039: Professor Paul Dolan on happiness

Today I'm talking with Paul Dolan, Head of BS at the LSE. Paul knows what makes us feel good. It's all about what we pay attention to. He wants us to choose to spend our time doing things that bring us pleasure or give us purpose… and ideally both. He will tell us how we can redesign our lives to be happier. He will also explain why we care so much about what other people do, and how we can learn to listen more to those that disagree with us. Show notesBalance between happiness and misery in a world of polarised opinionDoes division make us happier?Flaws in the happiness/self-help literary genreThe pleasure/purpose principle & the definition of happinessSocial narratives: how you feel rather than how you think you should feelThe relative importance of memories, the present moment and future projection in designing happinessHow we think about holidays: the anticipation, the experience and the memoriesThe opportunity cost of attentionWhy do we continue to make mistakes: self-sabotage and happiness?Salience and getting lost in the experience and the flowTrade-offs and moral licensing (credits and debts)The Reaching, Responsible and Related social narrativesThe dangerous social narrative about having kidsSelfishness and greed about wanting to live foreverHaving perspective is cheap talkOur productivity obsessionSubscribe for more hereClick here to access rewards to power your brainFollow me on TwitterAt the LSE, Paul's main research interests are human behaviour and happiness, and the relationships between them, particularly as they apply to policy. He is author of the bestselling books Happiness by Design and Happy Ever After. He is also host of the Duck / Rabbit podcast about the polarisation problem in our society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.