Cognitive Traps in Thinking About Happiness

Introduction

• Happiness: A popular topic in recent years
  • Numerous books and research on happiness
  • Happiness coaching is widespread
• Cognitive Traps: Make it difficult to think straight about happiness
  • Laypeople and scholars both affected

Three Cognitive Traps

1. Reluctance to Admit Complexity

• The term 'happiness' is too broad and applied to many things
• Need to adopt a more nuanced view of well-being

2. Confusion Between Experience and Memory

• Being happy in life vs. being happy about/with life
• Two different concepts lumped together

3. Focusing Illusion

• Exaggeration of the significance of individual circumstances on well-being

Example: Symphony Story

• Glorious music experience ruined by a screeching sound
  • Actual experience was fine; memory of it was ruined
  • Demonstrates the difference between experiencing self and remembering self

Experiencing Self vs. Remembering Self

• Experiencing Self
  • Lives in the present, understands the present, relives the past
  • Interacts with immediate sensations (e.g.,