The Science and Philosophy Behind the Happiness Movement

By Henry DeVries

Many of the greatest minds have tackled the question of happiness: Plato, Henry David Thoreau, Bertrand Russell, the Dalai Lama, Leo Tolstoy, and Blaise Pascal, just to list a few.

Gretchen Rubin decided to spend a year test-driving the wisdom of the ages, the current scientific studies, and the lessons from pop culture about how to be happier. At the end of her study, Rubin wrote a book entitled The Happiness Project. How does she respond to critics who think that gimmick is tired and obvious?

“There are a lot of great names for this ‘year of’ approach,” says Rubin. “I’ve seen it called ‘schtick lit’ and ‘method journalism’ and ‘stunt journalism‘ and ‘annualism.’ Of course, this approach isn’t new. Thoreau moved to Walden Pond in 1845, where he did a two-year project, instead of a one-year project, but the idea was the same.”

Rubin was clerking for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor when she realized she really wanted to quit law and become an author. Since then, she has written bestsellers about JFK, Winston Churchill, and one entitled Power Money Fame Sex. But it’s The Happiness Project, the volume with the subtitle “Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun,” that has brought her widespread acclaim.

Rubin believes the “year of…” approach resonates with people. “A year feels like the right length of time for an ‘experiment in living,’ to borrow Thoreau’s phrase. A year feels like enough time for real change to be possible—but manageable. At a book conference recently, A.J. Jacobs (The Year of Living Biblically) and Robyn Okrant (Living Oprah) and I were joking that we should start a union for writers following this approach.”

One of the themes in her book is that a key to happiness is to stimulate your mind in new ways. During her year, she experimented with learning different technologies and skills, everything from art to computer programs. Putting happiness into action often requires branching out and learning something new.

Her research also showed something surprising: although she found tremendous value in the scientific and philosophical works she studied, in the end, Rubin gleaned more from books like Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, and Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions.

In her books and blogs, Rubin gives readers tips on rearranging their daily lives, guided by what she calls Four Splendid Truths: “First: To be happier, you have to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth. Second: One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy; one of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself. Third: The days are long, but the years are short. Fourth: You’re not happy unless you think you’re happy.”

Rubin says the laws of happiness are as fixed as the laws of chemistry. “I’m trying to understand and embrace them; I’m not making them up. I’m not going to come up with something more profound than ‘Know thyself’ or ‘The greatest of these is love.’ Everything important has been said before; in fact, it was Alfred North Whitehead who said, ‘Everything important has been said before.’ The challenge comes from understanding how to put great truths into action ourselves, in our own lives.”

Well-known author Gretchen Rubin shared the stage during the second annual “The Atlantic Meets the Pacific” conference, a three-day series of conversations co-hosted by UC San Diego Extension and the 155-year-old The Atlantic magazine, with such luminaries as genome pioneer J. Craig Venter; Steven Spielberg partner Stacey Snider,
CEO of DreamWorks Studios; Jane McGonigal, world-renowned designer of alternate reality games; Chris Cox, the vice president of product development at Facebook; and Jessica Jackley, the entrepreneur who pioneered peer-to-peer micro-lending through her start-up Kiva. Videos of The Atlantic editors interviewing Rubin and the other newsmakers at the event—in such fields as science, medicine, energy development, and human interaction—are available for free viewing at uctv.tv.

The Atlantic and UC San Diego Announce 2nd Annual “The Atlantic Meets the Pacific,” October 7-9, 2012

The Atlantic and the University of California San Diego will hold the second annual “The Atlantic Meets the Pacific” forum, October 7-9, 2012, at premier venues on and around the campus of UC San Diego. Building upon last year’s highly successful program, the event will explore new frontiers and breakthrough technologies in science, energy, health, and media.

Through headline interviews and panel discussions, as well as behind-the-scenes access to the country’s top-ranked research facilities, the program will feature speakers who are working at the cutting-edge of technological innovation. Participants include:  J. Craig Venter of the J. Craig Venter Institute; Jane McGonigal, a world-renowned designer of alternate reality games; Chris Cox, the product development leader at Facebook; and Jessica Jackley, the entrepreneur who pioneered peer-to-peer micro-lending through her start-up, Kiva. In addition, V. S. “Rama” Ramachandran, New York Times bestselling author of The Tell-Tale Brain, will discuss the revolutionary neuroscience underway in his University of California lab, and Gretchen Rubin, international bestselling author of The Happiness Project, will share her findings about the science of happiness. Additional speakers will be announced this summer.

Participants will be joined by some of The Atlantic’s leading editorial voices, including: James Bennet, editor-in-chief; Steve Clemons, Washington editor-at-large; James Fallows, national correspondent; Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent; and Alexis Madrigal, senior editor.

Event attendees will also witness innovation first-hand. Many of the conversations will take place at the Scripps Seaside Forum, an ocean-front conference center facility located in the heart of the UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). The event will include behind-the-scenes tours at SIO, UC San Diego’s Calit2 digital media laboratory, and the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute.

