Author name: adam

Philosophy and science are helpful when it comes to understanding happiness but we can also learn from the wisdom of humans that have spent decades on the planet, experienced many things and are coming face-to-face with their own death. This book starts at the end. Ultimately it all comes down to this. Unless you die […]

MPI & Science Now that we have laid out the framework of the MPI philosophy we will test it against the available science. Happiness and money A frequently cited study (1.1) aimed at researching happiness was published in the 1978 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Researchers compared the winners of the Illinois

Shelter The immediate environment in which we live can have an enormous impact on our daily lives. Is it a safe place? Are you sharing the place with people that you like or don’t like? Is the energy in the house pleasant, stressful, positive, negative, etc? At one extreme it is just shelter. At the

The self development that we discussed above does not just include learning, training, etc. It also includes relaxation, rejuvenation and all activities that contribute to making you a well-balanced and happy human. As I mentioned in the introduction, there is increasing scientific evidence indicating that humans will perform much better and feel happier when they

As a result of the concept of relativity impacting how we recognize happiness (it can only feel good compared to something that feels bad) and the concept of equilibrium explaining why happiness is temporary (humans adapt to good and bad circumstances therefore happiness resulting from each “success in life” or pleasure stimulus fades over time)

The amount of happiness that we feel and the frequency with which we feel it is obviously impacted by what happens to us and what we do to ourselves. However, humans are hardwired to adapt to their current situation and eventually form a new equilibrium around a “new normal”. If a human is put into

Relativity How do we recognize happiness when we experience it? The simple answer is that we know it feels good. How do we know it feels good? We know that happiness feels good is because we compare it to other situations in our lives that feel bad and therefore the “good feeling” feels good relative

So, what is your life’s purpose? Let’s start by dealing with the common question, what is the meaning of life? This question seems to be asking for a definition of life but could also be asking many other things. This question is very vague. I don’t believe it can be answered (because it doesn’t make

We all want to be happy. When you read that statement you probably partially agreed and partially disagreed because the word “happy” likely does not adequately describe what you really want. Wikipedia describes happiness as “a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy”. Although I love Wikipedia, that definition is