Psychology used to be mostly concerned withunhappiness, treating the wounded, the traumatized, or the pathological. But now there is an emerging science called positive psychology that focuses on how ordinary people can cultivate positive life qualities and be happy. Of course, to study happiness scientifically, we need to know exactly what happiness is and how we can measure it.

I’m reminded here of St. Augustine’s famous insight about time. He knows what it is when no one asks him, but as soon as he has to explain it to another, he does not know. Similarly for happiness—we know whether or not we’re happy, even if we don't know exactly how to define it.

所以，如果我问你是否快乐以及为什么快乐，你的回答可能会提到很多因素，比如你对你的事业或人际关系的满意程度，你是否经常有愉快的经历，以及你的总体情绪或人生观——你倾向于快乐还是暴躁，悲观还是乐观。是这些因素中的一种或另一种决定了幸福，还是生活满意度、愉快的经历、情绪和前景的某种组合?

Let’s consider each factor one by one. Consider life satisfaction. Could you imagine a person who is satisfied with life but still unhappy? Think of someone who has focused too much on advancing their career and making money. Perhaps one day this person will realize that, while they’ve been busy accomplishing their goals, they never stopped to smell the roses or nurture relationships, and now their success feels hollow. So, they’re satisfied but not happy. Of course, you might reject the premise that this person is truly satisfied with life. Maybe they once thought they were, but then their values changed and that feeling of satisfaction evaporated.

Consider, then, enjoying many pleasures in life. Is this sufficient for happiness? It may be sufficient (though I doubt it), but it’s certainly notnecessary. Imagine a person who suffers many hardships and few pleasures in life, but they maintain a positive outlook throughout it all and are always cheerful. It would be hard to deny this person was happy, despite the harsh conditions of their life.

所以，这就给我们留下了情绪和前景——快乐vs暴躁。然而，快乐并不仅仅是心情好。情绪变化无常，转瞬即逝，而幸福则更持久稳定。当然，幸福也会改变。我相信你的生活中也有快乐的时候也有不快乐的时候。Maybe happiness, then, is more of a dispositional state—like having atendencyto be in a good mood more of the time, or atendencyto have a positive outlook.

Ifthat’swhat happiness is, then it’s overrated. The always cheerful or overly positive can be annoying, and they often have a tenuous grip on reality, if you ask me. I’d rather know the unhappy truth than be blissfully ignorant; most of the time, anyway.

There is a different notion of happiness that I haven’t mentioned so far, and that’s what Aristotle calledeudaimonia, meaning flourishing or well-being. Aristotle believed that human flourishing was tied to practicing "the virtues” in our everyday lives. And he might have been on to something because research in positive psychology suggests that much of our happiness depends on our daily habits and activities. People are happier when they cultivate meaningful connections with others and gratitude within themselves.

To learn more about the science of happiness, tune into this week’s show with guest Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Science Director at the Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley.

Photo byTimothy EberlyonUnsplash