80-year Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life
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Re: 80-year Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life
#2I don't know the nuances of this study but I am curious about the role of personality. I have lived much of my life with large groups of caring family and friends and I was miserable. I have lived parts of my life as relatively isolated and reclusive and was enormously happy. Have any related studies accounted for personality? 5,10,20% of the population might be the exact opposite?
Re: 80-year Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life
#3I don't know the nuances of this study but I am curious about the role of personality. I have lived much of my life with large groups of caring family and friends and I was miserable. I have lived parts of my life as relatively isolated and reclusive and was enormously happy. Have any related studies accounted for personality? 5,10,20% of the population might be the exact opposite?
They mention relationships. Not size.
So it doesnt seem to matter if you have many or few relationships. Just that you are happy with them.
Re: 80-year Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life
#4TLDR: year 0 - 29 - Experience as much trauma, stress, and failure as you possibly can.
30+ - Stop giving a fuck about your unaddressed trauma and find a new reason to strive to stay alive.
Re: 80-year Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life
#5I don't know the nuances of this study but I am curious about the role of personality. I have lived much of my life with large groups of caring family and friends and I was miserable. I have lived parts of my life as relatively isolated and reclusive and was enormously happy. Have any related studies accounted for personality? 5,10,20% of the population might be the exact opposite?
Seems like you fit the study's findings quite well actually:
"The surprising finding is that our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health."
You can be surrounded by "caring" family and friends that you don't have a lot in common with, and that can be miserable. Getting determined but bad/outdated advice from parents is a classic and widespread example. It's not that the parents don't want the best for their now-adult kid, it's just that they're simply ignorant of the best way forward. But they're convinced that they're right and that creates friction despite good intentions.
Re: 80-year Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life
#6The article seems to argue that healthy relationships CAUSE physical health.
How do you actually prove that the relationship between the two attributes is causal versus correlated?
For example, one could conclude, instead, that being in good physical health is the cause of successful relationships.
Re: 80-year Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life
#7The article seems to argue that healthy relationships CAUSE physical health. How do you actually prove that the relationship between the two attributes is causal versus correlated? For example, one could conclude, instead, that being in good physical health is the cause of successful relationships.
This may be particularly true in romantic relationships.
Re: 80-year Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life
#8What I take from this article is that social interaction is extremely important to ones health, and it's something that we largely taken for granted. In the age of computers and secluded work environments, I think we need to be aware of the effect that even casual interaction has on our mental and physical health. I have some personal/anecdotal experience which back this research up and affirms my belief that communication and interaction with others is vital.
I've been working from home for a number of years. During this time I've on average spoken with and interacted with 1 person every day - my wife.
I occasionally go out, occasionally see family members, but the majority of my day-to-day work is quiet, alone, working at a computer.
- I have been more sick in recent years than ever before in my life. This is even compared to previously living in a major city and taking public transportation.
- I have been experiencing sharp mental decline especially in the last year. Solving complex problems is much more challenging.
- My memory is suffering. Even my wife has begun to notice, I forget little things and have developed an "aloof professor" disposition that wasn't natural to me.
- I now find social interaction more difficult. I'm more akward, and find myself over-thinking previously natural interactions.
- Lastly ... I'm far more depressed. I just don't enjoy much these days. I wake up, work, don't talk to many people.
The TLDR here is that I urge everyone to tend to their social garden. I let mine decay for too long, and I'm paying the price now. I am beginning the process of restoring connections, and getting out more, and I'm already noticing an improved mood.
Oh and I should mention - I'm naturally an introvert so this reclusive lifestyle was all too comfortable for me.
Re: 80-year Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life
#9If you like this you may also enjoy "The Village Effect" by Susan Pinker[1]. In the book the author documents various ways in which social connectedness impacts our well being.
As this article and book say "loneliness kills", but what does that mean for those of us who want to live long and healthy lives? Do we need to start scheduling social time alongside gym time? Will a hug a day keep the doctor away? Should we join organized religions or get married strictly for the health benefits?
[1]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22933077-the-village-eff...
Re: 80-year Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life
#10While it does shed a light on the "quest for meaning", this study is not useful as long as we lack the understanding of the role of personality. I think a good analogy is researchers finding that a certain disease kills, but not knowing how do you contract that disease and what you can do to cure it. It might help you identify your situation, but not how to change it.