Inquirers: They develop their natural curiosity. They acquire the skills necessary to conduct inquiry and research and show independence in learning. They actively enjoy learning and this love of learning will be sustained throughout their lives.
Communicators: They understand and express ideas and information confidently and creatively in more than one language and in a variety of modes of communication. They work effectively and willingly in collaboration with others.
Open-minded: They understand and appreciate their own cultures and personal histories, and are open to the perspectives, values and traditions of other individuals and communities. They are accustomed to seeking and evaluating a range of points of view, and are willing to grow from the experience.
Caring: They show empathy, compassion and respect towards the needs and feelings of others. They have a personal commitment to service, and act to make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment.
Risk-takers: They approach unfamiliar situations and uncertainty with courage and forethought, and have the independence of spirit to explore new roles, ideas and strategies. They are brave and articulate in defending their beliefs.
Reflective: They give thoughtful consideration to their own learning and experience. They are able to assess and understand their strengths and limitations in order to support their learning and personal development.
why use the IB capacitie´s? they were designed for children, in school environments and meant to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. which seems to speak of social networks, therefore is in line with my line of research.
The Art of Being Different: The Path to Social Innovation
miércoles, 7 de marzo de 2012
Definition of Social Sustainability
Social sustainability can be defined as a life-enhancing condition within communities, and a process within communities that can achieve that condition (McKenzie, 2004)
OR from a section of the definition by the Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development:
Social sustainability blends traditional social policy areas and principles, such as equity and health, with emerging issues concerning participation, needs, social capital, the economy, the environment, and more recently, with the notions of happiness, wellbeing and quality of life
Colantonio, A. and Dixon, T. (2009) Measuring Socially Sustainable Urban Regeneration in
Europe, Oxford Brookes University: Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development (OISD)
Europe, Oxford Brookes University: Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development (OISD)
what will we focus on?
Maybe on friendly behaviour, that is behaviour that promotes the creation of strong social networks, which not only provides benefits like a sense of belonging, and increased access to local information, but can increase a community´s opportunity to successfully pursue common goals, and according to Michael Woolcock, a senior Social Scientist at the World Bank and a lecturer in Public Policy at
Harvard University, well-connected inddividuals have an increased likelyhood of being hired, housed, healthy and happy. All important elements of Social Sustainability.
Harvard University, well-connected inddividuals have an increased likelyhood of being hired, housed, healthy and happy. All important elements of Social Sustainability.
Woolcock, M. (2001) ‘The place of social capital in understanding social and economic
outcomes’, Canadian Journal of Policy Research, 2 (1), pp. 11-17
Heidegger and Art
From: Heidegger, Creativity, and what Poets do: On Living in a Silent Shack for Three Months and not Going Mad
Author: Dan Disney In his essay, ’The Origin of the Work of Art’ (1971), philosopher Martin Heidegger sets out to explore the relationship art shares with truth.
Via a series of looping questions -’Where and how does art occur?’; ’what and how is a work of art?’; ’how does truth happen?’; ’(w)hat is art?’ and what is art ’that we call it rightly an origin?’ (17-69) -the philosopher finally proposes art to be ’truth setting itself to work’ (38). Heidegger instructively sets out to reject the Ancient quarrel between philosophies and poetries by calling poetry an ’illuminating projection’ with ’a privileged position in the domain of the arts’ (70-71).
Throughout the essays collected in Poetry, Language, Thought, the philosopher stakes a series of stunning claims for poetry from the bleakness of ’(i)n the age of the world’s night, the abyss of the world must be
experienced and endured. But for this it is necessary that there be those who reach into the abyss’ (that is, poets. See 90), to the oblique ’(p)oetry is what first brings man onto the earth, making him belong to it, and thus brings him into dwelling’ (216). Throughout Poetry, Language, Thought, Heidegger privileges poets as language users who apprehend and then construct dynamic truths. There is something to this theory of creativity that promises not only compliments but, potentially, illumination and self-knowing.
