Notes on: Happiness and You

'Happiness and You' is taken from the course 'Managing Happiness' by Arthur Brooks on edX.org.

Emotional Control Centre

Emotions are complex phenomena that we have only begun to understand. Emotions can be fleeting or they can linger, either way they have a huge impact to our mood and bahaviour.

The limbic system is the network in our brain that is at the centre of regulating our emotions. We know a lot more about the limbic system today from modern neuroscience, but people have been interested in the existence and nature of a controlling centre of our emotions dating as far back as Ancient Greece.

Aristotle (384–322 BC) believed that the heart was the center of intelligence and emotions, while years later, the medical scientist Galen (130–200 AD) and theologian Saint Augustine (500 AD) each suggested the brain and mind was at the centre of emotional life. In more recent history, Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519) linked emotions with physical processes and the physical senses.

Modern research shows us that our emotions are under our control—but only partly. Some of our feelings are subconscious, and they arise in reaction to external stimuli and as a result of our genetic makeup. But with effort and discipline, we can get better at managing our emotions.

“Action may not always lead to happiness…but there is no happiness without action.” - Benjamin Disraeli

Tap Into Positive Emotions

A founder of the field of positive psychology, Dr. Martin Seligman, shows that people can tap into positive emotions to improve their well being.

Positive psychology does not focus on the negative or what is wrong, rather it focuses on what is positive and helps us to build and expand upon that. In other words, positive psychology is the study of what makes life worth living.

If we only focused on the negative aspects of our physical health, then we wouldn't see as many gyms as we'd see physiotherapy clinics, and people would only go to trainers to fix injuries, but people have long understood that proactively training your body helps prevent injuries and helps you to get better, when nothing is wrong. This is the goal of positive psychology, after all, everyone wants to find ways to be happier.

Happiness is not just the absence of misery. Perhaps Dr. Martin discovered this when he helped cure some patients of things that were harming them, like anxiety, sadness and anger, but discovered that even though they were "cured" they still weren't necessarily happy.

The skills of being happy, feeling joy, having good relationships and finding meaning in life are completely different from the skills necessary for getting rid of sadness, anxiety and anger. Do not just focus on taking away the negatives, but also find ways to add more of the positives.