Daniel Kahneman and his studies on happiness

This psychologist shows that there is one happiness linked to the past and another to the present.

Everyone talks about happiness. Books, conferences, coaching, mentoring... are some of the products that people can buy today in the supermarkets of happiness. Most of them tend to be a compendium of nice phrases, motivational advice and aphorisms to frame that may be motivational while you read them but lack practical utility in the long run. The problem is that happiness is such a complex thing that it takes a lot of research.

Daniel Kahneman, one of the most influential psychologists of our time, reveals in the last chapters of the book that led him to win the Nobel Prize the current findings of science on well-being and happiness.

Kahnmeman and his idea of happiness

Basically, Kahneman's studies reveal that there is no single concept of happiness.. This psychologist talks about the existence of two "I's": the "experiencing I" and the "remembering I". Both are of great importance for the way we value our happiness.

While the experiencing self is responsible for registering the sensations we have of events as they happen, it is the remembering self that gives meaning to those experiences.

To illustrate both concepts he relates the following example:

"A comment I heard from an audience member after a lecture illustrates the difficulty of distinguishing memories from experiences. He told how he had been listening ecstatically to a long symphony recorded on a disc that was scratched toward the end and produced an outrageous noise, and how that disastrous ending ruined the whole experience."

But the experience was not really ruined, but only the memory of it.. The spectator's reality had been really pleasant for most of the time; however, the noise at the end made the overall assessment of the experience for the spectator shocking.

The "I" that pleasantly enjoyed the course of the symphony in the present moment is the "experiencing I". On the other hand, the "I" that regarded the experience as unpleasant is the "I that remembers."

The logics of memory

In this example, Kahneman shows the dilemma between direct experience and memory. He also shows how different are these two systems of happiness that are satisfied with different elements.

The "experiencing self" takes into account the emotions of everyday life in the present moment. How you felt most of the day, the excitement of a meeting with a loved one, the comfort of a nap or the release of endorphins when doing sports.

The "remembering self" measures overall satisfaction with our life. When someone asks us how we are doing, how was our vacation, how was work, or we simply take stock of our life. or simply take stock of our life. It is a narrator that evaluates specific experiences based on what we consider relevant in life.

Another example showing the difference between the two is the following: Let's imagine that on our next vacation we know that at the end of the vacation period all our photos will be destroyed, and we will be administered an amnesic drug so that we will remember nothing. Now, would you choose the same vacation?

If we think about it in terms of time, then we will get an answer. And if we think of it in terms of memories, we get another answer. Why do we choose the vacations we choose? is a problem that refers us to a choice between the two selves.

Well-being has more than one time

As the reader can see, happiness presents itself as a complex and problematic concept in the light of these studies.. As Kahnemam puts it:

"In the last ten years we have learned many new things about happiness. But we have also learned that the word happiness has no single meaning and should not be used as it is used. Sometimes scientific progress leaves us more perplexed than we were before."

For this reason, this article does not contain advice, phrases or lessons about what makes our lives more rewarding. Only relevant scientific findings that should make us more critical of authors who sell quick and easy solutions to lead a life of satisfaction and happiness.

Bibliographical references:

• Kahneman, Daniel. Think fast, think slow. Barcelona: Debate, 2012. ISBN-13: 978-8483068618.