Reading Time: 2 minutes Happiness matters greatly in both philosophy and economics. Aristotle said that happiness is the supreme good, the end to which everything else is a means. However, he defined happiness quite differently than economists do today. In Aristotle’s view, happiness was not a matter of pleasure but a matter of morality. The moral person was happy. […]
The Weight of Happiness Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes Happiness is a foundation stone of economic science. People make economic choices – what salary to accept, what product to buy, whether to invest – in order to become happy. The pursuit of happiness clearly matters in economics, even though economists usually speak of it in jargon, substituting such words as “utility” for “happiness.” The
Objective vs. Subjective Reasons for Happiness Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes “The single biggest threat to our own well-being tends to be ourselves.” Do you experience a strong sense of well-being every day? Such contentment depends on more than just financial security, physical health or some other beneficial attribute. If you work to improve in one or two areas, but ignore the others, you will not
The Secret to Happiness Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough” (Mae West). Younger generations embrace a way of life often called “YOLO,” for “You only live once.” Yet we need to find a way, as an individual, to build a personal life based on mindfulness and vision in order to live productively
You Only Live Once Read More »
Reading Time: < 1 minute Englishman Jeremy Bentham was the first philosopher to posit a pragmatic “greatest happiness principle.” He said that the greatest civilization has the happiest citizenry and, therefore, policies that increase the happiness of the largest number of people are the best ones to follow. However, until recently, little was known about human happiness, and governments stopped
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Reading Time: 2 minutes Though your inner feelings change many times during the course of a day, everyone has a baseline level of happiness. Evidence suggests that people with high baseline levels of happiness live longer, healthier lives than those with low baseline levels. People feel attracted to things that produce pleasure and avoid things that cause pain. You
The Elements of Happiness Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes Anyone can be happy temporarily. The trick is to maintain this happiness throughout your life. Use the below five happiness “hows” to understand happiness better: Stay positive – Would you feel positive if a game show host knocked on your door to give you a check for a million dollars? You know you would. Unfortunately, the
The Five Happiness “Hows” Read More »
Reading Time: 3 minutes Research suggests that the initial steps to becoming happier can be implemented straightaway. Be grateful – The powerful antidote to negativity about bad life experiences is an “attitude of gratitude” about good experiences. Research indicates that people who appreciate things feel a strong sense of satisfaction and are more optimistic. As such, they are much
The 12 Activities of Happiness Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes Don’t be one of those people who believe they are destined to be unhappy. Reorganize your thinking and guess what? You can be happy, even if you aren’t wealthy, beautiful, admired by your peers or a lottery winner. External circumstances don’t determine true happiness. What counts is your attitude toward life. If you’re positive, you
Reading Time: 2 minutes “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson. For centuries, great minds have tried to answer the question: “What makes people happy?” As the field of economics became increasingly analytical, it began to see earnings as a symbol for human welfare. The concept of “maximizing utility” (getting
What Makes People Happy? Read More »
