Ottawa Virtual + In-Person Psychotherapy

I recently listened intently and took detailed notes of a podcast by Dr. Andrew Huberman on the Science of Happiness. Before I begin to highlight takeaways from this podcast, I must insist on explaining something about my personality. I have a pattern of obsessing about certain figures that I find interesting. This was Johnny Cash several years back. The pattern appears to be highlighted by intense intrigue and focus on nearly everything there is to know about the individual. Eventually, that interest is supplanted by another individual. Although the original intrigue in the individual has cooled, they maintain their legendary status in the recesses of my mind. As mentioned, the current individual of intrigue is Dr. Huberman. He is nearly everything I aspire to be. Please scurry to the search engine to look him up, he is a wealth of knowledge to say the least. But I digress. 

Dr. Huberman summarizes a vast amount of literature regarding the Science of Happiness in this podcast episode. I want to highlight two of my key takeaways and summarize them here.

Takeaway number 1:

Happiness and wellbeing increases with deliberate effort

This is quite a general statement and can be interpreted many ways. In fact, you could interpret it differently than I have and contrive valid insights. I will elaborate on one particular way this deliberate effort to produce happiness can be made actionable. Dr. Huberman points to research that conclusively demonstrates that the giving of time, effort, and resources to another amplifies the personal happiness of the giver. Furthermore, if the individual receiving the time, effort, or resources of the giver is in particular need of that time, effort, or resource(s), this amplifies the degree of happiness and well-being for both parties to an even greater degree. This is incredibly insightful, beautifully simple, and perhaps for some of you, wildly dull. However, no matter how you receive this information, one cannot deny its truth. If you give of your time, effort, and resources, you are bound to increase the level of happiness you had before the effort was made. 

This information resonates when combined with the training I have received for my profession. When one is experiencing symptoms of depression, a common tool or strategy that is gently and professionally encouraged (with awareness of context) is to respectfully challenge an individual to give of their effort, time, or resources to another. You may ask, “how does this do anything for the individual suffering from symptoms of depression? That is a lot to ask of an individual who is suffering.” I often liken an experience of depression to knowing there is a sun behind those dark and thick clouds, but not seeing it and subsequently being influenced to doubt its existence. “Logically, I know it’s there, but I can’t see it, so what if it’s not”? When one acts outside of the depressive state that they are afflicted with, I’ve observed that it separates the clouds to a slight degree in which the individual can confirm that there is, in fact, a sun behind. Metaphorically speaking – they experience the warmth of its rays and it motivates them to behave in such a way to push back more clouds until the sun is shining brightly and completely. Hence, giving of the time, effort, and resources can be a catalyst to adaptive change. 

Takeaway number 2:

There is happiness in the freedom of choice, but amplified happiness when a choice is made and other options are eliminated or constrained.

Dr. Huberman credits Dr. Dan Gilbert and his research on the Science of Happiness in the summation of some findings Dr. Dan Gilbert and associates have made. One such finding is that there is happiness in the freedom of choice, but amplified happiness when a choice is made and other options are eliminated or constrained. I’ll simplify and paraphrase how some of this research was gathered. I may not repeat it with total accuracy, but I think you will understand the gist. The experiment went something like this: participants were brought into the lab, presented with four or five pieces of art, and asked to choose their favourite. Once the piece was chosen by the individual they were mandated to “own” this item and all other options were removed. Another group was asked to do the same with the exception that they were not mandated to “own” their choice. These participants were provided the option to change their mind. The result? Dr. Dan Gilbert and associates discovered that the group who had the freedom to choose from various options, but once the choice was made had those additional options eliminated demonstrated larger degrees of happiness than the alternative group. 

Personally, I found these results profound when I learned them. I suspect that your brain is extrapolating this information. Please do not misconstrue my words or draw the conclusion that I am making a conclusive and broad interpretation, or forcing you to maintain allegiance to my thought(s). However, consider one particular area this finding may manifest itself for greater happiness. This is that perhaps a committed and faithful partnership is a path that can lead to greater happiness and well-being in one’s personal life. Hear me out. You must decide for yourself how you wish to conduct your life; it is not my position to judge. However, I hypothesize that apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge are not increasing your happiness. Many options, many doubts, many fears, much uncertainty, may lead to less happiness. Key word being less, not zero, happiness.

This is but one way to extrapolate the findings. I urge you to think critically, with nuance in how you extrapolate it. Test your thoughts and hypothesis against others that may disagree with you. This is how we learn, in my opinion. 

I hope you found this blog interesting, more importantly I hope you benefited from it. Thank you very much for taking the time to read it. 

All the best, 

Eric Bouwman MDiv. RP (Q)