Posted on 03/21/2010 3:38:17 PM PDT by StilettoRaksha
Would you be happier if you spent more time discussing the state of the world and the meaning of life — and less time talking about the weather?
It may sound counterintuitive, but people who spend more of their day having deep discussions and less time engaging in small talk seem to be happier, said Matthias Mehl, a psychologist at the University of Arizona who published a study on the subject.
“We found this so interesting, because it could have gone the other way — it could have been, ‘Don’t worry, be happy’ — as long as you surf on the shallow level of life you’re happy, and if you go into the existential depths you’ll be unhappy,” Dr. Mehl said.
But, he proposed, substantive conversation seemed to hold the key to happiness for two main reasons: both because human beings are driven to find and create meaning in their lives, and because we are social animals who want and need to connect with other people.
(Excerpt) Read more at well.blogs.nytimes.com ...
There’s a flaw here. A lot of people who believe they are “deep thinkers” and engage in this type of conversation are liberals.......and they’re miserable people.
We may think so, but they seem to enjoy living in denial.
It is not possible to be happy or cheerful when discussing the TRUE state of the world.
It helps motivate us to continue fighting for our causes.
The study notes people who talk of deeper topics more often are happier. I suspect that happier people speak of deeper topics - that ‘deep talk’ results from happiness, not drives it. People who are financially stressed, depressed etc. are likely to just ‘get by’ in conversation. When their lives improve, then they have ‘time’ emotionally for reflection etc.
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