If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- Have you ever wondered why earning more money rarely leads to a lasting boost in your overall happiness?
- What’s the secret to happiness that modern society often overlooks, and how can you reclaim it?
- Did you know that insights from neuroscience and philosophy can reveal the exact habits that determine your long-term well-being?
Listen to Happiness — Free Audiobook
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Key Takeaways from Happiness
- Discover how happiness is a scientifically measurable state, with neuroscientists successfully using brain mapping to objectively track positive and negative emotions.
- Learn why experiencing joy actively improves your physical health by lowering stress-inducing cortisol, boosting your immune system, and extending your lifespan.
- Understand the evolutionary origins of human behavior and see why your brain's hardwired pursuit of happiness dictates almost every daily decision you make.
- Uncover the modern wealth paradox to learn why decades of doubled incomes in the Western world have resulted in higher depression rates rather than increased joy.
- Find out why material wealth only boosts happiness in poorer nations, and how societal structures like progressive taxation can surprisingly increase overall well-being.
Learning Tools
Reinforce what you learned from Happiness
Mind Map
Happiness
Measurement & Biology
Scientific Measurement
Physical Health
Evolution & Behavior
Evolutionary Driver
Decision Making
The Wealth Paradox
Stagnant Western Happiness
Social Comparison
Hedonic Adaptation
The Poverty Exception
True Sources of Happiness
Top Well-being Factors
Personal Elements
Societal & Political Solutions
Redefining National Goals
Progressive Taxation
Government Policies
Quiz — Test Your Understanding
Question 1 of 10
How have neuroscientists used objective methods like EEGs to measure happiness?
Happiness — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: In contrast to popular belief, happiness is measurable.
Chapter 3: Happiness is beneficial for your health.
Chapter 4: The quest for happiness is a key driver of human behavior.
Chapter 5: For decades we have grown richer, yet not happier overall.
Chapter 6: Money won’t make you happy, so long as you earn less than your next-door neighbor.
Chapter 7: We adapt to everything, so material gains can’t keep us truly happy over the long term.
Chapter 8: Though more money won’t make you happier, too little of it can leave you unhappy.
Chapter 9: Mostly, happiness rests on things you can’t purchase.
Chapter 10: A nation’s aim shouldn’t be economic growth, but the greatest happiness for the greatest number.
Chapter 11: One effective way of achieving higher happiness in a society is increasing taxation.
Chapter 12: Politicians ought to prioritize what truly makes us happy.
Happiness Summary & Overview
In Happiness, economist Richard Layard examines what it is that makes us happy and how anyone can achieve greater happiness. Basing his studies on insights from such diverse fields as psychology, philosophy and neuroscience, Layard presents compelling arguments that are great food for thought, encouraging readers to question their daily habits and practices.
Who Should Listen to Happiness?
- Anyone interested in research on happiness
- Anyone who wants to find out why money won’t necessarily make them happy
- Anyone searching for ways to increase their general level of happiness
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