Martin Seligman: The new era of positive psychology

                               

TED 2004

Martin Seligman: The new era of positive psychology (transcript)

Summary

This is a talk much packed with the stories about what happy is.

The speaker tells us that positive psychology is the new era psychology which has three aims that concerns with building people's strength well, making their lives fulfilling and they can have interests in the best thing in life. Then the important mission is whether psychology can make people happier or not.

The speaker, in the past, thought that people were able to be happy if he made them not depressed, not anxious or not angry. It meant that relieving misery was building happiness. It's not different.

And then people also think that happier people are more religious, they are in better shape, they have more money, they're better looking, they have more good events and fewer bad events. However, they haven't adapted to them.

A kind of person who feel happy is not only having positive emotion but also there's flow in life and there's meaning in life.

Don't pursue of only pleasure, because it's no contribution to life satisfaction.

Having positive emotion, the pursuit of meaning and engagement bring you happiness.

Words in this story

rigorous / extremely thorough, exhaustive, or accurate. severe.

eudaemonia / well-being,  welfare

variable / not consistent or having a fixed pattern; liable to change.