NFR No scientific proof that happiness techniques work...

Non-fishing related
This is a great topic for today's world. It highlights a few things that we should all keep in mind.

This study is interesting - but it in no way whatsoever "proves" anything. It's a piece of evidence to consider among an entire field of study that people spend their entire lives trying to figure out even a small part of. It also highlights problems in mainstream media reporting on science, which often relies on laypeople to communicate the science as best they can understand it - which often results in exaggerated confirmation bias since the reporter will be finding and reporting on the studies that they find interesting. I'm leading a task force to improve access to mental health care in Grant County, and even what seems like the simplest question has multiple complex answers. In the case of this study, I tend to agree that there aren't any universal happiness activities, but I'm not a scientist so I don't want to let my bias steer me towards accepting incomplete data.

One thing that seems pretty easy to explain is that there are very few universal solutions to anything mental health related. What works for one of us doesn't work for all of us - usually it doesn't even work for most of us. Being self-aware about the things that actually make you happy can really help.

It's also important for people to accept that it's ok to not be happy. We all deal with a variety of circumstances in our lives that require us to have a variety of feelings. I've encountered more than a few people who felt like they were failing because they weren't as "happy" as they thought they were supposed to be. Sometimes people are trying so hard to be happy when they should feel mad or sad that they resort to substances or unhealthy behaviors to try to achieve the happy feeling rather than go through the natural feelings we should have for whatever situation they're in.
 
Matt Paluch said:
In the case of this study, I tend to agree that there aren't any universal happiness activities, but I'm not a scientist so I don't want to let my bias steer me towards accepting incomplete data.
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To be fair, this study wasn't saying "there aren't any universal happiness activities". It was saying along the lines of "the methodology that has been used in these studies showing how great X activity is for happiness is faulty and not up to academic standards and thus, the data doesn't prove what the studies claim. The claims might well be true, but this data isn't showing it.". The last paragraph in the article is pretty much saying that exact thing:

Their findings don’t necessarily mean that the strategies won’t contribute to improving people’s mood and increasing happiness, but the durability and strength of the effect isn’t clear from the existing data. “I think there is good reason to believe that they do work,” says Folk. “But I think it’s important to understand that they might not work for everybody.”
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Matt Paluch said:
I'm leading a task force to improve access to mental health care in Grant County, and even what seems like the simplest question has multiple complex answers.
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I can only imagine how complicated that work is.

Matt Paluch said:
One thing that seems pretty easy to explain is that there are very few universal solutions to anything mental health related. What works for one of us doesn't work for all of us - usually it doesn't even work for most of us. Being self-aware about the things that actually make you happy can really help.
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+1000 to this. Everything is a bell curve. So even if exercise or going out with friends or getting out into nature helps some of us, maybe even many of us, it's important to remember that there's no one solution for everyone.
 
For those who have ever spent time deployed on a ship or submarine, you know that there is a finite quantity of happiness in the captive population. Said happiness can be transferred from one to another, or stolen, but the quantity never changes!

Some of you will get that, others not.
 
Getting drunk is stealing happiness from tomorrow...
:)
 
I've always been a glass half full kind of guy and believe most of happiness is in your mind and the rest is mental. I choose to do what makes me happy and to look at the positive side. Through teaching I learned that being honest and positive, knowing your subject matter and about a million ways to find greatness works well with kids and myself. Roper's quote from the Dali Lama says it all. For me happiness is a choice.
 
Josh said:
Okay, that may be a bit over the top as a title. But this is an interesting article:

time.com

Science Studies Don't Actually Support Happiness Strategies

An in-depth look at the evidence behind the most popular happiness hacks isn’t very reassuring, saying studies lack good data.
time.com time.com

In short, a vast majority of the studies done on common/popular "how to be happy" methods did not conform to accepted rigorous scientific standards. Having control groups, excluding those who could confuse results (people with depression, for example), and so on.

The methods looked at:
- expressing gratitude
- increasing social interactions
- practicing mindfulness or meditation
- spending more time in nature
- exercising

However, the article is clear in saying:



It's interesting, because I suspect many of us in this community strongly believe that time outdoors in nature improves our mental health and happiness. I would also guess that there's a lot of support for exercise and even increasing social interactions (especially after seeing what covid isolation did to so many people). But it's curious that we don't have good data to support something that we all seem to know.

Are we wrong? Or is the data gathering just terrible? I suspect it's the latter. But it's an interesting conversation.
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Maybe they’re not spending the right kind of time in nature. Went camping a few weeks ago, at a place I loved for the peace and quiet as a kid back when it was a state park, and was surrounded by noisy jackasses smoking so much weed the whole place smelled like a skunk’s ass, blasting three-different sound systems from 10am to 11pm. Felt like I was in a rave, and I left the next morning. No happiness for me in that nature.

This morning I launched the canoe from a beach, fished a bit, drove to another beach, fished a bit more, and had a shit-eating grin on my face from the first moment my foot hit the beach to, well, it’s probably still there.
 
I'm the least religious person I know, but as I've gotten older I've come to appreciate the many centuries of wisdom embedded in the "Seven Deadly Sins."

Seems like there's a pretty solid bang-for-the-buck in the realm of long-term happiness/contentment that comes with just avoiding temptations/impulses that have a very high probability of leading directly to misery and ruin.


Not on the list per se, but getting to a point where I felt like we had all the financial shock-absorbers in place to ride out a major medical/financial setback without losing everything resulted in a noticeable increase in peace of mind, and an enhanced ability to return my focus to...life's minor annoyances and inconveniences.
 
Josh:

Yep rigorous scientific proof is hard to come by. Lots of psychological studies lately don't pass the sniff test. Dietary Supplement studies are often sponsored by the company. Some scientists juice their date ( Stanford comes to mind). Happiness is especially hard to quantify. I think that's the biggest problem here. How happy does a day off fishing make you feel? 10 happy faces? What about a cutthroat over 16"? What about a snagged fly that is working pulling free from a tree? What about a cold drink in the cooler at the truck after a long hike out?

I know that exercise helps, I take some supplements that help my aches and pains and practice Tai Chi which helps my mind and body relax. Am I Happy? yes relatively so...especially when I'm fishing.
 
One of the happiest days of my life happened many years ago. I had resigned to the fact that I was about to die. No doubt in my mind that this was my last moment on Earth.. By a shear freak occurrence of luck my life was saved. Talk about "walking on sunshine"! The happiness was truly overwhelming. I keenly remember my girlfriend trying to bum me out, but that was so pointless I just laughed and laughed. Nothing could touch me, I was the happiest man alive! That event changed my path in life, and my conception of happiness.
 
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