Authentic Happiness

[ygolo]

Authentic happiness, according to Martin Seligman, comes from knowing that one's own traits leads to good things in one's life.

What do you guys think of that idea?

[alcea rosea]

Originally Posted by ygolo

Authentic happiness, according to Martin Seligman, comes from knowing that one's own traits leads to good things in one's life.

What do you guys think of that idea?

I don't know about that idea but Authentic Happiness is a great feeling!

[mippus]

Originally Posted by ygolo

Authentic happiness, according to Martin Seligman, comes from knowing that one's own traits leads to good things in one's life.

What do you guys think of that idea?

It would be nice if this were true, and it certainly has some therapeutical value since it encourages to get a grip on your situation. However, it seems to ignore the impact "the outer world" may have. Luck may well play a part in happiness as well, just like context may limit your chances on happiness. So, I'd say it is an interesting thought. It may be very stimulating and inspiring, but it stays too much of a concept...

[ptgatsby]

I'd say all happiness is synthetic, there is nothing authentic about it. Feeling good about oneself is generally not relevent to how we see our own life (both "good things" and the connection between our actions and them are very subjective, so self realisation is just as subjective - you either do it, or you don't.)

Mind you, consistency does make us less unhappy

[Metamorphosis]

Originally Posted by ygolo

Authentic happiness, according to Martin Seligman, comes from knowing that one's own traits leads to good things in one's life.

What do you guys think of that idea?

I think that is rather egotistic and ignores one's own flaws. Not to mention happiness is just a certain firing of chemicals in your brain, regardless of how awesome it is.

[Maverick]

Originally Posted by ygolo

Authentic happiness, according to Martin Seligman, comes from knowing that one's own traits leads to good things in one's life.

What do you guys think of that idea?

The guy has a couple of research papers on the subject and apparently his methods are effective.

[Ender]

If thats the case then I'll never be authentically happy on my own. Since one of my traits is one that can lead me to be self destructive. I don't see how it could ever lead to anything good in life.

Then again while my first response to it was that no I don't agree, and I had typed up an explanation as to why, it hit me, maybe he is right. Speaking for myself I'm not all that happy when I'm alone. I find I'm a lot happier when I'm with others who make up for my negative traits. So in that sense, maybe he's got a point. In that if you can identify your own traits you can lead a much better life.

I dunno, I guess I'll have to spend more then 10mins thinking about it to see if that still holds true or not.

[ptgatsby]

Originally Posted by Ender

I dunno, I guess I'll have to spend more then 10mins thinking about it to see if that still holds true or not.

You can train yourself to think this way/have it pointed out to you. I'm just not sure you could call it "authentic", if there is such a thing, but it does work

You can take a look at Maverick to see it - he fully believes he does good and he strikes me as being happy. I'd go as far as saying he is the best example I know of (I know another ENTJ that does this...) of someone who managed to create their own happiness through this viewpoint/mechanism.

Maverick

[mippus]

Originally Posted by Maverick

The guy has a couple of research papers on the subject and apparently his methods are effective.

True, wrote some interesting things on optimism as well. However: a definition such as the one presented here seems like a mere slogan to me...

[ygolo]

Originally Posted by ptgatsby

You can train yourself to think this way/have it pointed out to you. I'm just not sure you could call it "authentic", if there is such a thing, but it does work

I suppose the degree of authenticity of your hapiness depends on the authenticity of your knowledge that your traits lead to good things in your life.