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The 10 commandments for happiness and success

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Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#71

Does anyone know of any good meta-analyses of studies about happiness / life satisfaction? Or put another way: what does actual research suggest the "commandments" for happiness are?

Not a meta-analysis, but this 76 year study of 268 male Harvard students: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/06/what-mak... is more illuminating than much of the pop-psych literature on "happiness" that I've come across.

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#72
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could not disagree more readily. Note: I don't live in silicon valley. We're talking about a nation of people who, by far, believe they are stuck with the life they were given, with no means of control. Sure, they hope that one day they'll be able to achieve their dreams and desires, but by far, the majority of the country(outside of Silicon Valley) has the opinion that the only way to live, is to slave it out for…

If you don't live here, then you have no idea what I'm talking about. Look, there are obviously pockets of this country where people feel stuck. I'm even a firm believer that many people in the US actually are stuck in place by forces beyond their control. But in general, a lack of optimism has never been a problem in this country. Survey after survey tells us that, on average, Americans believe that we're smarter, m…

There's a difference between optimism, arrogance, desperation and ignorance. Some of the things you described I wouldn't label with the word "optimism".

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#73
Graham Greene said: "Point me out the happy man and I will point you out either egotism, selfishness, evil - or else an absolute ignorance."

This world isn't built for maximising happiness of humans, this is true whether you follow scientific rationale or religious faith. When you pursue happiness, you are working against the system. There in nothing wrong with it, however it does tell you why Graham Greene concluded the above.

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#74

Commandments for happiness. Hmm, okay ^_^ From my experiences, these spring up as the big ones I'd mention: 1. Learn to be happy with your own company before you seek a relationship. People who want to be your emotional crutches are generally bad for your growth in the long run, and being able to be happy on your own will help you get out if the other person becomes abusive. 2. Don't have a totally unbalanced investm…

awesome list! Thanks!

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#75
post #53
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because those same set of teachings often differ very slightly from someone else's and usually ends in a war, or at the very least, a great deal of wasted bloodshed. See history for examples. Why you're supposed to apologize is because your religion - no matter which particular mythology you subscribe to, has likely caused an immeasurable amount of sorrow for many others.

Where are the peaceable, prosperous, and happy atheist nations hiding?

>"Where are the peaceable, prosperous, and happy atheist nations hiding?"

In Scandinavia, perhaps?

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#76
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't get the anti-religion sentiment here. If you find in religious teachings a way to live happily, productively, in a socially positive way, why is that a problem or anything to apologize for?

Because this is HN and we're all expected to apologize for being anything but categorically dismissive of religion.

...and these are the most upvoted comments. HN is really a parody of itself.

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#78
post #39
post #36

I will share my two cents, how I overcome my depression. It sounds deadly simple, and it sort of is. 1) regular excercise. Make some small, daily routine (I prefer running) and stick to it. The endorphines work wonders. The body starts feeling good after a few days. 2) (and this will be maybe controversial due to The religious undertones) regular meditation. While excercise clears your body, meditation clears your mi…

I really don't get the anti-religion sentiment here. If you find in religious teachings a way to live happily, productively, in a socially positive way, why is that a problem or anything to apologize for?

I guess it's the same reason why the top recommendations in places like this for feeling better when you're down is things like exercise: the effects of exercise is well-documented and fairly reproduce-able. You put activity in and then you get dopamine out. You get to talk about your well being as a (seemingly) easily measured and to a degree manipulable brain chemistry. As soon as you start to wander into territory where the effects are harder to measure and the science behind it (if there is any empirical schience behind it) is not as hard as sciences like biology, like psychology (or, god forbid, self development literature), all of a sudden that's too "wooey" and shrinky.

As for religion; if they don't believe in it, then it's just some placebo-like effect if you get anything positive out of the "wooey" practices. And placebos are even more finnicky and is (by it's very nature) not something that you're well served trying to find the cause and effect for.

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#79
post #73

Graham Greene said: "Point me out the happy man and I will point you out either egotism, selfishness, evil - or else an absolute ignorance." This world isn't built for maximising happiness of humans, this is true whether you follow scientific rationale or religious faith. When you pursue happiness, you are working against the system. There in nothing wrong with it, however it does tell you why Graham Greene concluded…

What do you think the world is built to maximise?

Edit: clarity

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#80
post #36

I will share my two cents, how I overcome my depression. It sounds deadly simple, and it sort of is. 1) regular excercise. Make some small, daily routine (I prefer running) and stick to it. The endorphines work wonders. The body starts feeling good after a few days. 2) (and this will be maybe controversial due to The religious undertones) regular meditation. While excercise clears your body, meditation clears your mi…

There are two great things about this advice. First, it's based on personal experience. Second, it's limited to only a few suggestions which are either implemented or not, rather than a laundry list of vague suggestions.

It's surprisingly often that both of these things are missing.

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