Ep. 330: Is Your Happiness Being Politicized? [REMASTERED]

If you're not happy, it means something is wrong ... right?  Dr. Loretta Breuning is a PhD researcher & author. Since becoming unconvinced by prevailing theories on human behavior, she has researched everything from monkeys to the mafia. Now she’s not only helping people hack their brain, she’s shedding light on how the altruistic outlook may be popular, but ultimately damaging. In this episode, she explains WHY we believe that if we are unhappy something is wrong, how simply “getting back to nature” can backfire, the problem with happiness studies & (this is important) how to start your own happiness plan. This episode originally aired March 7, 2024. If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 275: IS AMBITION ANTI-HAPPINESS? REASONABLE HAPPINESS & FETISHIZING WEALTH Guest:https://innermammalinstitute.org/https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-happy-brain/id1377502232 https://www.instagram.com/inner.mammal.inst/https://innermammalinstitute.org/course/  https://www.facebook.com/LorettaBreuningPhD https://twitter.com/lbreuning   Host:  https://www.meredithforreal.com/  https://www.instagram.com/meredithforreal/ [email protected]://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal  https://www.facebook.com/meredithforrealthecuriousintrovert  Sponsors: https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/ https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/  02:05 — Rousseau’s “nature is happy” legacy02:48 — Why academia spreads the meme03:36 — The medical model of unhappiness04:18 — Blaming society vs building skills07:24 — Hunter-gatherer reality check09:58 — Culture shapes how we report happiness10:32 — Why Americans hesitate to say “I’m happy”11:32 — Cortisol: when expectations miss13:42 — Childhood culture becomes adult politics14:06 — Status envy in academia15:10 — Moral superiority as serotonin15:48 — The “I did it the right way” trap16:38 — Everyone thinks they’re the overlooked underdog18:06 — Popularity: the motivator no one admits19:02 — How biology gets politicized23:18 — Why therapy and religion sell unhappiness24:08 — The media and your happy chemicals25:02 — News as a brain-chemical cocktail31:04 — How not to throw the baby out with the bathwater34:08 — Reward yourself like animal training34:42 — Train your inner mammalRequest to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/Follow me in all the places:https://www.meredithforreal.com/  https://www.instagram.com/the_curiousintrovert/ [email protected]://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal https://www.facebook.com/curiousintrovert