"The Source of Happiness" from a Scientific Perspective

Through the book The Origin of Happiness (First News and Dan Tri Publishing House), Professor Bruce Hood - a famous scientist in the field of neuroscience and developmental psychology - provides an in-depth look at the nature of happiness through the lens of empirical science.

With four decades of research, Professor Bruce Hood asserts that happiness is a state that can be trained. The book not only helps readers identify the underlying causes of unhappiness, but also offers methods to make us happier through the 7 lessons he has summarized. Those seven lessons include:

1. Ego Transformation - demonstrating that innate selfishness leads to unhappiness, happiness increases when we reduce self-focus;

2. Avoid isolation - shows that humans are social creatures and isolation will weaken mental and physical health;

3. Refuse negative comparisons - understand the brain's inherent comparison mechanism, thereby learning how to give up comparison to increase happiness;

4. Be more optimistic to be happier - it is proven that the brain is biased towards negativity, so it is necessary to practice optimism to restructure the way information is processed;

5. Control your attention - develop the ability to focus instead of letting your mind drift, because happiness only comes when you know how to focus on the present;

6. Connect with others - demonstrated psychological benefits from social bonding;

7. Stand outside of your ego - learn to look at the world through a more altruistic lens, to see that happiness is not just yours alone.

The book combines scientific data and humanistic messages.

Notably, these lessons have been tested in the “Science of Happiness” course at the University of Bristol. The results show that students’ happiness levels increased by 10%–15% after only 10 weeks of study – an impressive figure in the context of increasing life pressure.

The core point that Professor Bruce Hood emphasizes is: everyone has selfish bias, but it is completely possible to train to become more altruistic. Achieving a balance between selfishness and altruism is the essential point that Bruce Hood wants to convey through his book. He emphasizes that the best path to happiness is to be less selfish and live more for others.

QUYNH YEN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/coi-nguon-cua-hanh-phuc-tu-goc-nhin-khoa-hoc-post819503.html