【哈佛积极心理学笔记】第4讲 积极的环境能改变人

第4讲 积极的环境能改变人

Tip of stem is actually about democratizing excellence, studing the best and applying it to the rest of us.

All change begins in the mind of single person or a small group, and then it expand.

assimilate 消化

Exponential nature of social networks.
complimenting people 恭维人
contagious 可传播的

To be a practical idealist:
Premise three: internal fators versus external factors
There is a lot of research showing how difficult it is to change happiness based on external factors.
Research on subjective well-being (psychologists used to capture happiness):
veracity 真实性 ecstatic 喜出望外 devastating 毁灭性的
external circumstances make very little difference

democracy versus oppression dictatorships 独裁

The problem is not low versus high expectations, that doesn’t matter.
The problem is right versus wrong expectations.

In fact, our readiness and potential to experience happiness is mostly depended on our state of mind.
It’s about changing our perception–state of mind. It’s about changinng our interpretation of the world, of what’s happening to us, our achievements, of our failures. It’s about what to choose perceive, what we choose to focus on. It’s about transformations as opposed to the external information or external success.

To be a practical idealist:
Premise four: Should we accept human nature? Or can we perfect it and it can change

immutable 恒定的 instincts 本能 inclinations 偏好

contrained vision -> usually tend to politically support capitlism
Francis Bacon: Nature to be commanded must be obeyed, whether it’s physical nature, or human nature. We need obey it. It is what it is.

uncontrained vision -> usually tend toward Utopainism or sometimes Communism
utopian(理想化) inevitable(可避免的)
Bebjamin Constant: It is for self-perfectioning that destiny calls us.

This course promotes is the contrained view
Human nature is fixed. We have inclinations. We have certain instincts that are there and have been formed either God-given or Evolutionary-given for millions of years that have been formed. They are not going to change any time soon, not in our life time. It’s fixed. We are stuck with them through good and ill. And all we can do after we accept this nature is to first understand it through research, and then after we understand it, make the best use of it.

Topic: the permission to be human.
refusal(拒绝)
When we suppress a natural phenomenon, that phenomenon only strengthens.
intensifies(加强)

paradoxical intentions

Rejecting our nature leads to suboptimal performance. Emotionally, as well as in terms of external performance.

Painful emotions are as much part of human nature as the law of gravity is part of physical nature.

wearing our heart on our sleeves 开诚布公 resigntion 顺从

Certain things I cannot change and certain things I can and ought to change

Affect–emotion
Behavior–action
Cogintion–thoughts
Unconditional acceptance, permissionn to be human, relates primarily to our affect, to our emotions. That does not mean that we need to accept our behvior and our congnition.

generously and benevolently 宽厚仁慈

Positive Psychology -> Reality Psychology

actively accepting
also official mantra in AA movement:
God, grant me the serenty to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can change, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Give yourself the permission to be human. This is one the pillar of health life, psychologicall, physiologically.