What is Happiness?

[@hdgdjgsgfj1297]

Happiness is understanding a subject through your videos.

[@IHatePeopleOfColor]

Good one

[@tofuthefirst1648]

Hard agree

[@doshiluck]

Fair enough

[@louflees]

This was fascinating. And you even mention the part that brain chemistry can have in clinical depression. Nice job.

[@maysaaalrefaee6102]

fr

[@zachb9440]

This video has got to be some of the best pieces of life advice on KZbin, in addition to being very educational. It genuinely has the power to change your worldview. Thank you Professor Dave!

[@idkthatxool749]

You’re a good man Dave, I wish all the health wealth and happiness in the world for you.

[@CarinaPrimaBallerina]

Happiness is seeing another upload from Dave 🙂

[@matchalover08]

I usually watch Professor Dave's science and math content for learning, never would I have thought that he would touch on this topic! Anyway, it's also what I need right now too! Thanks prof!

[@mranonymous_25]

Hey Professor, if you're reading this, I want to say thank you for this video. Hindi translation of happiness is the name of my love. You can’t imagine the happiness I felt when I checked the notification of this video. I've been watching your videos for three years now. This is the video I always wished for!

[@alfsalte9493]

The key to happiness in life is to learn to be content with what you have first, then try with small manageable steps to improve upon your situation. Making sure you never try to achieve more than you are able to. Trying hard to achieve something and then fail leads to unhappiness which is opposite of what you want. However, trying to achieve something and succeed gives you a big boost to your happiness. So several small achievements are better than big ones. So if you have an ultimate goal that appear unachievable, try to divide it up into many small steps and then only try the next step when you have succeeded your current step. Eventually you can then get there. If you instead try for the big goal immediately and fail you will feel unhappy and may even become depressed which is opposite of what you want to do.

[@ensar4115]

Yes, thats true. When you set up a goal, you must already love the thing you are doing intrinsically. Otherwise, there won't be much improvement and a high probability of reaching the end goal. This mindset of doom has taken a toll on me..

[@paul715]

I've read an Economist article, "Why men are lonelier in America than elsewhere". Can you create a video of how young men can make new friends or find a meaningful relationship?

[@Lashazior]

Find interest groups around activities you enjoy. For me it was going to the card shop for years. Developed long term friendships that way. Meaningful relationships come when you've established that kind of blanket, because then you know your worth and what you want from a person.

[@BlankParty]

It makes me happy to know I have no purpose. I find it very liberating to know that life has no concrete “meaning”. This way of thinking keeps me in the moment since to me it means that life is about learning, experiencing and doing what makes me feel happy. Life is very short and most likely 100 or so years after I die, nobody will even remember I existed. I don’t care about leaving a mark or changing things or leaving a legacy. Just enjoying the time I have is enough. I don’t believe in any gods or afterlife, I don’t even believe in ghosts or that we have “souls”. I have nothing to prove and nobody to answer to but myself.

[@galileog8945]

A true existentialist! A free spirit...Having no predefined purpose scares most people: they need to be told by someone (best a divine entity) what to do and what their life is about, because they do not have enough spirit to give life their own spin.

[@BlankParty]

@@galileog8945 We are a bunch of apes on an insignificant hunk of rock hurtling through an unfathomable void. And that’s perfectly fine with me!!

[@kevinkinal9557]

Bingo. I was a "super achiever" massively goal oriented I had a purpose in life. What I found was that my "success" was my greatest failure. Cuz purpose implies goal which implies NOT being OK where you are in the moment. I am WAY happier without purpose. When you stop trying you can just "be"

[@BlankParty]

@@kevinkinal9557 It also leaves room for “Becoming”. This philosophy is so wide open to learning. Always Becoming. Not basing your entire personality off of one or two things. Another aspect I find liberating is that I am very tiny and insignificant in the vastness of existence. We all are. What this means to me is that when I find something or someone that makes me feel happy I want to cherish it, experience it, savor it, learn all I can from it. When I find something or someone that makes me feel unhappy I have no issues with completely severing myself from that thing or person.

