Ted Talk: Happiness
Intro Slide - ANS-Hey everyone, I am Sajiv. During my presentation I would like
everyone to just think about the question: are you happy and what does it take to be
happy? Personally this is a question I think about a lot, and as someone who is dealing
with mental health issues it is a question I often consider. For a long time the answer to
that question has changed for me, but for a long time the answer has revolved around
the way I value success and how I will progress in life. But more deeply the connection
between how much I have and success was made very young and in turn happiness for
me was connected to how much I have. Growing up getting good grades was
connected to "do I get to get the new thing that is out?". This has translated through my
life and maybe some of y'all understand the feeling. When connecting happiness to
materialism, it is a slippery slope of dissatisfaction. It took a while to alter the mindset I
realized I had, but changing the way I think about it has helped not only my mental
health but I am slowly becoming more intentional about how I live my life. Sometimes
the more we want the more we forget about what we already have.
33% Slide - ANS-According to the 2017 Harris Poll Survey of American Happiness only
33% of Americans say they are happy. CEO of the Harris Poll, John Gerzema, states
that part of the reason for such a low number is "we are so caught up in our texting,
multitasking, jobs and commutes that we seem to have less and less free time." In other
words we are not happy with what we have because we have become a materialistic
society where we are now more worried about what we own, how much we own, what
we wear and how we look, than of who we are. It is time for us to disconnect ourselves
from the internet and start connecting ourselves to what really matters in life, to life's
simplicities. To find this connection, we'll begin by analyzing the biological and
psychological reasons why people seem to never be able to be content, then we will
examine the dangers and potential harms of dissatisfaction because of materialism, and
finally we will find a signal towards being happy within what one has achieved. So first,
let's browse through the reasons behind never ending dissatisfaction and discontent.
Don't get me wrong, wanting to enhance your life is great and should be encouraged as
this motivates us and enables improvement. However, the problem that has arisen is
people want more even after already reaching comfort, after they already have
everything they could possibly need and want. And the reason for this is our core
instincts.
7 Instincts Slide - ANS-Humans have seven core instincts: anger, fear, panic/grief,
maternal care, pleasure/lust, play, and seeking. And according to Neuroscientist Jaak
Panksepp, out of all these core instinct, seeking is the most important because it is the
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