Choice. Circumstances. Happiness. Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.[1] A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources.
Various research groups, including positive psychology, are employing the scientific method to research questions about what "happiness" is, and how it might be attained. The United Nations declared 20 March the International Day of Happiness to recognise the relevance of happiness and wellbeing as universal goals. Definition Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion.
Happiness in this sense was used to translate the Greek Eudaimonia, and is still used in virtue ethics. What Makes Us Happy? - Joshua Wolf Shenk. Case No. 218 How’s this for the good life?
You’re rich, and you made the dough yourself. You’re well into your 80s, and have spent hardly a day in the hospital. Your wife had a cancer scare, but she’s recovered and by your side, just as she’s been for more than 60 years. Asked to rate the marriage on a scale of 1 to 9, where 1 is perfectly miserable and 9 is perfectly happy, you circle the highest number. Right? Case No. 47 You literally fell down drunk and died.
Last fall, I spent about a month in the file room of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, hoping to learn the secrets of the good life. From their days of bull sessions in Cambridge to their active duty in World War II, through marriages and divorces, professional advancement and collapse—and now well into retirement—the men have submitted to regular medical exams, taken psychological tests, returned questionnaires, and sat for interviews. Such bravado had defined the study from the start. It was a far cry from Galileo. Dr. The 75-Year Study That Found The Secrets To A Fulfilling Life. What if there was a study dedicated to unearthing the secrets to a happy and purposeful life?
It would have to be conducted over the course of many decades, following the lives of real people from childhood until old age, in order to see how they changed and what they learned. And it would probably be too ambitious for anyone to actually undertake. The_pursuit_of_happiness_Is_there_science_b-2.