Comment No more Chris Farley :-( (Score 1) 108
I loved Bob Mansfield because he made me laugh.
looked in particular at controversial entries, not ones about obscure duck-hunting equipment or long-settled standards.
Wow, so editing of controversial entries turns out being not very collaborative. What's next? Victims of abuse are more likely to be unhappy in their marriage? Come on. what's the point here?
Signed, a guy who didn't RTFA.
In fact, neuroscience and psychology points the opposite direction: happiness leads to success.
I don't know where you read that, but psychology and neurosciences (there are several) will never be able to show that, because happiness and success are totally unrelated !
I'll just quote myself from another post here which you probably missed. I'm saying as a matter of fact, based on good science, that the human brain is generally more productive and powerful when it's happy, which leads to increased success, but having success does not reliably trigger happy brain states. Clear enough? For just one study, see Lyubomirsky, S., King, L. & Diener, E. (2005) The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803-855.
Firstly, because you need to define what success is. If success is living a life doing a lot of things, you'll get a rich life, but probably not a wealthy one. If success is making a lot of money, it just means that you tend to take risks, it's like betting your life on your choices. The risk of getting unsuccessful is greater than the risk of getting successful.
It's a good thing to think about. I define success in the dictionary definition: the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.
In any case, I don't see how this can lead to happiness.... blah blah more stuff to show you missed my point entirely.... The happy guys never brag about being happy.
Read my post again. I did not say that success leads to happiness. You are arguing against a straw man.
"In fact, neuroscience and psychology points the opposite direction: happiness leads to success. If we could grasp that one fact we'd all be better off."
That's philosophy. Let's stick to the facts: what can a math or physics genius become in the US? Maybe a university professor, making 100-150 K$ a year. Or maybe the R&D leader of a major company, but the salary would be nearly the same, the only way to get "rich" would be with stock options, which depend on factors that have nothing to do with R&D (marketing makes a company more profitable than R&D). An hollywood weirdo makes 10 millions per movie instead.
That's the obvious consequence of the mighty law of "supply and demand" that nobody wants to oppose: people are retarded and spend lots of money to go to the movies rather than financing scientific research. That's the "demand", so the "supply" will act accordingly. And who doesn't agree with this system is considered a "communist".
Now, who's more useful to mankind, a physicist or an actress? If answering "a phycicist" makes me a communist, well I'm proud to be one.
No, that's not philosophy. That's science. The facts are on my side, not yours. Read "The Happiness Advantage" for details. I'm not denying supply and demand, arguing that a physicist makes more than Tom Cruise (although in general physicists make more than actors), or anything else you might think I'm saying. I'm saying as a matter of fact, based on good science, that the human brain is generally more productive and powerful when it's happy, which leads to increased success, but having success does not reliably trigger happy brain states.
"Ninety percent of baseball is half mental." -- Yogi Berra
