Category Archives: Social Science

The Pursuit of Happiness

We think we know what would make us happy. If only I had… If only this changed… My life would be perfect if… And when tragedy occurs, we imagine ourselves to be permanently devastated. And we predict that life would be better if we had a small problem — such as a bum knee — rather than a big one, such as a heart attack and bypass surgery.

Research into the nature of happiness indicates both to be untrue. We humans try to make “affective predictions” about how we’ll feel about some future event. In reality, we acclimate more quickly to new situations than we realize, which is why we continue our pursuit of more. Our thinking and behavior is shaped by “impact bias,” the errors we make in speculating on the intensity and duration of an event’s impact. Mistakes in expectation can lead to mistakes in choosing, also known as “miswanting.”

We also experience something known as the “empathy gap,” in which we make decisions during the “heat of the moment” that we might not otherwise make if we were “calm, cool, and collected.” The interesting aspect to this is that humans seem unable to consider future consquences when in “hot” states, and that in general, we forget that we adapted to the last acquisition and think that the next choice will fulfill us. Or we forget that we survived the last tragedy in our lives and when another one befalls us, predict we will never recover.

The research into the pursuit of happiness is described more fully in The Futile Pursuit of Happiness. It is fascinating, and the findings have interesting implications regarding how they might apply to psychotherapy, philosophy, social policy development, and marketing.

Permission to Nap?

You have permission to rest. Yes, I mean you. You don’t need my permission, or anyone else’s, but if you need the nudge, I’m happy to help.

We usually don’t get enough sleep. According to a sleep study (PDF file):

In the past century, Americans have reduced their average time asleep by 20% and, in the past 25 years, added a month to their average annual work/commute time.

In its 1999 survey Sleep in America, the National Sleep Foundation found that 40% of American adults report feeling so sleepy during the day that it interferes with their daily activities.

Here are a few tips to Nap To Be More Productive:

  • Get a good night’s sleep–eight hours, on average.
  • Avoid napping longer than 45 minutes. Use an alarm or have someone call to awaken you. Artist Salvador Dali held a silver spoon in his hand above a silver tray on his lap. When the spoon fell from his hand and clattered atop the tray, that was all the sleep he needed to feel refreshed.
  • Don’t just lay your head on your desk. Get comfortable so you can get quality sleep.
  • Keep a diary to record each nap’s effects: Track the start time, total time spent napping and total hours slept the night before.

Besides operating on less sleep than we need, we live frenetically. October 24, 2003 will be the first official Take Back Your Time Day, which is described as “a nationwide initiative to challenge the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health, our families and relationships, our communities and our environment.” By the last week of October, the average American has worked as many hours as most Europeans do all year. The goal of this day is to raise awareness of the costs of overwork on our health, our mental and spiritual well-being, and overall functioning as a society. I’m glad the Cornell Center for Religions, Ethics, & Social Policy and The Simplicity Forum are promoting this; it’s about time. (No pun intended.)

It’s time to take care of ourselves. We’re the only ones who have the power to do so, and we’re the only ones preventing it. So if you feel sleepy, let your body and mind rest. You’ll be happier for it.

Compassion

Love

Love means to look at yourself
The way one looks at distant things
For you are only one thing among many.
And whoever sees that way heals his heart,
Without knowing it, from various ills —
A bird and a tree say to him: Friend.

Then he wants to use himself and things
So that they stand in the glow of ripeness.
It doesn’t matter whether he knows what he serves:
Who serves best doesn’t always understand.

-Czeslaw Milosz

The instruction, “Love yourself” sounds simple, but can be a challenge to learn. At some point I came to the realization that self-hatred is a form of vanity. To denigrate oneself and ruminate on one’s faults is, in a twisted way, promoting self-centeredness, although we often mask this by calling it modesty.
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On Loneliness and Solitude

The topic of loneliness has been on my mind ever since I read a fellow blogger’s post pondering the isolation of today’s lifestyle. He was wondering what happened to friendships in his life. There are acquaintances at work, and there are friends from the Internet. The Internet friendships are real and significant, but there is an aspect of existence not satisfied by such intangible connection. Where are friends in flesh and blood? Why is it so hard to meet people who share common interests and develop rich, dependable relationships with them? This is a culture of increasingly superificial and fleeting three-dimensional interaction. This in itself is not “bad” or “wrong.” However, the majority of the population is oriented towards extroversion, towards connection and interaction with people, and I believe technology cannot supplant this need. Even loners need in-person connection, albeit less often, and they too experience loneliness. How can you tell the difference between solitude, which promotes well-being, and loneliness, which destroys it?
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How to Have the Good Life

This is an austere age for many of us. We may have been laid off, or have been re-employed but with a pay cut, or be graduating from college with many thousands of dollars of debt. It’s enough to depress anyone.