[@crescentmoon256]

I want to meet you make you feel sad, I too have nothing to do and prove, I am bored but when I see people suffer it makes me happy lucky for me there is no shortage of people who suffer, I watch them suffer from a distance and then feel happy😊

[@archivist17]

This is a useful video for students of social psychology and for regular people. However, I take issue with the first way of increasing happiness. For many of us, being around people only causes anxiety, and reduces autonomy. This is not just a symptom of depression, but a way of being. Thoreau is a good example.

[@Ineedcoffee-n4j]

thats why he gave a list and not one thing

[@Pharmaceuticat]

Great editing on this video. Kept it interesting for my short attention. Your clear and concise vocal delivery is the best and most foundational feature, however! Keep up the wonderful work. You have no idea how much you've helped me over my college years and now pharmacy grad school. Thank you for being such a blessing!

[@rayhanalam9651]

Professor dave is the jesus of online learning. I mastered intermediate level mathematics in my high school Just by watching his videos that range from 5-10 minutes. Truly a bliss.

[@jordank4889]

"money won't necessarily make us happier" Actually the way that you've described it, whereby it makes people happier insofar as it lets them stop worrying about money, but not happier after that point, it sounds like money could make lots of people very happy. Tons of people are struggling right now, whether they are poor or just not secure enough to not worry about their next bill. I don't think it's fair to tell those people money won't solve their problems or make them happier when it demonstrably will in certain areas of their life.

[@Lashazior]

Did you pay close attention to the video? He explained that in the chart curve.

[@galileog8945]

There is also a positive correlation with the country's development level and social equality. According to many analysts, the happiest countries are those with the highest level of social equality and the lowest level of organized religion. Yes, religion correlates negatively with happiness. The top countries on the list according to the Globaleconomy website, are Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Luxemburg and Norway. All in Northern Europe, all secular, and all with a very socialized economy. The most unhappy countries are those where religion rules and people are poor and uneducated. Afghanistan takes the top spot.

[@57thorns]

It may well be that in countries controlled by religion, those not religious are unhappy because of anything from not quite belonging to outright ostracisation. So there is a correlation, but it might well be that the causation is the other way around. In a egalitarian society people have a higher base happiness because of less worries, which mean religion has less power to bring a sense of meaning. And you should remember the caveat in the video (which I exaggerate a bit, but it was hinted at during the religion segment): Just because you are happier does not mean it is good for you. Many fanatics have died happy martyrs for a cause that is detrimental to themselves and everyone except (perhaps) a few people at the top of that pyramid.

[@SleepyMatt-zzz]

Yeah, I think the studies that correlate religion with happiness needs scrutiny. What if you are marginalized in your own country or are simply not as privileged as those in the majority? I can easily think of a western country like America, which has a social and systematic Christian bias that can make it difficult for Non-White, Non-Christians to live as comfortably as the the Chriatians. Many non-religious/non-Christians people have anxiety because their rights could easily be taken away by a theocratic party that votes purely on hatred.

[@galileog8945]

@@SleepyMatt-zzz Indeed. Secular societies tend to be inclusive and tolerant. Monotheistic religions (especially Christianity and Islam) are often intolerant and aggressive against people outside their faith. That is why the US does not make the top of the list. They have a very vocal intolerant Christian sector tending toward theocracy. We are just talking about formal democracies here. Of course, totalitarian societies are even worse.

[@charleswatson2250]

It's one of the things I feel when I watch your videos, men please don't stop posting your videos they activate my mind

[@EnhantedSaber]

I hate it when people tell me point 3 the most. Like how is that a "universal" thing. You can compare experiences also. "Oh wow you went to Europe? I just went on holiday to next door". I'm happy with what I buy and I enjoy them. If there's something else I want I work for it. Then there's point 4... Have a purpose? It's precisely this advice that causes people without a purpose to feel worried. The advice should be that "it's okay to not have a purpose. Relax. Enjoy doing what you're doing now"

[@adirmugrabi]

contentment is by far the most important part of happiness. you can be a slave, yet still have a happy life. as long as you don't know that other options exist. this is why they say: "ignorance is bliss".

[@Shamuel-0]

Whenever Professor Dave uploads i feel happy

[@Darknight24x]

I think of happiness as a rate of how many subjects or objects one likes. The more things you like, the happier you'll be.

[@indigofenrir7236]

You can like a thousand people and objects, but if you have heart cancer, I doubt you'll be happy.