’The Thinker as Poet’ (Heidegger, 1971) scans more like a manifesto than poetically-figured language. But the philosopher’s adoption of a ’poetic’ form indicates no small faith in poetry as a mode of expressing truthfulness. His notion of poets singing the species into being seems a skewed anthropo-morphism, but what Heidegger is suggesting is that poets use a resonant language, and that part of the resonance is neither simply syntactical nor sonic. The singing/thinking of poems is a way for humans a just-begun poem to
ontologise ’their’ world.
In ’The Thinker as Poet’, for example, I am struck by how much the philosopher seems to fathom where poems come from: we never come to thoughts. They come to us. (16)
At his most ineffable, the philosopher proposes a distinction between two poetic modes in ’The Origin of the Work of Art’ (1971) dichtung and poesie and it is dichtung, a primordial and extra-linguistic framing essence that makes poesie, the manifestation of poetry in language, possible:
Projective saying is poetry: the saying of world and earth, the saying of the arena of their conflict and thus of the place of all nearness and remoteness of the gods. Poetry (dichtung) is the saying of the uncon-cealedness of what is. (71)
To Heidegger, dichtung is a wordless creative essence the ’poetry’ that bespeaks ’of what is’ embedding not only the poesie of language expressed as poem; indeed, according to Heidegger, the universe is shot through with this originary impulse, which a poem mimetically enacts as it languages beings. In other words, reality may indeed be out there, somewhere (just like Bruegel’s universal language). But, as theorist Terry Eagleton (2007) puts it, ’(p)oetry is an image of the truth that language is not what shuts us off from reality, but
what yields us the deepest access to it’ (69). To arrive at a junction of these ideas, then, a poet’s making might be regarded as seeing into the heart of matters, into the truth of beings, and so into the being-ness of dichtung’s truth: what dichtung creates is an opening into which unconcealed beings ’shine and ring out’ (Heidegger, 1971: 70)
Commenting on how art materialises, Heidegger (1971) writes, ’the artist remains inconsequential as compared with the work, almost like a passageway that destroys itself in the creative process
for the work to emerge’ (39).
as dichtung moves into poesie, poetry is named by Heidegger as a style of thinking that opens up and originates its own ontologies.
Heidegger writes ’(t)he basic disposition of wonder displaces man into the realm where the most usual, yet still as such unthought (beings), are established in their most proper unusualness’ (1994: 147).
martes, 21 de febrero de 2012
A study in Scarlet: Memoirs Gulliver Project 2007-2008
Presentación
Además de la voluntad para el amor, sobresale en estos escritos la sinceridad, la inocencia, el soberano humor contra el miedo y la violencia y como un pleno ejercicio de la propia individualidad, el diálogo amoroso con la naturaleza, el repudio a la guerra, la relación con la muerte como un personaje cotidiano, y debido a las experiencias vividas, una madura y aguda consciencia del dolor, de las grietas familiares y sociales que les ha tocado en suerte atravesar.
Porque un merecido tránsito de un país de la crisálida de la violencia a la mariposa de la paz, es imposible hacerlo sin la poesía.
A study in Scarlet: Memoirs Gulliver Project 2005-2006
Introducción
Sabemos que la mayoría de las víctimas de todas estas turbulencias, devastadoras de la palabra luminosa, han sido los niños y jóvenes. Ellos han padecido en su propio ser la aspereza de un lenguaje mancillado del que se vuelven su espejo. Cómo lograr que esa fisura no siga abriéndose, es asunto que nos compete todos, sobre todo aquellos para quienes la palabra que brota de la poesía no es el simple deporte de los vocablos, sino un acto sagrado de celebración de la vida y respeto por el otro. Es en la palabra donde se cifran nuestros enigmas y por eso hablar es la forma más primitiva de poetizar. “El lenguaje es la casa del ser”.