“Southern California—home to an inimitable entrepreneurial spirit—is the perfect backdrop against which to discuss and debate emerging trends in science, energy, health, and media,” said Elizabeth Baker Keffer, president of AtlanticLIVE and vice president of The Atlantic. “Throughout its history, The Atlantic has drawn together provocative, original thinkers to debate key issues shaping our world, and we’re excited to once again partner with UC San Diego in this annual exploration of cutting-edge ideas.”

“The partnership is a perfect fit,” said Mary Walshok, UC San Diego associate vice chancellor of public programs and dean of Extension, the host of the event. “UC San Diego is one of the nation’s most accomplished research universities, renowned for its collaborative, diverse and cross-disciplinary energy that transcends traditional boundaries in science, arts and the humanities. Our award-winning scholars are experts at the forefront of their fields with an impressive track record for achieving scientific, medical and technological breakthroughs.”

Since its founding in 1857 as a magazine about “the American Idea,” The Atlantic has been America’s leading destination for the exploration of vital ideas and groundbreaking journalism. Beginning in 2005, The Atlantic has partnered with the Aspen Institute to bring national and global leaders together to discuss the ideas and trends shaping our world at the Aspen Ideas Festival and, since 2009, at the Washington Ideas Forum. The Atlantic Meets the Pacific expands upon that tradition with a focus on looking forward to what the future might hold.

To register for The Atlantic Meets the Pacific, please visit the registration site. General admission, which includes access to all main-stage programming, a choice of lab tours, and a welcome dinner and subsequent meals, is $795.00. Members of the media interested in obtaining press credentials should contact Natalie Raabe at The Atlantic (nraabe@theatlantic.com).

Join the conversation on Twitter @Atlantic_LIVE and @UCSDNews, #AtlanticMeetsPacific.

For more than 150 years The Atlantic has played a central role in shaping the national debate on current affairs and cultural trends. Dedicated to bold, independent, diverse, and highly reasoned perspectives, its writers, bloggers, and critics represent the best in American journalism. The Atlantic’s award-winning commentary and coverage can be found in its magazine, on its website at www.TheAtlantic.com, and at more than 70 events a year produced by its industry-leading events division, AtlanticLIVE.

UC San Diego Extension (www.extension.ucsd.edu) is recognized internationally for linking the public to the knowledge resources of the University of California. As the continuing education and public programs arm of the university, UC San Diego Extension educates approximately 56,000 enrollees a year, which translates to over 26,000 students in more than 4,900 courses.

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Media contacts: Natalie Raabe at nraabe@theatlantic.com or 202-266-7533; also Henry DeVries at hdevries@ucsd.edu or 858-534-9955

Happiness is a Seat at The Atlantic Meets the Pacific

by Don Sevrens

Happiness for Facebook VP of Product Chris Cox, an extrovert who plays in a reggae band, is deepening Facebook’s role in the lives of its users while steering clear of privacy concerns.

For Stacey Snider, CEO of DreamWorks Studios, happiness is releasing Academy Award winning films like “The Help.” And happiness for UC San Diego professor Vilayanur Ramachandran, director of the Center for Brain and Cognition, is unlocking the mysteries that cause happiness.

Case in point: For a Yale Law School graduate, clerking for a Supreme Court justice should have been a rapturous chapter in her career. Not so for Gretchen Rubin. In a moment of self-realization, she discovered that what she wanted to do when she grew up, what would truly make her happy, was to write.

Rubin made a career shift, eventually sharing with others how to be happy in—the New York Times bestseller “The Happiness Project,” and in a daily blog with the same name.

ProFounder.
Gretch Rubin, author of the “Happiness Project”

Cox, Snider, Ramachandran and Rubin are all scheduled as speakers for a reprise of last fall’s acclaimed three-day conversation series co-hosted by UC San Diego Extension and The Atlantic magazine. Call it Atlantic Returns to the Pacific. From October 7–9, 2012 the editors of the 155-year-old magazine will converse with newsmakers in such fields as science, medicine, energy development and human interaction.

Early confirmations for this fall’s series include Cox, the 29-year-old vice president of product at Facebook. Cox has worked at the social media company since 2005 and serves as chief of staff to CEO Mark Zuckerberg on product development. Facebook is expected to begin public trading of its stock this year, a move that will instantly create 900 millionaires among the company’s rank and file.

Snider is a partner of DreamWorks Studios, along with Steven Spielberg , as well as its Co-Chairman and CEO w here s he oversees creative and financial aspects of all film development and production in addition to the company’s business strategy. Formed in 2009, Snider and Spielberg lead the motion picture company in partnership with The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.

Sir Robert Swan has signaled his willingness to appear. An Arctic explorer and environmental advocate, Swan is the first person to walk both poles. Among others due to appear at the multiple venue forum exploring revolutionary advances are Ben Battray, founder of the online advocacy platform change.org, and Jessica Jackley, founder of the microlending platform Kiva and the entrepreneur networking site Profounder.

