Hi Arthur, You speak often about the importance of your faith in you life and marriage. I just cant seem to get past the problems of dogma with all religions. How do you suggest non believers create rituals around gratitude and connection. How can secular people find the benefits benefits with out being "believers?"
All parents want their children to be happy but has this contributed to the rise of anxious kids as they don't know how to be unhappy? How can parents encourage long-term happiness in their kids?
Are you familiar with Tal Ben-Shahar and the SPIRE model for becoming anti-fragile and the indirect pursuit of happiness? Is so what do you make of it, as it seems to have utility as a structure? If not, what models of happiness support are you most convinced by?
Dear Arthur, how do I teach my kids (9yo boy and 2yo girl) to be bored ? For adults, do you have practical steps to be able to relax into boredom without stimulus such as music, podcast, or screen ?
Love your work Dr Brooks! As a fellow Catholic I so agree with you on the importance of faith. How do I best discuss Happiness with atheist friends who feel their life has no meaning without foisting my beliefs on them?
Isn’t it unrealistic to achieve happiness all the time? Life comes at you in waves - the highs and the lows, to maintain an equilibrium and a level of happiness during tough times requires resilience. How do we get parents and teachers to build the resilience muscle in children?
Similar to another question - are there any specific habits or skills that parents can give their kids as children or adolescents that are shown to be associated to longer term happiness, such as having tangible skills that lead to self sufficiency? Are there differences between boys and girls in this regard?
Everyone wants to be happy. But is happiness really what matters most?
Perhaps satisfaction is more important. Happiness comes and goes, but satisfaction comes from knowing you've lived a meaningful life and done something worthwhile.
When is thankfulness the answer and when is it a cop-out? A drug addicted homeless person can find happiness living on the streets if they decided they needed to take no action to improve their situation and just find fulfillment having air to breathe or food to eat
In a world where the system is actively acting against the basic fundamentals that enable happiness, for example a decent job, decent pay, purchasing a home, raisng a family, how can individual happiness be attained? The focus on individual happiness presupposes that all the basics are in place already, but for many, particularly those from poorer backgrounds this is not the case.
Making mistakes makes me unhappy. The fact that however hard I try I can't stop making mistakes also makes me unhappy. It also stops me doing things. Do you have any advice for me please?
Elon Musk and Dario Amodei of Anthropic both agree that "healthy-life-expectancy" will take a dramatic leap in the next 10yrs increasing by perhaps decades aided by A.I.
How would such extensions to life impact on the West's happiness index and have you any advise?
Can humans be genuinely grateful for what they have naturally or do they only learn to appreciate the good if they experience the bad - ie is happiness just the yin to the yang of bad things happening? There is something suspicious about someone who is permanently grinning!
Hi Arthur, You speak often about the importance of your faith in you life and marriage. I just cant seem to get past the problems of dogma with all religions. How do you suggest non believers create rituals around gratitude and connection. How can secular people find the benefits benefits with out being "believers?"
All parents want their children to be happy but has this contributed to the rise of anxious kids as they don't know how to be unhappy? How can parents encourage long-term happiness in their kids?
Are you familiar with Tal Ben-Shahar and the SPIRE model for becoming anti-fragile and the indirect pursuit of happiness? Is so what do you make of it, as it seems to have utility as a structure? If not, what models of happiness support are you most convinced by?
Dear Arthur, how do I teach my kids (9yo boy and 2yo girl) to be bored ? For adults, do you have practical steps to be able to relax into boredom without stimulus such as music, podcast, or screen ?
Love your work Dr Brooks! As a fellow Catholic I so agree with you on the importance of faith. How do I best discuss Happiness with atheist friends who feel their life has no meaning without foisting my beliefs on them?
Isn’t it unrealistic to achieve happiness all the time? Life comes at you in waves - the highs and the lows, to maintain an equilibrium and a level of happiness during tough times requires resilience. How do we get parents and teachers to build the resilience muscle in children?
Similar to another question - are there any specific habits or skills that parents can give their kids as children or adolescents that are shown to be associated to longer term happiness, such as having tangible skills that lead to self sufficiency? Are there differences between boys and girls in this regard?
IS HAPPINESS REALLY THE GOAL?
Everyone wants to be happy. But is happiness really what matters most?
Perhaps satisfaction is more important. Happiness comes and goes, but satisfaction comes from knowing you've lived a meaningful life and done something worthwhile.
When is thankfulness the answer and when is it a cop-out? A drug addicted homeless person can find happiness living on the streets if they decided they needed to take no action to improve their situation and just find fulfillment having air to breathe or food to eat
In a world where the system is actively acting against the basic fundamentals that enable happiness, for example a decent job, decent pay, purchasing a home, raisng a family, how can individual happiness be attained? The focus on individual happiness presupposes that all the basics are in place already, but for many, particularly those from poorer backgrounds this is not the case.
Making mistakes makes me unhappy. The fact that however hard I try I can't stop making mistakes also makes me unhappy. It also stops me doing things. Do you have any advice for me please?
Elon Musk and Dario Amodei of Anthropic both agree that "healthy-life-expectancy" will take a dramatic leap in the next 10yrs increasing by perhaps decades aided by A.I.
How would such extensions to life impact on the West's happiness index and have you any advise?
Can humans be genuinely grateful for what they have naturally or do they only learn to appreciate the good if they experience the bad - ie is happiness just the yin to the yang of bad things happening? There is something suspicious about someone who is permanently grinning!