And often, what people turn to for solace is retail therapy. You know, that trip to the mall, or even Target or Walmart, to drown your sorrows with a new outfit, electronic gadget, or even housewares (because sometimes you just need a new set of towels for both bathrooms). Since people in tight financial situations don’t have a lot of discretionary money to spend, they usually finance their comfort with credit cards. Only this just makes a bad situation worse. So what are some solutions? Are there any?
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Loner Cool Cachet

Anneli Rufus wrote a fascinating and timely book on the subculture of loners, debunking the long-standing cultural branding that loners are dangerous psychos. She persuasively makes her point that people who commit heinous crimes — and who are often described by media and the public as loners — are really people who have unwillingly become outcasts resulting from poor social skills. Loners are people who choose to have less human contact and are content, successful people. They just have a different set of abilities and needs. In a culture that is predominantly extroverted, we have pathologized introversion. As a psychotherapist, I agree with her perspective. A question I ask clients is, “Do you like being alone? Is it a problem for you not to have much social interaction?” If the answer is yes, then we work on the issue of building community and relationship. If the answer is no, then we focus on other pertinent issues.

Rufus also makes the point that much creativity springs from solitude, and that creative energy is diluted by too much interaction. Long stretches of time devoted to the intense process is necessary. This is not to say that extroverts and non-loners can’t be creative. However, there is something about the “different drum,” the “black sheep,” the maverick — wherever you see a person with that trait, look for creativity and genius.

This post was inspired from an article on Wired News (by way of Dave Haxton), which explores Apple Computers rising “coolness factor” among youth. While its reputation is widening and its posting a profit, however, Apple business is not booming. Why is that? Alex Wipperfürth, author of Brand Hijack (a forthcoming book on cult brands) explains, “There will always be a correlation between a product’s coolness and niche market share. By definition, being cool is the opposite of being mainstream, and as long as a brand has a cool cachet, it will remain small.”

Here’s to being small, cool, and solitary. Here’s to introspection, concentration, the feminine (germination), and cultivating an inner life.

To Sleep, Perchance

This excerpt from a meditation on sleeping is written by Verlyn Klinkenborg for the New York Times — Aboard the Sleeper:

A load of sleeping commuters is one of those scenes that make you stop short and marvel at the strangeness of humans. How is it that we plunge headlong into unconsciousness even with the lights staring down at us, the air-conditioning rushing, the wheels clattering, the conductor calling out the stations? Sleep is not only a blessing. It’s also a wonderful joke, a truly sportive adaptation. I look around, watching bold chins receding, the appearance of every intention giving way to the haplessness, the aimlessness of sleep. Composure becomes discomposure. The avowed sincerity of wakefulness becomes the far greater sincerity of slumber. And then I, too, drift away, caught in the undertow, forgetful of the rain-streaked windows and the dark world outside.

The Lifeblood of Democracy

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
-Margaret Mead

The Wells Branch Community Library is about to move into a gorgeous new building, and the Friends of the Library invite you to celebrate this achievement. There will be a Gala on October 16 featuring an international theme, and tickets are only $20.

What is so compelling about this library? Well, it’s the result of a grass-roots effort by dedicated reader-citizens, and their mission is to make information available to everyone and to promote reading. They serve everyone in the greater Austin-Round Rock area, regardless of whether a patron pays city taxes. (The Austin and Round Rock libraries charge annual fees for those outside the city limits.) However, as a growing community resource, many items are still needed: shelving for books, patron area furnishings, computers, software, office furniture, books, tapes, and CDs. They also have a serious need of volunteer help for the move and in the new building, since it will be 14,000 square feet larger than where they are currently (2,000 square feet).

You can become a Friend of the Library as individual for as little as $20, or as a family for $40; a junior membership is available for $12 to those through age 16.

We are also seeking business sponsors. Depending on the level of your contribution, you will receive various benefits to help promote your business. Besides, by investing in the community, you’re doing a good deed that will have an impact for years to come.

If you’re an Austinite, please consider giving your support to this endeavor. If you’re not an Austinite, you are welcome to join — or perhaps this has inspired you to support your local public library.