[@Darknight24x]

@indigofenrir7236 You can still be happy with what ever amount of time is left. We're all technically dying, slowly. If it was me, I guess my rate of happiness would be knowing I made it another day.

[@indigofenrir7236]

@@Darknight24x It sounds so easy on paper, doesn't it? To write inspirational messages telling people "Be happy with whatever you have!" and expecting them to remember your words? Ever had wet socks? Ever cracked your phone screen? Ever had an argument with a friend or family? Did you ever stop and think, "Wow, why should I be upset when I'm so blessed with so many things, especially the gift of life?" The thing is, we are all fallible and live in the moment. If that moment introduces something unpleasant, you won't just shrug it off; you'll on instinct react negatively to it and regret having done so only after. You can't force yourself to be happy 24/7 because sadness is cathartic. Yes, we can be happy in the long run, but don't forget you can cry, you can be upset, you can get angry, and you can be disappointed. How you express negative feelings however, determines your amount of self-control and maturity.

[@Darknight24x]

@indigofenrir7236 I never said it was easy, personally, I consider myself a cosmic nihilist.

[@indigofenrir7236]

@Lureeality 🎶🎵 You also need to remember that rage is like a drug: it feels good at first, but then you'll start drowning in it and you'll be suffering. 1. Know why anger is often depicted as fire? Because if you're on fire, you won't think straight and might accidentally set someone else on fire. Do something productive with that adrenaline, like running, instead of transferring it to someone else or worse, keeping it to yourself. 2. Acknowledge the problems in your life instead of wearing a fake smile all the time. Once you identify the cause, ask yourself how you can grow from it. 3. People on KZbin have different ideals. Don't let others, including me, be your basis. Use us only as references. Nihilist or not, what you do NOW does have meaning. Do what makes you happy within legal boundaries, and don't let anger take you over. Blood pressure pills are expensive.

[@ThoughtandMemory]

Happiness, happiness the greatest gift that I possess. The late Ken Dodd.

[@kyleclayton9329]

Wow it’s so true. I’m very much a introvert, but now thinking about it, I smile, laugh and communicate with people at work, there I’m kinda happy. Once I get home isolate and not happy.

[@W0A1]

This video cured my depression, thanks.

[@eliezerfrazer7892]

i am usually a very happy person but i find that i am happier when i am not around other people

[@stormingsharks]

Ok Dave when did your animations suddenly become so fluid? You're literally evolving as a content creator as we speak

[@mikotagayuna8494]

TIL: Middling happiness is having what you want. Greater happiness is wanting what you have.

[@PigglePigSwillbucket]

Different things to different people, that's what happiness is!

[@kevinkinal9557]

If I understand you correctly that is factually incorrect. That is like saying pain or fear or hunger is different things to different people. We all feel in essentially the same manner whether it is pain, hunger, happiness etc. Now what BRINGS happiness or fear pain etc is different for different people. You may laugh at slapstick and I may laugh at cerebral jokes but we both laugh the same.. in fact laughter is universal in all cultures and societies in the world (as is fear hunger happiness, surprise, etc).

[@PigglePigSwillbucket]

@@kevinkinal9557 thanks, though I was referencing a song from the 1960's

[@kevinkinal9557]

@@PigglePigSwillbucket I thot I may be missing something which is why prefaced my comment with "If I am understanding..." Thanks for explaining...now I gotta go find the song!

[@humanhumanity1752]

Happiness is something internal. Very informative clip.

[@ДмитрийПетров-й4ц]

Happiness is when my dad talks to me without being condescending or yelling.

[@sulate1]

The victory of capitalism and, in particular, advertising, was to confuse people with the difference between pleasure and happiness. Pleasure is derived through consumption: it is externally triggered but is finite in its duration. Once the pleasure wears off, we need to consume more to retrigger the pleasure. Happiness, on the other hand, comes from a creative process - it is internal and can be self sustaining, so long as we continue with creating and are not distracted by the consumption for pleasure.

[@MaleviahBurned]

What is happiness? Something that has evaded me for 36 years.

[@AjayKumar-vx8ff]

I think I am first and your videos make me happy !