Ramachandran has published over 180 papers in scientific journals (including five invited review articles in Scientific American). He has been profiled in the New Yorker Magazine and appeared on the “Charlie Rose Show.” His recent book, The Tell Tale Brain, was on the New York Times bestseller list. TIME magazine named him on their list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Rubin, who is now living in New York City with her husband and two young daughters, has written bestsellers about JFK, Winston Churchill and one entitled “Power Money Fame Sex.” But it’s The Happiness Project, the volume with the subtitle “Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun” that best defines what she has to share with us.

It’s a myth, Rubin writes in her daily blog, that nothing changes a person’s happiness level much. She says people do not have a happiness set-point, they do not necessarily snap back quickly from a traumatic change to their usual happiness level. “Major life events can have strong, lasting effects on people’s happiness. For example, although people adapt quickly to marriage, it takes much longer for widows to adapt to widowhood. Losing a job, getting divorced—these kinds of events make a significant lasting impact on happiness.”

Other speakers will be announced in coming months. Last year’s series included such luminaries as physician and guru Deepak Chopra, Caltech physicist Leonard Mlodinow, video game inventor Will Wright, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk and Twitter co-founder Evan Williams.

Registration information for The Atlantic Meets the Pacific is available at atlanticmeetspacific.

Don Sevrens was a longtime editor and editorial writer at U-T San Diego.

War of the World Views

By Henry DeVries

“To many readers, there is no war of two worldviews, or if there is, one combatant is puny and unarmed while the other possesses tanks, robot drones and smart bombs,” says Deepak Chopra. “Science is fully armed, while a new spirituality, divorced from religious dogma, is a fledgling.”

Time Magazine heralds Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century and credits him as “the poet prophet of alternative medicine.” Chopra, the world famous physician and best-selling guru, can now add another title to his extensive resume: worldview warrior.

Chopra began battling over the issue of science vs. spirituality when he first met another best-selling author at a televised debate at the California Institute of Technology on “the future of God.” Chopra was the articulate advocate for spirituality, and taking the side of science was Leonard Mlodinow, a prominent Caltech physicist.

The central question: Does science describe the universe, or do ancient teachings like meditation unravel mysteries that are beyond the worldview of science? The ongoing discussions led to a remarkable book, War of the Worldviews, the product of that serendipitous encounter and the contentious—but respectful— clash of worldviews that grew along with their friendship.

“Hidebound science is ready to topple, making way for a new paradigm where consciousness takes center stage,” says Chopra, a global force in the field of lifelong learning. Chopra is the author of nearly 60 books, with 19 New York Times best sellers on mind-body health, spirituality, and peace.

“Don’t expect the bodies of fallen physicists littering the field. The outcome won’t be the vanquishing of science but its expansion,” adds Chopra.

The Spirituality vs. Science debate continued when Chopra and Mlodinow shared the stage at UC San Diego in October 2011 as part of “The Atlantic Meets the Pacific.”

Stating the case for spirituality was Chopra, a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, adjunct professor at the Kellogg School of Management, and a senior scientist with the Gallup Organization.

Aptly representing science was Mlodinow, a scholar of extraordinary achievement. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the UC Berkeley and currently teaches at Caltech. Mlodinow is the writing collaborator of Stephen Hawking and co-author of the recently published The Grand Design, a book that argues that invoking God is not necessary to explain the origins of the universe. For popular culture credibility, he has even written for the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

“As Leonard and I debate the great questions of human existence, my role is to offer spiritual answers—not as a priest or practitioner of any particular faith, but as a researcher in consciousness,” said Chopra, who argues the case of spirituality, not organized religion.

Chopra’s and Mlodinow’s UC San Diego session centered on such questions as “how did the universe emerge,” “what is the connection between mind and brain,” and “is God an illusion?”

“One of the issues Deepak feels science is close-minded about is the existence of a hidden or invisible realm,” says Mlodinow. “It is true historically science has rejected many suggestions of invisible realms. But that’s not because science has never examined them.”

Chopra readily shrugs off the disdain of scientists for spirituality.

“When Leonard says that I am clinging to precepts from thousands of years ago, he can’t be serious, given how much up-to-date science the new spirituality has come to terms with.”

The book is earning worldwide praise.

“We need a worldview grounded in science that does not deny the richness of human nature and the validity of modes of knowing other than the scientific,” said His Holiness the Dalai Lama. “If we can bring our spirituality, the richness and wholesomeness of our basic human values, to bear upon the course of science in human society, then the different approaches of science and spirituality will contribute together to the betterment of humanity. This book points the way to such a collaborative endeavor.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by UC San Diego professor V.S. Ramachandran, director of the Center for Brain and Cognition. He called their book “a timely revival of the debate between science and spirituality. In alternate chapters each author defends his position without disrespecting the other and the result is a remarkable contribution to the history of ideas; eminently readable, no matter which side of the fence you are on.”

Moderating “The Atlantic Meets the Pacific” session was The Atlantic editor James Bennet, who said that before he read the book, he had expected the two authors to reach common ground on a number of issues. But after his reading, he came to the opposite conclusion.

“It really felt like a war. In fact, there is no peace at the end of the book,” Bennet said.