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The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

This book delves into the concepts of happiness, analyzing how ancient wisdom can inform contemporary understanding of this complex emotion. It examines various theories and practices from different cultures and eras, aiming to provide insights into the nature of happiness and how it can be achieved in the modern world. more

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Jonathan Haidt
Jonathan Haidt

Jonathan Haidt is an American psychologist known for his research in moral psychology and social psychology. His work focuses on moral judgment, political ideology, and religious beliefs. Haidt's book, 'The Righteous Mind,' explores the evolution of morality and ideology and how they shape human behavior and social structures. more

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“Only emotion differs in nature from both intelligence and instinct, from both intelligent individual egoism and quasi-instinctive social pressure. Obviously no one denies that egoism produces emotions; and even more so social pressure, with all the fantasies of the story-telling function. But in both these cases, emotion is always connected to a representation on which it is supposed to depend. We are then placed in a composite of emotion and of representation, without noticing that it is potential, the nature of emotion as pure element. The latter in fact precedes all representation, itself generating new ideas. It does not have, strictly speaking, an object, but merely an essence that spreads itself over various objects, animals, plants and the whole of nature. "Imagine a piece of music which expresses love. It is not love for a particular person.... The quality of love will depend upon its essence and not upon its object." Although personal, it is not individual; transcendent, it is like the God in us. "When music cries, it is humanity, it is the whole of nature which cries with it. Truly speaking, it does not introduce these feelings in us; it introduces us rather into them, like the passers-by that might be nudged in a dance". In short, emotion is creative (first because it expresses the whole of creation, then because it creates the work in which it is expressed; and finally, because it communicates a little of this creativity to spectators or hearers).”

PhilosophyEmotionBergsonDeleuzePost StructuralismBergsonism
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“You cannot control what happens in life, But you can change your own attitude. Every time you see yourself at a strife, Choose a weaker or stronger habitude. Once controlling your emotion and thought, Even the deepest despair, change the course. You persevere to make life what you sought Depending on the way you view it, of course!”

WayLifeEmotionAttitudeDespairThoughtControlViewpointCourseHabitude
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“The human smile derives from the nervous grin found in other primates. We employ it when there is a potential for conflict, something we are always worried about even under the friendliest circumstances. We bring flowers or a bottle of wine when we are invading other people’s home territory, and we greet each other by waving an open hand, a gesture thought to originate from showing that we carry no weapons. But the smile remains our main tool to improve the mood. Copying another’s smile makes everyone happier, or as Louis Armstrong sang: “When you’re smiling, the whole world smiles with you.”

HappinessEmotionHappyApesSmilesGrin
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“The overindulgence of emotion leads to a crisis of hope, but so does the repression of emotion. The person who denies his Feeling Brain numbs himself to the world around him. By rejecting his emotions, he rejects making value judgments, that is, deciding that one thing is better than another. As a result, he becomes indifferent to life and the results of his decisions. He struggles to engage with others. His relationships suffer. And eventually, his chronic indifference leads him to an unpleasant visit with the Uncomfortable Truth. After all, if nothing is more or less important, then there's no reason to do anything. And if there's no reason to do anything, then why live at all?”

EmotionReflectionPhilosophicalPersonal Development
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“Recollecting the treasured memories.... strengthens the shared meaning .... and builds deeper emotional connection...it is a relational way of reminiscing the olden memories...By opening them again with the other....it becomes a throwback to the forgotten past....but as you gather those times...it becomes a shared moment cuddling by the fire...for no longer are they memories frozen mutely in time...rather a melting past revived to savor a lifeless relationship....”

LoveLifeInspirationalEmotionShareMemoryConnectionMoment
Author:Jayita Bhattacharjee
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