Dada la experiencia acumulada en una década de trabajo con talleres de creación literaria en múltiples sectores de la población, se considera que la realización sistemática de esta actividad contribuye a la formación de una nueva actitud generacional frente a los problemas de la vida cotidiana, gracias a que posibilita el desarrollo de las capacidades individuales de cada asistente en el uso creativo del lenguaje.
Prologo
“Todo comenzó con la risa de los niños y terminará con ella”. (Rimbaud)
Y qué mejor si ese encuentro se realizaba alrededor de la experiencia viva de la palabra, fuerza, potencia, energía vital disponible para todos, pero desdichadamente, ignorada por muchos, menospreciada por la misma sociedad a la que debería servir y nutrir.
Asumimos la tarea de llevar nuestra experiencia y conocimiento de la poesía a los niños de las escuelas populares más olvidadas de la ciudad, buscando con ello, no sólo compartir ese saber formal en torno del lenguaje sino abrir un espacio de reconocimiento, de conciencia individual y colectiva, de sensibilidad y recomposición espiritual que desde el alma de los niños, tanta falta de atención, tanta precariedad, tanto desprecio, desafecto, indiferencia, dolor, soledad, violencia, desgarramiento, miseria, revelaban.
Algunos encontraron las dificultades normales en estos casos, desde la del difícil acceso a las escuelas, hasta la incredulidad y desconfianza que despertaban las visitas de personas extrañas al medio y al ámbito escolar incluso, en algunos profesores y personas del vecindario.
Fue muy gratificante para la mayoría de los poetas, comprobar cómo aparecían lenta o rápidamente los signos, los gestos, los detalles más alentadores del afecto, la simpatía, la esperanza. Las emociones de parte y parte fueron emergiendo, cálidas, abiertas. Alrededor de las lecturas, las historias a viva voz, la conversación espontánea, el intercambio de sonrisas, de pequeñas manifestaciones de amistad, las imágenes que por primera vez descubrían muchos de los chicos, las mismas palabras escuchadas, paladeadas, comprendidas, asimiladas por primera vez; el asombro, la alegría de los juegos propuestos con esas nuevas o viejas palabras; la en principio, desganada y luego empeñosamente manifiesta escritura mínima que muchos se atrevieron a entregar, con frases sueltas, definiciones impensadas, apartadas de la lógica habitual, con sueños súbitamente revelados en el papel; trazos reveladores del alma y la sensibilidad en dibujos plenos de libertad; risas, voces, preguntas al fin desprevenidas, incluso prohibidas
Privilegiamos la espontaneidad, la creatividad, la curiosidad y la soltura del gesto, la expresión, el cuerpo (permitiéndoles estirarse, reclinarse, tenderse o sentarse en el piso, entrar o salir cuando lo desearan); intentamos transmitirles la noción y la sensación de bienestar que procuran los estados de recepción contemplativa y creadora, lo cual en otros ambientes y niveles, les habían sido criticados, señalados incluso como viciosos, peligrosos, nocivos.
Fuimos sorprendidos por su capacidad de respuesta, de entendimiento y proyección. Parecía que la misma necesidad de afecto, de comprensión, de curiosa expectación los convertía en ávidos y diligentes habitantes de un país no tan imaginario como el que les proponíamos encontrar.
Creemos que como propuesta experimental el proyecto Gulliver rompe con los esquemas tradicionales de una educación precaria y empobrecida por la rigidez y la carencia de imaginación, que invita a la risa de los niños, a la fiesta de la creatividad y a exorcizar los miedos; que ayuda a sanar las heridas causadas por nuestra violencia endémica y por el maltrato a la infancia que es un oprobio aquí y en todo el mundo.
INSTITUCIÓN EDUCATIVA LA ESPERANZA
ESCUELA REPÚBLICA DE CUBA
Tallerista: Diana BerríoParticipantes: 15 niños
Es una persona que no tiene conciencia de lo que hacen los demás.
Dayan Camilo Hincapié (8 años)
Cárcel:
Es un policía que no muere y siempre nos atrapa.
Lizett Saldarriaga (9 años)
Infierno:
Es cuando nos mandan los adultos con rabia.