[@gregyoungman]

Who are you, who are so wise in the ways of science

[@edwinmakri9415]

I have a question professor Dave. How can happiness be defined so neatly with steps when some can experience it out of thin air, or when there is no particular cause or reason as to why I'm feeling happy today?????

[@janerkenbrack3373]

They are happiest who are content with the least.

[@wolfdeguerre9952]

Alternative video title: "Prof. Dave vs Flat Mirth!"

[@wjrasmussen666]

I don't want to be happy. I want to be content.

[@Ugg_Son_Of_Thogg]

To be content is to also be satisfied though.

[@optillian4182]

Happiness is when goodfeel juice flows through your brain tubes.

[@rob020]

Great video! I particularly enjoy the psychology content you post.

[@johnfitzgerald7618]

Religious people are taught that their religion makes them happier, and so they may be more likely to report that they are happy than someone who is actually as happy as them but is irreligious -- cognitive dissonance reduction. And given the atrocities that many people with a purpose have perpetrated, I suspect that while they may be happier they often make the rest of us far unhappier. Or dead. Mao Zedong -- happy as a clam.

[@iLtWorld_Nhims]

Thank you sooo much for sharing!!! 💙💙💙

[@digitaal_boog]

Happiness is sleep. Don’t argue, this is fact now. Pure bliss is sleep

[@petermcgill3405]

Happiness is the ability to wake up in the morning without being woken up.

[@fortyfiver3828]

absolute truth

[@estebandeoz21]

Man..... This video is amazing. You have helped me A LOT thank you so much for this

[@stephenhill8790]

I saw a program showing how smiling can actually make you feel happier and laughing even if you force it can start you laughing and it can make you feel happier, the idea is looking in the mirror and grinning pulling faces and laughing can trigger a better feeling. Buddha says happeness comes from inside 🤔 but I suppose that's OK in normal times

[@Axl12412]

‭Ecclesiastes 7:3 GNT‬ Sorrow is better than laughter; it may sadden your face, but it sharpens your understanding.

[@nirmalmishra6404]

Happiness for Dave, as a teacher, may be defined as the state of contentment and satisfaction he experiences in his role as an educator, as well as the positive impact he has on his students and colleagues.

[@scyz2807]

This video made me so happy! : - ) Well, I was already pretty happy, so it only made me a little happier. But any increase in happiness is a good thing!

[@dirtyshinobii]

Happiness is when you upload

[@rushoflife2368]

I want every here to remember when things are bad: We aren’t bad people, often it’s just a bad world

[@SleepyMatt-zzz]

There are definitely bad people who can make the world worse.

[@n0limits]

Can you start a Topology series? Thanks

[@avoid6304]

Happiness is a by product. Directly seeking is like trying to catch snowflakes or grab feathers from the air. Don't seek it, just focus on living well and creating worth in the world.

[@vertigo5994]

Finally the question i need answered

[@YoungGandalf2325]

*1. Be Around People* No thanks.

[@سہیلاحمد-ج8د]

Happiness in short is helping others

[@KyleNewton-zo1wy]

(FACTS OVA FEELINGS). HAPPINESS and Internal FREEDOM is Found in the Alteration of the Point of View tha Eu r Holding about a SUBJECT

[@blueberrypi4196]

Hi prof. Dave i have a question, i have a habit of antagonising myself and deprivating myself, and i think its because of the dopamine boost. I think others will also have this case Is it common? Or do i need to talk to a professional for it? Should i be concerned?

[@thequickwit8174]

Professor Dave is Godsent.

[@RadiatingHigher]

Thank you professor Dave! 😊🙏🏼

[@RussianPrimeMinister]

I'm bipolar. Happiness is sometimes literally impossible for me to achieve. Those folks out there with neurotypical brains don't know how good they have it.

[@jonathanterol4528]

Okay, I get that we want to achieve happiness, but why would anyone want to be happier? And if happiness was an emotional state as is said, then why be more of that emotional state? Money doesn’t make anyone happy, really, it’s just something that can only be enjoyed when it’s utilized or acquired. There’s no certain way to guarantee the achievement of happiness, but the fact will always be that one has to make an effort one way or the other. So be glad that you don’t know exactly what or how you will be happy, life would be boring beyond belief.

