizens?)
- Test Your Happiness (Take a test designed by psychologist & Professor Ed Diener from the University of Illinois.)
- What Makes You Happy? (Pictures and testimonials submitted by ordinary people express what makes them happy.)
- Is There a Happiness Formula? (?? Pleasure + engagement + meaning = happiness. ??)
- Happiness & Public Policy
- Searching the Brain for Happiness (What neuroscientists are discovering.)
- Does Diversity Make Us Unhappy? (“… multicultural communities tend to be less trusting and less happy.”)
- Does Happiness Live in Cyberspace? (“Will the internet make the world a happier or less happy place?”)
- Scientists’ Short-Cut to Happiness (“…ways to control happiness in the brain artificially.”)
- The Health Benefits of Happiness (It may be even more important than quitting smoking!)
- Staying Happier for Longer (How to increase lasting happiness.)
- Happiness is Smile Shaped (Research traces levels of happiness throughout life.)
- The Undervalued Component of Happiness (What’s the role of contentment?)
- The recipe for happiness (8:07 min)
- What is happiness (2:26 min)
- The power of happiness (10:40 min)
- What really motivates us? (2:06 min)
- Bhutan’s happiness formula (8:39 mins)
- The politics of happiness (10:27 mins)
- Think yourself happy (3:13 mins)
This website provides lots of interesting content. And it’s presented in a light-hearted, though well-documented, journalistic format. If this stuff doesn’t spark your interest in the Science of Happiness, then you’re just not paying attention! URL — http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/happiness_formula/
[Thanks to Brian Johnson whose PhilosophersNotes on Martin Seligman’s books Authentic Happiness & Learned Optimism inspired my investigation of this topic.]