Carlos Alberto Londoño (10 años)
Paz:
El sonido de una bala.
Juan Fernando Echeverri (12 años)
jueves, 9 de febrero de 2012
Andrea´s Pensieve: The Happiness Advantage
Title: The Happiness Advantage
Author:Shawn Achor
PRINCIPLE #1 THE HAPPINESS ADVANTAGE
Extensive research has found that happiness actually has a very important evolutionary purpose, something Barbara Fredrickson has termed the “Broaden and Build Theory.”14 Instead of narrowing our actions down to fight or flight as negative emotions do, positive ones broaden the amount of possibilities we process, making us more thoughtful, creative, and open to new ideas. (page 51)
For instance, individuals who are “primed”—meaning scientists help evoke a certain mindset or motion before doing an experiment—to feel either amusement or contentment can think of a larger and wider array of thoughts and ideas than individuals who have been primed to feel either anxiety or anger.15 And when positive emotions broaden our scope of cognition and behavior in this way, they not only make us more creative, they help us build more intellectual, social, and physical resources we can rely upon in the future. (page 51)
Positive emotions flood our brains with dopamine and serotonin, chemicals that not only make us feel good, but dial up the learning centers of our brains to higher levels. They help us organize new information, keep that information in the brain longer, and retrieve it faster later on. And they enable us to make and sustain more neural connections, which allows us to think more quickly and creatively, become more skilled at complex analysis and problem solving, and see and invent new ways of doing things. (page 51)
The Happiness Advantage is why cutting-edge software companies have foosball tables in the employee lounge, why Yahoo! has an in-house massage parlor, and why Google engineers are encouraged to bring their dogs to work. These aren’t just PR gimmicks. Smart companies cultivate these kinds of working environments because every time employees experience a small burst of happiness, they get primed for creativity and innovation. They see solutions they might otherwise have missed. Famed CEO Richard Branson has said that, “more than any other element, fun is the secret of Virgin’s success.” This isn’t just because fun is, well, fun. It’s because fun also leads to bottom-line results. (page 52-53)
The children who were primed to be happy significantly outperformed the others, completing the task both more quickly and with fewer errors. (page 54)
People who put their heads down and wait for work to bring eventual happiness put themselves at a huge disadvantage, while those who capitalize on positivity every chance they get come out ahead. (page 54)
On average, they came to a correct diagnosis only 20 percent of the way through the manuscript
—nearly twice as fast as the control group—and showed about two and half times less anchoring (when a doctor has trouble letting go of an initial diagnosis (the anchor point), even in the face of new information that contradicts the initial theory.).(page 55)
This reveals something important about the Happiness Advantage in action: Even the smallest shots of positivity can give someone a serious competitive edge. (page 55)
It’s not hard to see that this study, and all the others like it, have invaluable lessons to impart not just about how we should run our hospitals, but our businesses and schools as well (page 55)
Because in addition to broadening our intellectual and creative capacities, positive emotions also provide a swift antidote to physical stress and anxiety, what psychologists call “the undoing effect.” (page 56) In other words, a quick burst of positive emotions doesn’t just broaden our cognitive capacity; it also provides a quick and powerful antidote to stress and anxiety, which in turn improves our focus and our ability to function at our best level.