[@bachduongnguyen5470]

You are a great professor :D

[@ralsim5308]

Breaking up with a partner sadness doesn't disappear quickly. 2 years since it and still very depressed and feeling I will never feel alive again

[@kamihi8084]

how's it going now?

[@virgurilla4084]

Journey before destination.

[@sorsimmanis626]

Joy is condensed happiness.

[@theyoungone5034]

Happiness is living life lile how you were as a child, so having good physical and mental health and living life like time doesnt exist (living more in the present moment)

[@SaraGreen-xr3tl]

Happiness is As in college thanks to Prof Dave!

[@RonHarrisMe]

They got it all wrong. Happiness is a complete lack of stress.

[@trickcyclist1]

Excellent information 👌 👏

[@victorguilherme7955]

Excellente video! 👊

[@bronsonvann2662]

Professor Dave, could you provide me with your source for a happiness "set-point" being genetic? I know emotions can be determined in part by one's biology, but I'd like to see to what extend genetics plays a part in happiness.

[@tyrjilvincef9507]

Happiness is a journey that ends in failure when you suffer and die LMFAO

[@n0limits]

LOL

[@mutilatedhatred4868]

Nice video and very simple

[@lazygenes]

Happiness is the ability to ignore reality. True reality is a mfr

[@caynaancabdi7895]

I hope you will make a video of happiness and sadness, comparing them. because of what I don't know so far, officially or more, happiness and sadness.

[@terryjwood]

Happiness is a warm puppy!

[@dogtor4909]

Can you make a series on Accounting?

[@lazerbeamspewpew4728]

Happiness? Well waking up knowing that the world isn’t flat is truly the peak of happiness 😂😂😂.

[@GetMoGaming]

HAPPINESS - 3 TOKENS (1 ride) left at the winter fair with my 8 yo daughter who is waiting to go on her fav ride. I talk about never being allowed on the bumper cars as a kid. She takes me on the bumper cars with her last tokens - and she drives like a demon!

[@spaceshipastro]

buying phones is a very good point that some people need to see

[@mikeoxlong2077]

5:52 but mediciation is not always necessary right, because anti-depressant widthdrawl is apparently very bad???

[@siyamsimango1595]

Indeed u are

[@miskatonicalumni5612]

Happiness is a warm bong.

[@josho7138]

Thank you

[@cedricburkhart3738]

Awe has a greater effect on happiness then gratitude. Do you agree?

[@samwell6915]

Excellent vídeo! You as always brings us good quality contents.

[@MegaDav1234]

Happiness: a good bank account, a good cook, and a good digestion. - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

[@rayancommitment5099]

Happiness is do what you want to do

[@bengreen171]

happiness is finding out that there's a new Digital Gnosis, James Fodor or RM Brown video to watch. And, of course, seeing James Tour get very flustered when his dishonesty is highlighted by Dave.

[@superiorbeing8805]

Dave what's your opinion on 4 years old who put the emphasis of happiness on p in an attempt to be funny?

[@jimithedrunkenloser]

Booze. Booze is happiness.

[@thoraero]

"Subjective well being"?? It's "positive instinctual feedback to stimuli that contributed to our ancestors' survival and reproduction" to me all these years.

[@a1dreamer]

Life is short for sadness. Be happy and smile 🙂

[@a1dreamer]

@Bill Gates Reading Mein Kamf Yes

[@Ugg_Son_Of_Thogg]

Life is too short for sadness? It feels like I've been depressed for an eternity. I guess I should've realized that life is too short for me to just be sad, and that I should just BE happy and smile. I wish I coulda just chose to be straight, cis, religious and everything else that would make me "normal" in the country I live in.

[@Prince__Teclis]

No fucking idea what it is, haven't experienced it in a while.

[@viper_3]

Potete per favore fornire le prove per la vostra affermazione, nella descrizione...

[@derixam4856]

Great video! 🙃

[@mr.commonsense]

I kid you not, any amount of money beyond an euro would make me happier, no matter what

[@57thorns]

If you had a billion Euros, would you rather make someone else happy by paying for the education of a poor student, or earn a few extra Euros in a McDonalds drive through window?

[@farel9476]

Oneirology when?

[@hmq9052]

It is a cigar called Hamlet

[@karmegamkarmegam4454]

Yes

[@markes7cc]

We're going full Vsauce existencial crisis mode today huh