Hardwiring happiness: Dr. Rick Hanson at TEDxMarin 2013

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

15 thoughts on “Hardwiring happiness: Dr. Rick Hanson at TEDxMarin 2013

  1. 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. 

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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. 

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