Hardwiring Happiness : The Hidden Power of Everyday Experiences on the Modern Brain. How to overcome the Brain’s Negativity Bias. Rick Hanson is a neuropsych…
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Hardwiring Happiness : The Hidden Power of Everyday Experiences on the Modern Brain. How to overcome the Brain’s Negativity Bias. Rick Hanson is a neuropsych…
Video Rating: 4 / 5
This talk is short and very straight forward and makes a lot of sense
Good stuff. I expected him to say “Namaste” at the end.
Thinking that new ‘good’ brain wiring can happen as a result of cultivating
‘ego-promoting’ thoughts is a speculation – it is not based on evidence.
This is because building on ‘ego-promoting’ thoughts is not the same as
taxi drivers (or jugglers and piano players, etc.) whose brain wiring
changes to aid that specific function. I have not seen any research studies
where grabbing on to ‘ego-promoting’ thoughts (as suggested in the video),
promote happiness or brain wiring. On the contrary, I have seen articles
indicating that high levels of hedonic well-being is linked to high
expression of stress-related genes – see:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/07/25/1305419110.short
It is unfortunate that people often quote the Buddha in the wrong context.
In accord with spiritual teachings of the Buddha, true happiness is based
on accepting and understanding the way it, and this happiness is not
dependent on (constantly changing) external circumstances – if one develops
contentment, one will be happy regardless of whether a girl smiles at you
in the elevator or not.
Extending loving kindness of course is good (as suggested in the talk) to
all people as well as all situations (good or bad) – it can go a long way
in promoting happiness. We can non-judgmentally accept each moment, both
good and bad that continuously arises and passes away. If bad happens, let
it go and move on. There is nothing to hold on to in the good either, we
are happy for a while, but that too would change – worldly conditions are
always changing often in ways we cannot control – knowing all this is
developing wisdom and contentment, and that is the path to genuine peace
and happiness.
I find that feelings are situation/context specific. So, enriching one
feeling that originates from a particular situation does not globally
affect other different situations I encounter. Also, I find the more I
enrich a feeling (excessively cling to it), subsequently losing that
particular event from my life makes it that much more painful to bear. I
prefer to use ancient well-tested techniques of meditation, mindfulness and
especially vipassana techniques to manage my daily stress.
Love him!
This seems to provide the neurological/physiological explanation of why
certain psychotherapeutic approaches work extremely well and quickly while
others are largely a waste of time.
Excellent TEDcMarin talk. Rather than the usual talks about wallowing in
self pity or reliving negative events over and over again, Dr Hanson
discussed how we can change brain physiology “Wiring neurons together”
“change brain structure”. Worth reviewing esp if you find you are talking
about “how stressed out you are”. JESleeth OPC May 9th talk at Davis LLP
Mental Health in the Workplace.
quality talk
Why i think i know that secret ? Really i know the secret of being happy
for ever
Very interesting….
Excellent TEDcMarin talk. Rather than the usual talks about wallowing in
self pity or reliving negative events over and over again, Dr Hanson
discussed how we can change brain physiology “Wiring neurons together”
“change brain structure”. Worth reviewing esp if you find you are talking
about “how stressed out you are”. JESleeth OPC May 9th talk at Davis LLP
Mental Health in the Workplace.
So grateful for your work Dr. Hanson. Every one of your presentations so
far has been part of the “drop by drop” of good helping to rewire my neural
pathways to more of a green setting. Thank you so much for your
groundbreaking work.
Cortisol, not court assault.
How to build happiness into our brain