131 - Tal Ben-Shahar: What Is Happiness?

Tal Ben-Shahar did his undergraduate and graduate work at Harvard, where he later lectured on positive psychology and taught the most popular course in the university’s history. He is now a speaker and writer who focuses on happiness. In this episode, Robinson and Tal discuss the field of Happiness Studies, which Tal has been developing for half a decade. They discuss the origin of happiness studies with Aristotle before moving on to how various academic disciplines like philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, and anthropology can teach us about happiness in different ways. They finish with some practical insight on how to improve one’s quality of life.

Tal’s Website: https://talbenshahar.com/

Tal’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalBenShahar

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:50 Introduction

02:43 Tal and Happiness Studies

10:26 Aristotle and the Beginning of Happiness Studies

14:02 What is Happiness?

28:58 Different Approaches to Happiness

37:00 What Can Anthropology Teach Us About Happiness?

46:29 Capitalism, Communism, and Happiness

53:04 Advice for Being Happy

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.