The Science Of Creating Happiness

Over 40% of college students report feeling too depressed to function on a daily basis. Over 60% are overwhelmingly anxious. This was not always the case. COVID-19 aside, what is it about our modern times that is leading to stress instead of joy? One of my observations is that we’re meant to be human beings, not humans doing, yet we’re constantly just trying to get things done, to accumulate more possessions, to achieve power and success. But we can reframe our perspective of what matters and focus more on simply being—on sitting, listening, noticing—to improve our happiness and satisfaction in life. Today’s guest on The Doctor’s Farmacy, Laurie Santos, is the perfect person to talk to about actively working on increasing our happiness.

Laurie Santos is a Professor of Psychology and the Head of Silliman College at Yale University, as well as the host of the critically acclaimed podcast The Happiness Lab. After observing a disturbing level of unhappiness and anxiety among her students, she began teaching a course entitled "Psychology and the Good Life," which quickly became the most popular course in Yale's history and has also reached almost 2 million people from all over the world online. Although she’s now best known as a "happiness expert,” Santos's research explores the much broader question of "What makes the human mind unique?" and often includes comparing the cognitive capacities of non-human animals to humans.