Nov 25, 2024
Lecture 21
Meaningfulness, Values, Purpose, & Meaning
Meaningfulness
* A PERMA component
* Faith
* Contribution
* Purpose
* Spiritualism
THE MEANING OF LIFE QUESTIONNAIRE
* A method of studying meaning
* consists of ten items within two subscales, namely, the Presence of Meaning and the Search for Meaning subscales
MICHEAL STEGAR: WHAT MAKES LIFE MEANINGFUL (TEDTALK)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLFVoEF2RI0&t=228s
* Life is unfathomably fragile and precious
* Life is full of moments that we have the choice to make them matter
* We can enhance what we all have and share (life)
* Meaning is at least:
1. Purpose
1. The need to do
2. We evolved from creatures that move, and find, and seek, and obtain
3. Entails risk but also doing and pursuing
2. Significance
1. The need to make sense
2. We have the capacity to find, make associations, find patterns, maps, and meaning
3. So now the question becomes what does it mean to us? Whats its significance
4. Can we build powerful meaning and purpose that transforms our lives and our shared future
* Does meaning matter?
* Psychologist say meaning is associated with vitality, future pursuit, goals directed, caring, kind, benevolent, and good copers
* Research studying longevity in old people: say the longer were alive, the less life we have left, and therefore are more likely to say their lives are meaningful
* the people that said their lives are the most meaningful, purposeful were older
VALUES SCAN
https://tia.torontomu.ca/meaningfulness/value-scan
* A subjective scan on our values based on our definition of purpose and meaning
* Scan a list of qualities and descriptions (calm, accurate, successful, wisdom, trustworthy) and notice the ones that jump out too you
* Those are what guide our lives: based on our purpose and meaning
* They connect to one's character strengths (Seligman)
* Can be used to us identify how we respond, behave, think, and feel
* What are the traits or qualities that I look for in my personal relationships?
* When am I being my best self, how would someone else describe me?
* What do I tend to admire most in people? Why?
* What decisions have I made that make me proud?
* How do I typically deal with a crisis?
THE FOUR S’S OF MEANING (PASRICHA, 2016)
1. Structure
2. Stimulation
3. Social
4. Story
THE PARADOX OF CHOICE- BARRY SCHWARTZ (TEDTALK)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM&t=38s
* The secret to happiness is low expectations
* The nature of humans is to be free → we chase freedom → we find freedom in the capacity to choose = the more choice we have, the more freedom we have, the more welfare we have
* We have too much choice: consumerism and making choices with our money, the family structure, in politics, in work, etc.
* Patient autonomy (us having the choice to make decisions on our health, even if its the bad one or the doctor doesn't endorse) is a shifting of the burcden and the responsibility for decision making, from a doctor to the patient
* WHY CHOICES MAKE PEOPLE MISERABLE
1. Choice paralysis
* Produces paralysis rather than liberation
* With so many options we can get overwhelmed and not choose at all
2. Refret and anticipated regret
* Even if we overcome paralysis and make a choice, we end up less satisfied than we would be if we had fewer choices in the first place
* “If i had made the other choice, it would have been better”
* Then we get regret which subtracts from the satisfaction of the choice
* The more options there are, the more easy it is to regret your choice
3. Opportunity costs
* Is the attractive features/benefit that we didnt get from choosing our choice
* Opportunity costs subtract from the satisfaction we get in our choice
4. Escalation of expectations
* With all of the options available, our expectations about how good something should be went up TONS
* Comparing what we have, with what we expect. What we get therefore should blow us away (or align with our expectations), and when it isn't, we are disappointed
5. Self blame
* When we are dissatisfied we can't blame anyone else but ourselves for the shite choice
* The more choice availability, the less satisfaction
* He also says this is a western society issue, and that having no choice doesn't mean people are happiness, rather the opposite
In Western industrialized societies, there is a fundamental belief that having more choices provides us with more freedom, which leads to greater happiness
And while we can increase our autonomy, control and sense of power, as our number of choices grows they can become debilitating for many of us
The fact that some choice is good doesn't necessarily mean that more choice is better
MAXIMIZER SATISFICER SCALE
https://happysmarts.com/scale/maximizer-satisfier-scale/?
* A scale that helps us understand our control-seeking levels
* Decides whether you're a satisficer or maximizer (where satisficers are happier than maximizers)
* My score: 49 (less than average over controlling scores)
Satisfice more, Maximize less
SATSIFICERS
MAXIMIZERS
* Im happy with good enough
* I never settle for second best
* I will find the silver lining in any job, and make the most of what i have
* No matter how satisfied i am with my job, it's only right for me to be on the lookout for better opportunities
* When shopping, i find something i like and trust i will continue to like it later
* When shopping, i have a hard time finding something that i really love
Lecture 22
THE SCIENCE OF HAPPINESS - TAL BEN SHAHAR (Podcast)
* The first step in finding happiness, is allowing the presence of unhappiness
* “Difficult decisions are not just between right and wrong, they are often between right and right”
SPELL OF ANONYMITY
BRENE BROWN- DO NOT NEGOTIATE WHO YOU ARE (Motivational Speech)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vphih0pa1A
* Belonging is not about negotiating who you are within your group of people
* We belong to ourselves
* True belonging is a spiritual practice and finding sacredness in being apart of something and the courage to stand alone
* When we love, speak on something, live differently, it scares us to be rejected by others, so we negotiate ourselves to fit in
* But when we stand strong regardless of the amount of rejection we may encounter, that's a bigger sign of belonging (at least you know who you are and belong to yourself: liberation)