happiness is not just a mood—it’s a work ethic. (page 57)
While we each have a happiness baseline that we fluctuate around on a daily basis, with concerted effort, we can raise that baseline permanently so that even when we are going up and down, we are doing so at a higher level (page 57)
HOW???? (page 58-60)
- Meditate (Studies show that in the minutes right after meditating, we experience feelings of calm and contentment, as well as heightened awareness and empathy. And, research even shows that regular meditation can permanently rewire the brain to raise levels of happiness, lower stress, even improve immune function)
- Find Something to Look Forward To ( Anticipating future rewards can actually light up the pleasure centers in your brain much as the actual reward will)
- Commit Conscious Acts of Kindness (acts of altruism—giving to friends and strangers alike—decrease stress and strongly contribute to enhanced mental health)
- Infuse Positivity Into Your Surroundings (our physical environment can have an enormous impact on our mindset and sense of well-being. While we may not always have complete control over our surroundings, we can make specific efforts to infuse them with positivity)
- Excercise (Physical activity can boost mood and enhance our work by improving motivation and feelings of mastery, reducing stress and anxiety, and helping us get into flow)
- Spend Money (but Not on Stuff) (spending money on experiences, especially ones with other people, produces positive emotions that are both more meaningful and more lasting)
- Exercise a Signature Strength (Everyone is good at something, each time we use a skill we experience a burst of positivity. Even more fulfilling than using a skill, though, is exercising a strength of character, a trait that is deeply embedded in who we are)
PRINCIPLE #2 THE FULCRUM AND THE LEVER
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, whose studies show that whether or not someone believes their intelligence is changeable directly affects their achievement. Dweck found that people can be split into two categories: Those with a “fixed mindset” believe that their capabilities are already set, while those with a “growth mindset” believe that they can enhance their basic qualities through effort. Her research has shown that people with fixed mindsets miss choice opportunities for improvement and consistently underperform, while those with a “growth mindset” watch their abilities move ever upward. (page 77)
PRINCIPLE #3 THE TETRIS EFFECT
one study from The Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics explains: “Law schools teach students to look for flaws in arguments, and they train them to be critical rather than accepting.”5 And while this of course is “a crucial skill for lawyers in practice,” when it starts to leak beyond the courtroom into their personal lives it can have “significant negative consequences.” Trained to be on the lookout for the flaws in every argument, the holes in every case, they start “to overestimate the significance and permanence of the problems they encounter,” the fastest route to depression and anxiety —which in turn interferes with their ability to do their job. (page 91)
And so it goes, in any profession or line of work. No one is immune. Athletes can’t stop competing with their friends or families. Social workers who deal with domestic abuse can’t stop distrusting men. Financial traders can’t stop assessing the risk inherent in everything they do. Managers can’t stop micromanaging their children’s lives (page 91—so this space could be training the brain of children to see opportunities for creation, trust, gratitude, etc?)
PRINCIPAL #4 FALLING UP
Jim Collins, autor o f Good to Great, reminds us that “we are not imprisoned by our circumstances, our setbacks, our history, our mistakes, or even staggering defeats along the way. We are freed by our choices.”
Adversarial Growth, or Post-Traumatic Growth, to distinguish it from the better-known term Post-Traumatic Stress. Over the last two decades, psychologist Richard Tedeschi and his colleagues have made the empirical study of Post-Traumatic Growth their mission. Thanks to this study, today we can say for certain, not just anecdotally, that great suffering or trauma can actually lead to great positive change across a wide range of experiences. What kind of positive growth? Increases in spirituality, compassion for others, openness, and even, eventually, overall life satisfaction. After trauma, people also report enhanced personal strength and self-confidence, as well as a heightened appreciation for, and a greater intimacy in, their social relationships. (page 103)
The strategies that most often lead to Adversarial Growth include positive reinterpretation of the situation or event, optimism, acceptance, and coping mechanisms that include focusing on the problem head-on (rather than trying to avoid or deny it). As one set of researchers explains, “it appears that it is not the type of event per se that influences posttraumatic growth, but rather the subjective experience of the event.”7 In other words, the people who can most successfully get themselves up off the mat are those who define themselves not by what has happened to them, but by what they can make out of what has happened. These are the people who actually use adversity to find the path forward. They speak not just of “bouncing back,” but of “bouncing forward.” (page 103-104)
After decades of studying human behavior, Seligman and his colleagues found that the same patterns of helplessness that he saw in those dogs are incredibly common in humans. When we fail, or when life delivers us a shock, we can become so hopeless that we respond by simply giving up. (page 109)
When we eliminate any upward options from our mental maps, and worse, eliminate our motivation to search for them, we end up undermining our ability to tackle the challenge at hand.
