The art and science of happiness - Introduction

Photo credit - Freepik (Loved this image created using AI. I used the keywords - Happiness and Picasso style to generate this picture. Grateful to Freepik) 

A short write-up for my busy friends first - 

Is happiness just an emotion? 

Yes. It is an emotion. However, it is also seen as a broader and more complex state of well-being. 

Happiness falls under the primary emotion of Joy in Plutchik's wheel of emotions. Surprisingly, joy is also one of the contributors to happiness.

Different cultures and religions across the globe have defined happiness for a long time. Philosophers have defined 'happiness' in their ways. Even you and I have our own definitions of happiness.

If you ask a chemist about happiness, he would describe happiness as a complex psychological state influenced by neurotransmitters such as dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins.

A fuller definition of happiness is provided by Psychologist Martin Seligman in 2011. He explains happiness using these letters P E R M A (Positive emotion, Engagement or state of Flow, Relationships, Meaning or purpose and Accomplishments).

The modern scientific study of happiness is one of the outcomes of the new science called Positive Psychology that evolved in the early 1990s. 

While traditional psychology deals with mental disorders and dysfunctional behaviour, positive psychology deals with nurturing individual strengths and virtues and enhancing positive emotions.

Some terms that we learn in this course are Pleasure (Hedonia) vs Happiness (Eudaemonia), Optimism vs Pessimism, Well-being and Flow.

We can measure happiness using tools and we can achieve happiness by setting happiness goals.

I have been studying and practicing 'happiness' for quite some time now. This course provided me a formal foundation for my quest.

Hope this write-up above helps you to get a fair idea about the topic. If happiness is not a priority for you at the moment, please gift this link to your near ones who may find it useful.

Love

Prabodh Sirur

Introduction

Hello friends,

I had two objectives in mind when I planned to study the course on ‘The art and science of happiness’ conducted by MIT -

- Study Happiness in a structured manner 

- Create study material for my friends

This 12 week course is about the study of current theories on happiness and the strategies for creating opportunities for happiness in our lives.

While it is definitely worth attempting the course, I would urge you to read my ‘solved’ assignments first.

I have created these assignments keeping you in mind.

Here’s what I learnt from this course - 

Week 1 - Happiness

• Definitions of happiness from different perspectives e.g. religions, cultures, philosophies and psychology
• The different dimensions of well-being such as physical, emotional, occupational, social, intellectual, spiritual etc.
• Assessing our current level of happiness
• Clarity on 'why am I doing this course?'

Link to my solved assignment - Introduction: defining happiness

Week 2 - Positive psychology

• What positive psychology is (the scientific study of what goes ‘right’ in life) (Peterson, Christopher. A Primer in Positive Psychology)
• The key differences between positive psychology and traditional psychology
• The benefits of positive psychology and how it works in therapy
• Pop-psychology and its negative impacts

Link to my solved assignment - Overview of positive psychology

Week 3 - Happiness vs Pleasure

• Difference between happiness (Eudaimonia) and pleasure (Hedonia) 
• How to train our mind for happiness (His Holiness the Lama, Dalai and Howard C. Cutler. The Art of Happiness)
• Key elements of happiness and how happiness is measured
• Difference between a service-oriented activity and a pleasurable activity

Link to my solved assignment - Happiness vs Pleasure

Week 4 - Cognitive styles (the ways we perceive and process information)

• The ABCDE method for building optimism
• Optimism vs Pessimism (Seligman, Martin E. P. Authentic Happiness)
• The ABCDE method for building optimism
• Positive Thinking (Peterson, Christopher. A Primer in Positive Psychology)
• The optimism test
• How to practice/ compare optimism and pessimism

Link to my solved assignment - Cognitive styles

Week 5 - Strengths

• Identifying our top strengths
• Using strengths for enhanced performance (and happiness)

Link to my solved assignment - Strengths

Week 6 - Unhappiness, sadness and depression

• Depression, sadness, unhappiness, suffering
• How to manage suffering (His Holiness the Lama, Dalai and Howard C. Cutler. The Art of Happiness, Ricard, Matthieu. Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill)
• Definition of depression, treating depression
• Meaning (logos) and purpose (telo) (Fankl Viktor. Man’s search for meaning)

Link to my solved assignment - Unhappiness, sadness and depression

Week 7 - Happiness in relationships

• Intimacy (His Holiness the Lama, Dalai and Howard C. Cutler. The Art of Happiness)
• Positive Interpersonal Relationships (Peterson, Christopher. A Primer in Positive Psychology)
• Friendship maps
• Healthy relationships with parents and with spouse

Link to my solved assignment - Happiness in relationships

Week 8 - Wellness and flow

• Flow and happiness (Csikszentmihalyi, Mihali. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience)
• Wellness (Peterson, Christopher. A Primer in Positive Psychology)
• Yoga, meditation and wellness

Link to my solved assignment - Wellness and flow

Week 9 - Happiness and diversity

• Intimacy (His Holiness the Lama, Dalai and Howard C. Cutler. The Art of Happiness)
• Happiness in different countries (Weiner, Eric. The Geography of Bliss)
• Happiness at different stages in life (Erikson Erik. Stages of psychosocial development)

Link to my solved assignment - Happiness and diversity   

Week 10 - Happiness and decision making 

• The Paradox of Choice (the more the options, the less happy we are) (Schwartz, Barry. The Paradox of Choice)
• Introspection about decisions that we regretted later

Link to my solved assignment - Happiness and decision making

Week 11 - Finding meaning in our lives 

• Happiness in different countries (Weiner, Eric. The Geography of Bliss)
• The types of goals to pursue (Lyubomirsky, Sonja. The How of Happiness)
• Exploring our interests (Ramsay, Graham Gordon, and Holly Barlow Sweet. A Creative Guide to Exploring Your Life)
• Crafting our autobiography

Link to my solved assignment - Finding meaning in our lives

Week 12 - Wrap up

• Describing happiness using metaphors
• Reflections about what we learnt 

Link to my solved assignment - Wrap up

Happy studying.

With love,

Prabodh Sirur

Email - sirurp@gmail.com

LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/prabodh-sirur/