السعادة

The MIT Press Essential Knowledge

by Tim Lomas, دينا عادل غراب (مترجم), سارة ياقوت (مراجعة)

ماذا يَعني الشعور بالسعادة؟ لعلَّ معنى السعادة باعتبارها حالةً ذهنية مُلغِز ومُراوِغ، أمَّا مفهوم السعادة فهو غير واضح بالقدر الكافي بالرغم من كثرة ما كُتِب عنه. وفي هذا الكتاب من سلسلة «المعرفة الأساسية»، يأخذنا عالِم النفس «تيم لوماس» في جولةٍ سريعة ومُشوِّقة في رحاب السعادة، ويُقدِّم نظرةً واسعة لمعناها، مستكشفًا عددًا كبيرًا من مساحات التجرِبة، مستعينًا بتخصُّصات عديدة تمتدُّ من الفلسفة وعلم الاجتماع إلى الاقتصاد والأنثروبولوجيا. يتتبَّع «لوماس» الأفكارَ المتعلِّقة بالسعادة، بدايةً من المفاهيم البوذية مثل «النيرفانا»، ومرورًا ﺑ «أرسطو» الذي ميَّز بين سعادة المتعة واليودايمونيا، وانتهاءً بالمنهجيات العلاجية والعلمية المعاصِرة، ثم يستعرض تقسيمَه الخاص للأشكال المختلفة للسعادة وتصنيفاتها، وتعريفَه لكلٍّ منها، ويناقش المنظورات الأكاديمية الحالية، مُستعرِضًا الأبحاث المتصلة بالسعادة في مختلِف التخصُّصات، ويبحث آليات السعادة؛ العمليات الفسيولوجية والنفسية والظواهرية والثقافية الاجتماعية التي تُشكِّلها، ويستكشف العواملَ التي تؤثِّر فيها على مستوى الفرد والمجتمع، ويناقش سُبل تيسيرها وتنميتها.

Genres: Psychology

210 pages, ebook

Published November 1, 2023

About the author

Tim Lomas is a Research Affiliate at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University and the author of Translating Happiness: A Cross-Cultural Lexicon of Well-Being. His work has been featured in Time, the New Yorker, Vox, Scientific American, and the Atlantic.

Reviews

[سارة ياقوت · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book inspects happiness from a rather technical aspect, meaning it is not intended to be a self-help book, nor does it give advice regarding how to be happy. That said, I found it to be pretty comprehensive considering its scope and gives a very good overview for anyone who is interested in exploring the subject across multiple disciplines. It expolores the definition of happiness and wellbeing throughout history beginning from early philosophers, then goes on to explore its psychological, physiological, social, and cultural aspects and its drivers.

The author also presents his own theory on types of happiness and their categorization, which I found interesting.

I like how it stresses the importance of relevant studies not being centred on Western cultures only.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tim Lomas presents his own interpretation and conceptualization of happiness, though his framework is not always clear-cut or grounded in well-established patterns of well-being research. Rather than offering a consensus view, he explores happiness through his unique lens, which raises more questions than answers.

For instance, I found it difficult to distinguish between well-being, happiness, and health in his discussion. Are well-being and health synonymous, or do they differ? Is happiness merely a subset of well-being, and if so, why not focus on well-being as a broader concept? What does the latest research say about these distinctions? And where do scholars agree or disagree? These fundamental questions seem largely unexplored.

Another issue is Lomas' ideological stance on cultural differences in well-being. He argues that Western science is inherently biased because it does not adequately consider the diverse ways in which different cultures experience happiness and well-being. While it's true that religious practices, environmental factors, and cultural traditions shape people’s experiences of happiness, this does not necessarily mean that all forms of well-being are not universally experienced.

Moreover, Lomas seems quick to dismiss Western well-being research without providing sufficient empirical evidence. How much of the existing happiness literature truly relies solely on WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) samples? How often are studies conducted with more diverse populations? Is research still biased as it was 20 years ago? A deeper engagement with the data would strengthen his critique.

That said, Lomas does contribute meaningfully by introducing well-being concepts and psychological states that have been overlooked in English-language research. His extensive work on well-being-related terms from other languages offers valuable insights and expands the conversation in a way that is both thought-provoking and necessary.

[Iliiaz Akhmedov · Rating 5 out of 5]

You don't need this to be happy, but I am happy to have read this! 😍

While seems naive to try to comprehend abyss of human psyche, this proposes "architecture of happiness" consisting of body health, mind peace, social harmony, and meaning spirit. So.. where are we on the spectrum of unhealthy to thriving?

While contentment isn't very happy, overcoming unhappy could make you very happy! Every person is unique, and path to happiness is even more so.

Very smooth and concise. Also I was able to connect the dots with a few other books I read on neuroscience and philosophy. I recommend reading this!

[Anatolii Belikov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very structured, dry and systematic. Obviously it’s really hard to write a book about such complex and abstract phenomena as happiness, so nothing to blame here.

What surprised me is two things:
I’m happy to see that works of Ken Wilber are mentioned here which elevates him for me, especially after reading the previous book by a same period thinker - new age author Hawkins.

And second:
A constant references to eastern practices such as meditation, probably is a good indicator that western religions aren’t that concerned about happiness and if they do - they show little how to achieve it, compared to their eastern comrades.

[Gav451 · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is probably a reflection on me but I got 25% through and simply couldn't take any more of this.

I'm sure the author is very clever but does he have to insist on constantly showing everyone with a series of unnecessarily long and complex paragraphs. What's worse is once you dug down into it we were still in the stating the obvious part of the book.

I was not making progress, the style was grating so much that I was having to stop every 5 pages or so.

As I said its probable not them, its me. But it could be them.

[RJ Patulot · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleased to find that this was more of an academic rather than a self-help/popular psychology type of book. This was an excellent primer or introduction on current knowledge and research on happiness and positive psychology. My favorite part was the chapter on possible applications of current knowledge on happiness to policy, society building and social justice.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was both a dreadful and fascinating read. I learned a lot but I also wanted to get over the pages quickly. Time went very slow, the words ran across pages but were slow as snails.