The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object.
-Thomas Jefferson

Developing Personal Vision

Among all animals, human nature is expressed in its constant search for creating and manipulating the world. We seek meaning and purpose in our existence through religion, philosophy, science, and business. Institutions and organizations are created to carry out this creative drive in an orderly fashion, so that many may experience the benefit. It could be said that humans possess an intrinsic visionary drive; each of us is born with potential to fulfill. Through the fortune of life circumstances, a person fulfills that potential as fully as possible. Some people receive support for their endeavors and are mentored in their pursuit. For others, their potential is squashed by cultural and social rules, lack of education and opportunity, or impoverishment; some rise above the constraints. The concept of vision is most frequently applied within an organization; vision helps those leaders to determine the direction in which they wish to go and develop strategies to accomplish goals. Since organizations consist of humans, it would be laudable to apply the same template to an individual’s life. In this era of transient employment, where companies frequently “rightsize” and lay off workers, and where employees often change jobs or careers, it makes increasing sense to consider oneself an organization and to develop a vision for one’s life.
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TX MHMR Budgets Slashed

Our priorities are screwed up. It’s not just Texas, either, but this hits close to home.

Amid state cuts, rural areas fear worst
‘Intolerable’ losses may mean trouble for counties already short on social services

By Andrea Ball
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, July 28, 2003
Twenty years ago, Bastrop County’s battered women routinely showed up at Debbie Bresette’s door.

There was no women’s shelter back then, no crisis hot line or support for rape victims. Women literally ran for their lives, escaping with only the clothes on their back — and sometimes less.

“One woman ran four miles in her bare feet,” said Bresette, who in 1981 helped found the Family Crisis Center, a nonprofit agency that helps abused women. “She ran in the middle of the night through the woods to my house and got there at 3 a.m.”

Help is still hard to find in rural Texas, and not just for domestic violence victims.

All across the state, rural residents are struggling with a shortage of services that are plentiful in urban areas: psychological care, teen pregnancy prevention, anger management classes, domestic violence shelters and rape resources.

Thirty-six counties have no licensed social workers. Twenty-four have no primary care physician. Regional mental health centers cover vast geographical areas.

And legislative cuts are expected to make a dire situation worse.

Legislators have cut about $55 million from the state’s mental health centers. West Texas Centers for MHMR, the local mental health and mental retardation authority for 23 rural counties in West Texas, lost $1.6 million in state funding. The agency, based in Big Spring, will cut 44 positions.

Starting Sept. 1, Medicaid will no longer pay for services provided by psychologists, social workers or counselors.

“It was already bad,” Fayette County Attorney John Wied said. “Now it’s going to be intolerable.”

The Family Crisis Center, which helps victims of child abuse, sexual assault and domestic abuse, began when Bresette and a small group of volunteers began sheltering abuse victims in their homes.

“These women were being sent to us by all different agencies,” Bresette said. “Everyone was so supportive because they had nowhere to hide these women.”

Today the center is a $1.8 million agency with 43 full-time employees, a 30-bed shelter, rental apartments and a thrift store. It serves families in Bastrop, Lee, Fayette and Colorado counties.

But many rural communities suffer from a “marked scarcity of services” because they don’t have enough money or resources to develop them, said Michael Daley, a professor of social work at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches.

It’s a national problem that has drawn national attention. A 2002 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that “despite their importance, rural health care and social services struggle to remain viable because of inadequate service coordination and funding, workforce challenges, barriers and characteristics inherent to rural areas and residents they serve.”

There are 64 rural Texas counties without hospitals, 40 without dentists and 13 without pharmacists, according to the Texas Office of Rural Community Affairs.

Twenty of Texas’ 196 rural counties have family violence shelters, according to the Program for the Reduction of Rural Family Violence, a grant-funded effort based at Texas A&M University.

AIDS and homeless services are spotty. Doctors and nurses are in short supply. Only 4 percent of the state’s licensed social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists live or work in rural areas, said Sam Tessen, executive director of the Office of Rural Community Affairs.

That forces people to depend on their community mental health centers, where waiting lists are expected to grow longer because of budget cuts.

“It’s kind of a double whammy,” Tessen said.

The Family Crisis Center survived the budget ax intact, said Executive Director Sherry Murphy. But with fewer community services available, she expects more people to ask for the kind of help the center doesn’t provide.

“They see the sign `Family Crisis Center,’ and they call here for every issue,” she said.

Rural areas have attracted more attention in recent years as state and local agencies try to highlight their needs.

The Office of Rural Community Affairs was created by legislators in 2001 to help such communities with health care, economic development and community development programs. The Texas Department of Health has awarded grants for new programs in rural areas. The United Way/Capital Area is planning regional partnerships.

Wied said he would like to see that effort translate into more services for Fayette County’s youth. Children need more counselors, and runaways need a place to stay, he said.

“They’re sleeping under bridges,” he said.

Karen Maher was spared such a fate. The Bastrop County paralegal said she came to the Family Crisis Center in April after her boyfriend beat her.

Her face was bruised, her nose broken. Her uterus had ruptured. She is still recovering from the attack, living in the shelter that she says saved her life.

“If it hadn’t been for them,” she said, “I would have stayed.”