Studying happiness is hard. What one man loves another loathes. One woman's joy is another's junk. Social scientists, therefore, have generally left the contemplation of smiles and satisfaction to poets and philosophers. But that's changing.
Drawing on his research on happiness, there are three general pieces of advice:
-> Be attuned to what gives you genuine satisfaction. Although many people assume that popular activities like watching TV are enjoyable, their own reports generally indicate that they feel more engaged, energetic, satisfied and happy when doing other things.
-> Study yourself. To better understand their own happiness, Csikszentmihalyi says, people should systematically record their activities and feelings every few hours for a week or two. In recording your observations, try to focus on how you actually feel, rather than what you think you ought to be feeling or what you expect to feel. Afterwards, note the high points, particularly, and the low ones. Then try to adjust how you spend time according to your findings.
-> Take control. Repairing unhappy conditions requires active effort. People often assume external conditions will change for the better or let chance determine their response. That's a mistake. "Get control," Csikszentmihalyi says. When things aren't right, "you have to put in the same effort you would if your business were in trouble. Just as markets move, life changes too."
Will Automation make human work obsolete? Robots now build cars and power mechanical diggers and other "dumb" jobs. What will surprise you is how quickly "mechanical minds" are making human brain labor less in demand. Still think robots can’t do your job? Automation and robotics will eventually take over most of the tasks, especially the labor expensive ones, as computing gets smarter. Talk of robots making humans obsolete is generally a topic that is still laughed off as science fiction by most, but this video could get you to rethink the future human work. It lays out a compelling case for why almost half of those currently in the work force could struggle to find work once automation takes over in the near future. Unlike "the singularity," in which artificial intelligence takes over the planet in rapid and dramatic fashion, this paints a picture, backed up by statistics and current developments, indicating that the true singularity will occur gradually,...
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