And it doesn’t end there. When people feel helpless in one area of life, they not only give up in that one area; they often “overlearn” the lesson and apply it to other situations. They become convinced that one dead-end path must be proof that all possible paths are dead ends. A setback at work might lead to despondency about one’s relationship, or a rift with a friend might discourage us from trying to form bonds with our colleagues, and so on.
When this happens, our helplessness spirals out of control, impeding our success in all areas of life. It’s the very definition of pessimism and depression—an event map with all dead ends—and a surefire route to failure. We don’t have to stretch far to see this negative cycle on a larger social scale—learned helplessness is endemic in inner city schools, prisons, and elsewhere. When people don’t believe there is a way up, they have virtually no choice but to stay as down as they are. (page 111)
Decades of subsequent study have since shown that explanatory style—how we choose to explain the nature of past events—has a crucial impact on our happiness and future success.23 People with an optimistic explanatory style interpret adversity as being local and temporary (i.e., “It’s not that bad, and it will get better.”) while those with a pessimistic explanatory style see these events as more global and permanent (i.e., “It’s really bad, and it’s never going to change.”). Their beliefs then directly affect their actions; the ones who believe the latter statement sink into helplessness and stop trying, while the ones who believe the former are spurred on to higher performance. (page 117) (using art leaves you with a life-affirming creation, a poetic value-filled explanation, which could tilt the subjects towards the more favourable explanatory style?)
One way to help ourselves see the path from adversity to opportunity is to practice the ABCD model of interpretation: Adversity, Belief, Consequence, and Disputation. Adversity is the event we can’t change; it is what it is. Belief is our reaction to the event; why we thought it happened and what we think it means for the future. Is it a problem that is only temporary and local in nature or do we think it is permanent and pervasive? Are there ready solutions, or do we think it is unsolvable? If we believe the former—that is, if we see the adversity as short-term or as an opportunity for growth or appropriately confined to only part of our life—then we maximize the chance of a positive Consequence. But if the Belief has led us down a more pessimistic path, helplessness and inaction can bring negative Consquences. That’s when it’s time to put the D to work. Disputation involves first telling ourselves that our belief is just that—a belief, not fact —and then challenging (or disputing) it. Psychologists recommend that we externalize this voice (i.e., pretend it’s coming from someone else), so it’s like we’re actually arguing with another person. (page 119)
Psychologist Daniel Goleman, author of the groundbreaking book Emotional Intelligence, has extensively studied the toll this emotional hijacking can take on our professional lives.7 When small stresses pile up over time, as they so often do in the workplace, it only takes a minor annoyance or irritation to lose control; in other words, to let the Jerk into the driver’s seat. When this hijacking occurs, we might lash out at a colleague or start to feel helpless and overwhelmed or suddenly lose all energy and motivation. As a result, our decision-making skills, productivity, and effectiveness plummet. (page 127, then if we are already dealing with kids with a lot of violent environment this would only perpetuate and worsen it)
One classic experiment, known as the Ultimatum Game, goes like this: Researchers invite two people who do not know each other into the lab. One of them is given ten $1 bills and told to divide the money between himself and the other subject in any way he likes (he can keep all $10 for himself, he can split it $6 and $4, etc.). Then he gives the recipient an ultimatum: “Take the money or leave it.” Here’s the catch: If the recipient chooses to leave it, both people get nothing.
