Nature & Nurture #67: Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar - The Science of Happiness

Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar is a psychologist, best-selling author of the books Happier and Being Happy, and co-founder of the Happiness Studies Academy. In this episode we talk about the science of happiness, its roots in positive psychology, and what psychology commonly gets wrong about happiness. We talk about how happiness is neither synonymous with pleasure nor the “just fine” state of not being unhappy. We talk about mismatches between our current environment and our ancestral environment, and how lack of exercise, poor nutrition, and poor social bonds contribute to the epidemic of unhappiness. We talk about anti-fragility, meaning, delay of gratification, and how an optimal level of stress and scarcity is necessary for happiness. Lastly, we talk about how Tal founded the Happiness Studies Academy, and how happiness studies has emerged as an interdisciplinary new science.