I will be become very unhappy if you
‘I will be become very unhappy, if you tell me how to lead a happy life. ’ Desmond Morris, Natuurlijk gelukkig
Lucky or happy? Studium Generale Wur, 2015 Ad Bergsma Saxion Hogeschool a. bergsma@ese. eur. nl
Stepstone. nl © Onno Hamburger
Why happiness? • Longer life • Better health • Less child mortality • Less voilence • More safety • Better knowledge • More freedom • More equality
NRC
Happily ever after 180 170 160 150 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 Geluk 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 Reëel inkomen per hoofd
Technology offers no solution • ‘De welvaart heeft het leven tot een lange Sinterklaasavond gemaakt. ’ • ‘Waar is de lekke plaats, die al deze weldaden ongenoten doet wegvloeien, waar de schimmelplant die al deze zoetigheden doet verzuren, zoodra we ons gereedmaken ze naar den mond te brengen? ’
The marriage in biographies • In her 1927 essay “The New Biography, ” Virginia Woolf argues that the biographer’s duty is to create the right relationship between factual truth and the subject’s personality. If the biographer begins with the “granite-like solidity” of historical fact on the one hand, and the “rainbow-like intangibility” of personality on the other, then “the task of biography is to weld these two into one seamless whole. ”
Granite Happiness Rainbow
Granite Circumstances Common good Rainbow Life-ability Happiness
Reality ? ? ? ? Happiness
Reality Genes Happiness
Reality Circumstances Happiness
A Happy Country 1 3 16 14 Unhappy Not really happy Not good, not bad Happy Very happy 66 Bron: SCP, De sociale staat van Nederland 2011
Happy circumstances • • Marriage Having a job Money Autonomy at work or study Healthy Young or old Religious Happy neighbours
Happiness= the other
Reality Intentional activity Happiness
What we see Intentional activity What we do
• The same thing happens to people over and over. • New friends, a relationship has become more meaningful, success is a habit. • A row, relationship crisis, children that misbehave, accidents • Structurally lucky or unlucky
What we see Intentional activity What we do
Sonja Lyubomirsky • Gratitude • Optimism • Do not compare yourself too much • Be friendly • Cherish social relationships • Be resourceful • Forgive • Enjoy the good parts of life • Set goals • Spirituality • Meditate • Engage in physical activity • Fake it till you make it
Ad Bergsma • • Website: www. grootstegeluk. nl www. happinessresearcher. com Email: a. bergsma@saxion. nl Linked. In: nl. linkedin. com/in/adbergsma/
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