34 min listen
Rationally Speaking #37 - The Science and Philosophy of Happiness
Rationally Speaking #37 - The Science and Philosophy of Happiness
ratings:
Length:
49 minutes
Released:
Jun 19, 2011
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Debates over what’s important to happiness — Money? Children? Love? Achievement? — are ancient and universal, but attempts to study the subject empirically are much newer. What have psychologists learned about which factors have a strong effect on people’s happiness and which don’t? Are parents really less happy than non-parents, and do people return to their happiness “set point” even after extreme events like winning the lottery or becoming paralyzed? We also tackle some of the philosophical questions regarding happiness, such as whether some kinds of happiness are “better” than others, and whether people can be mistaken about their own happiness. But, perhaps the hardest question is: can happiness really be measured?
Released:
Jun 19, 2011
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Rationally Speaking #2 - Love, a Skeptical Inquiry: Will science ever really be able to explain love? Should it try? Plus Massimo and Julia's picks: The book "What is this thing called science" and the NY Times article "Making College 'relevant'." by Rationally Speaking Podcast