Arthur C. Brooks breaks happiness into three parts: enjoyment, satisfaction, and purpose. Purpose requires pain. The conversation uses an investment-portfolio metaphor to argue that some negative emotions, in the right amounts, are actually healthy.
Happiness is a funny thing. It's not a feeling. I mean, the feeling of happiness is like the smell of your Thanksgiving turkey. It's not Thanksgiving dinner. It's evidence of happiness. This is what we know from the world of neuroscience and social science. I mean, as a scientist, this is what I teach and what I do research on. Happiness is a combination of enjoyment, satisfaction, and purpose. And purpose requires pain. And this is a big, important point that Dan is making, is that. That we need pain. We just need to use it right and not be dominated and managed by that pain. So we need.
It when we needed it, and we needed it in the right doses, too. That's why, again, as. As. As. As antiseptic as it might sound, I do think that the metaphor of an investment portfolio is helpful. You know, you want to have some diversification. You don't want to be overweighted. If your portfolio is like, I have nine negative emotions, very positive emotions, that's not a good life. Right? But if you. But if you think that stocking Your portfolio with 100% positive emotions is the pathway to a good life, you're fundamentally wrong.
