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A 75-Year Harvard Study Finds What It Takes To Live A Happy Life

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Re: A 75-Year Harvard Study Finds What It Takes To Live A Happy Life

#41

Post by scarmig »

drumdance wrote: post #37
Amadou wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure there are exceptions, but as a rule, he's right. I'm slightly taller than average, but even I have noticed this phenomenon. It is ridiculous how many single women say they exclusively want a tall man, they want to "look up" to a man. Even the shorter-than-average women want a man of at least average height. On dating sites like PlentyOfFish I've seen ~5' tall women say that they are only interested in men at lea…

Read The Game. I've met Neil Strauss in real life and he's 5'6" on a good day. His fiance is beautiful, smart and taller (plus, she likes to wear heels).

Or, don't. People certainly do succeed based on PUA techniques. But they're confusing the causes of their newfound success.

This will get you 80% of the way there: 1) Volume, volume, volume. 2) Look to have fun, not for your soul mate. If something's not happening, BFD.

And this will get you to 150% of the way there: 3) Do interesting things, have interesting stories to tell, and meet interesting people.

Re: A 75-Year Harvard Study Finds What It Takes To Live A Happy Life

#42

Post by mercuryrising »

zalzane wrote: post #32

I hate it when these things pop up because they turn problems into self-fulling prophecies. I hate being around my mother. I've never had a relationship with a girl in my entire life. I drown my sorrows into a mug of beer every friday. I barely get by as is - and have to work my ass off harder than everyone around me to get anything done. And now I come across this article that says it's likely I'll make 6 figs less…

What makes you happy?

Re: A 75-Year Harvard Study Finds What It Takes To Live A Happy Life

#43

Post by wtvanhest »

Amadou wrote: post #27
caublestone wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just had a couple stay at my place from Airbnb. They were both under 5'5. I don't have anything beyond this anecdote, but this alone must prove that someone is out there!

Sure there are exceptions, but as a rule, he's right. I'm slightly taller than average, but even I have noticed this phenomenon. It is ridiculous how many single women say they exclusively want a tall man, they want to "look up" to a man. Even the shorter-than-average women want a man of at least average height. On dating sites like PlentyOfFish I've seen ~5' tall women say that they are only interested in men at lea…

There is no numeric measurement for personality in online dating. If women had to balance height and personality in online dating it would reveal a much different picture.

Just like real life.

Re: A 75-Year Harvard Study Finds What It Takes To Live A Happy Life

#44

Post by JDDunn9 »

auctiontheory wrote: post #39
JDDunn9 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In his book ( http://www.amazon.com/Statistical-Models-Causal-Inference-Di... ) Professor Freedman says one of the reasons the social sciences have had virtually no beneficial impact on society (as opposed to the incredible progress in the hard sciences) is that their "studies" have unsupported mathematics. They make too many assumptions, and their methodologies don't support their conclusions. For example, you can d…

You are conflating multiple issues here: whether social science studies are valid, whether the effects of social science are beneficial to society, whether passing some "scientific method test" is a requirement for an approach to be "good." To take one example (of many), all of consumer marketing is an outgrowth of social science - nowadays consumer marketing, behavioral psychology, and behavioral economics are overl…

Consumer marketing would be a good example of something that has no long-term benefit because society changes too often. Marketing techniques that work in one decade won't work in the next. Because of this, marketing isn't cumulative. Our knowledge of the hard sciences is always improving, building on the work of the previous generations.

Yes, there are legitimate fields that don't have rigorous math behind them, but the social sciences try to use studies and numbers as the foundation of their theories. They want to be treated like biology, but their studies are not up to par.

Re: A 75-Year Harvard Study Finds What It Takes To Live A Happy Life

#45

Post by tokenadult »

This kind of correlational study is awash in survivorship bias, and may not even apply to age cohorts born in a different society in a different era. Most likely, the study results neither show what is sufficient for a happy life for all nor what is necessary for a happy life for anyone. It would take an experimental study design with a study population more representative of the broad range of present-day people (not just Harvard men) to find information like that.

http://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/43616/1/626014360.pdf

AFTER EDIT:

A second-level comment below asks:

Weren't women allowed in Harvard in 1938?

No. Women have been able to attend Radcliffe College (very near to Harvard) throughout my lifetime and even before, but women being admitted as undergraduate students to Harvard only happened in the 1970s.

http://www.college.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k61161&#38...

(In other words, the girl I know from high school in Minnesota who attended Harvard was one of the very first to do so.)

Re: A 75-Year Harvard Study Finds What It Takes To Live A Happy Life

#48

Post by kps »

ricardobeat wrote: post #36
hzay wrote: post #9

The title really has to be changed to "A 75-Year Harvard Study on Men Finds What It Takes To Live A Happy Life". I clicked and was disappointed.

I wonder why limit the study to men. Weren't women allowed in Harvard in 1938?

No, actually, they went to Radcliffe. Harvard did not admit women to undergraduate programs until 1973.

Re: A 75-Year Harvard Study Finds What It Takes To Live A Happy Life

#49

Post by eropple »

drumdance wrote: post #37
Amadou wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure there are exceptions, but as a rule, he's right. I'm slightly taller than average, but even I have noticed this phenomenon. It is ridiculous how many single women say they exclusively want a tall man, they want to "look up" to a man. Even the shorter-than-average women want a man of at least average height. On dating sites like PlentyOfFish I've seen ~5' tall women say that they are only interested in men at lea…

Read The Game. I've met Neil Strauss in real life and he's 5'6" on a good day. His fiance is beautiful, smart and taller (plus, she likes to wear heels).

> Read The Game.

Please do not do this if you value reducing the amount of misery in the world.

Re: A 75-Year Harvard Study Finds What It Takes To Live A Happy Life

#50

Post by auctiontheory »

btilly wrote: post #28
JDDunn9 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because bad parents will become more nurturing after reading an article?

A lot of people who had bad parents want to be better parents than what they experienced. Articles can definitely affect their behavior. How do I know this? Because I'm one of them!

You're right - I had my blinders on.

And ... good for you!

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