For traditional economists, this is fairly straightforward. A rational person will always take the deal, no matter how stingy. After all, even if it’s only one dollar, that’s still one more dollar than they came in with. But as it turns out, most recipients actually reject offers of $1 or even $2. Why? Because instead of rationally weighing their options, they allow their emotions—usually anger and annoyance at having been given a raw deal—to take over. This doesn’t make rational sense, of course, because they’re turning down a free $2 just to be spiteful. But it happens all the time. When neuroscientists investigate further, they find that the more active the limbic system is in the brain, the more likely the stingy offer will be rejected. As one researcher writes, “these findings suggest that when participants reject an unfair offer … it appears to be the product of a strong (seemingly negative) emotional response.”11 (page 127, this could help prove that marginalized kids who have not retrained themselves to use the intuitive mind/engage more will pass up improvement opportunities on irrational emotional bases)
So how do we reclaim control from the Jerk and put it back into the hands of the Thinker? The answer is the Zorro Circle. The first goal we need to conquer—or circle we need to draw—is self-awareness. Experiments show that when people are primed to feel high levels of distress, the quickest to recover are those who can identify how they are feeling and put those feelings into words. Brain scans show verbal information almost immediately diminishes the power of these negative emotions, improving well-being and enhancing decision-making skills.13 So whether you do it by writing down feelings in a journal or talking to a trusted coworker or confidant, verbalizing the stress and helplessness you are feeling is the first step toward regaining control. (page 129, ART!!)
Once you’ve mastered the self-awareness circle, your next goal should be to identify which aspects of the situation you have control over and which you don’t.
Once my trainees are armed with a list of what is indeed still within their control, I have them identify one small goal they know they can quickly accomplish. By narrowing their scope of action, and focusing their energy and efforts, the likelihood of success increases. (page 129, not that art teaches all of that directly but they do learn that wording their pain makes it smaller, that one word at a time makes a verse, that one verse at a time makes a poem and that knowledge can spill to other areas of their life)
ave a direct effect on our outcomes, that we are largely the masters of our own fates. With an increasingly internal locus of control and a greater confidence in our abilities, we can then expand our efforts outward. (page 129)
PRINCIPLE #7 SOCIAL INVESTMENT
psychologists Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener review the massive amount of cross-cultural research that has been conducted on happiness over the last few decades, and they conclude that, “like food and air, we seem to need social relationships to thrive.”3 That’s because when we have a community of people we can count on—spouse, family, friends, colleagues—we multiply our emotional, intellectual, and physical resources. We bounce back from setbacks faster, accomplish more, and feel a greater sense of purpose. Furthermore, the effect on our happiness, and therefore on our ability to profit from the Happiness Advantage, is both immediate and long-lasting. (page 163)
In a study appropriately titled “Very Happy People,” researchers sought out the characteristics of the happiest 10 percent among us.4 Do they all live in warm climates? Are they all wealthy? Are they all physically fit? Turns out, there was one—and only one—characteristic that distinguished the happiest 10 percent from everybody else: the strength of their social relationships. My empirical study of well-being among 1,600 Harvard undergraduates found a similar result—social support was a far greater predictor of happiness than any other factor (page 163)
individuals who invest in their social support systems are simply better equipped to thrive in even the most difficult circumstances, (page 165)
Jane Dutton, a psychologist who specializes in this subject at the University of Michigan Business School, explains that “any point of contact with another person can potentially be a high-quality connection. One conversation, one e-mail exchange, one moment of connecting in a meeting can infuse both participants with a greater sense of vitality, giving them a bounce in their steps and a greater capacity to act.”2 (page 169)
THE RIPPLE EFFECT
Recent research exploring the role of social networks in shaping human behavior has proven that much of our behavior is literally contagious; that our habits, attitudes, and actions spread through a complicated web of connections to infect those around us. In their groundbreaking book Connected, Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler draw on years of research to show how our actions are constantly cascading and bouncing off each other in every which way and direction.1 “Ties do not extend outward in straight lines like spokes on a wheel,” they write. “Instead, these paths double back on themselves and spiral around like a tangled pile of spaghetti, weaving in and out of other paths that rarely ever leave the plate (page 185)
This theory holds that our attitudes and behaviors don’t only infect the people we interact with directly—like our colleagues, friends, and families—but that each individual’s influence actually appears to extend to people within three degrees. Fowler and Christakis estimate that there are nearly 1,000 people within three degrees of most of us. This is a true ripple effect—by trying to make ourselves happier and more successful, we actually have the ability to improve the lives of 1,000 people around us. (page 185)
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