The Science of Happiness | Emiliana Simon-Thomas

Jun 29, 2020

Emiliana Simon-Thomas, the science director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, dives deep into the concept of happiness as a skill we can nurture, rather than luck-based. She discusses how generosity is biologically rooted and enriches our joy in caring for others. The conversation also tackles empathy fatigue and reframes our understanding of selfishness and love. Through her insights, she highlights the transformative power of compassion on personal happiness and emphasizes the balance between kindness and self-care in today's complex world.

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INSIGHT

Happiness: A Cultivatable Skill

The word "happiness" comes from roots meaning luck or happenstance.
However, happiness is a skill to cultivate, not something that merely happens.

INSIGHT

Defining Compassion

Compassion is an emotional state arising from encountering suffering.
It includes the intention to alleviate that suffering and help.

INSIGHT

The Selfish Nature of Compassion

Compassion is altruistic, but also selfish, because it activates reward pathways.
It reinforces generosity, making us feel good and want to be generous again.

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In this episode, at this fraught moment in history, we're bringing on a leading scientist to help us tackle one of the most pernicious misconceptions that humans have ever fostered. The very roots of the word "happiness" reflect our assumption that happiness is something that happens to us, rather than something we can cultivate. "Hap" is the same root of words such "hapless," or "haphazard." It implies luck. But again, happiness is a skill that we can cultivate. Emiliana Simon-Thomas helps people learn this skill for themselves. Her online course - The Science of Happiness - has reached over half a million people worldwide. She's the science director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. And in this interview, we discuss how to make ourselves happier through generosity, which is literally part of our biology; how the pleasure of caring for others means we'll do it again. How empathy fatigue is real - and I debate with Emiliana about the meaning of selfishness. And, how we've got love wrong. Before we dive in, I want to flag that this is a conversation we recorded late last year, prior to the pandemic and recent racial justice protests in America, but the insights are as vital as ever. Where to find Emiliana Simon-Thomas online: Website: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/profile/emiliana_simon_thomas Course: https://www.edx.org/course/the-science-of-happiness-3 You can find meditations on compassion and much more on our app. Visit tenpercent.com to download the Ten Percent Happier app and kickstart your meditation practice. Visit tenpercent.com to sign up today. Other Resources Mentioned: Tania Singer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tania_Singer Bill Harbaugh - https://harbaugh.uoregon.edu/ Darryl Cameron, compassion collapse - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_of_compassion Tonglen practice - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonglen Love 2.0 by Barbara Fredrickson - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008BM0LMG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Additional Resources: Ten Percent Happier Live: https://tenpercent.com/live Coronavirus Sanity Guide: https://www.tenpercent.com/coronavirussanityguide Free App access for Frontline Workers: https://tenpercent.com/care Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/emiliana-simon-thomas-260