Saturday, September 18, 2010

Weekend Viewing: Martin Seligman

Here he is, the father of modern happiness science:  Martin Seligman. Mr. Seligman coined the term "positive psychology" in the early '90s as a response to most psychologists' focus on mental disorder (as opposed to the good parts of the human psyche). Psychology students may also recognize him as the creator of the learned helplessness concept.

In this TED Talk, Seligman gives a good introduction to his theories. He starts out being maybe a little too down on regular psychology, but he soon moves on to discuss the difference between real happiness and "Hollywood happiness," flow, and optimism. He gives very practical advice on finding happiness, especially after the 18-minute mark, so give it a watch! Hopefully it'll get your weekend off to a (meaningfully) happy start!

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