By CAROLYN MOYNIHAN [MercatorNet] – Former Harvard president Derek Bok is not sure that people even know what is best for them. In a recent book he observes that lawmakers using the findings of happiness research “are relying on persuasive evidence of what will make constituents happy instead of accepting what people mistakenly think will promote their well-being.”
A lot of that evidence, persuasive or not, comes from the new school of “positive psychology”, whose best-known exponent, Martin Seligman [shown here], claimed in 1998: “We can articulate a vision of the good life that is empirically sound and, at the same time, understandable and attractive. We can show the world what actions lead to well-being, to positive individuals, to flourishing communities, and to a just society.”
You get the picture. Any prole who thinks that a fancy house and an income to match equals happiness is not going to get much joy out of this new version of the good life. (Continued at MercatorNet.com | More Chronicle & Notices.)
