The following is an article from the New York Times.
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=323768
快樂專家發現 光是快樂還不夠
【By JOHN TIERNEY／田思怡譯】 2011/06/09
Original:
Is happiness overrated?
Martin Seligman now thinks so, which may seem like an odd position for the founder of the positive psychology movement. As president of the American Psychological Association in the late 1990s, he criticized his colleagues for focusing relentlessly on mental illness and other problems. He prodded them to study life’s joys, and wrote a best seller in 2002 titled “Authentic Happiness.”
But now he regrets that title. As the investigation of happiness proceeded, Dr. Seligman began seeing certain limitations of the concept. Why did couples go on having children even though the data clearly showed that parents are less happy than childless couples? Why did billionaires desperately seek more money even when there was nothing they wanted to do with it?
And why did some people keep joylessly playing bridge? Dr. Seligman, an avid bridge player himself, kept noticing players who never smiled, not even when they won. They didn’t play to make money or make friends or feel engaged. They didn’t savor that feeling of total engagement in a task that psychologists call flow.
They didn’t take aesthetic satisfaction in playing a hand cleverly and “winning pretty.” They were quite willing to win ugly, sometimes even when that meant cheating.
“They wanted to win for its own sake, even if it brought no positive emotion,” says Dr. Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. “They were like hedge fund managers who just want to accumulate money and toys for their own sake. Watching them play, seeing them cheat, it kept hitting me that accomplishment is a human desiderata in itself.”
This feeling of accomplishment contributes to what the ancient Greeks called eudaimonia — which roughly translates to “well-being” or “flourishing.”
“Well-being is a combination of feeling good as well as actually having meaning, good relationships and accomplishment,” Dr. Seligman writes in his new book, “Flourishing.”
The positive psychology movement has inspired efforts around the world to survey people’s state of mind, like a new project in Britain to measure what David Cameron, the prime minister, calls GWB, for general well-being. Dr. Seligman says he’s glad to see governments measuring more than just the G.D.P., but he’s concerned that these surveys mainly ask people about their “life satisfaction.”
In theory, life satisfaction might include the various elements of well-being. But in practice, Dr. Seligman says, people’s answers to that question are largely — more than 70 percent — determined by how they’re feeling at the moment of the survey, not how they judge their lives over all.
So what should be measured instead? The best gauge so far of flourishing, Dr. Seligman says, comes from a study of 23 European countries by Felicia Huppert and Timothy So of the University of Cambridge. Besides asking respondents about their moods, the researchers asked about their r e l at ionships with others and their sense that they were accomplishing something worthwhile.
Denmark and Switzerland ranked highest , with more than a quarter of their citizens meeting the definition of flourishing. Near the bottom, with fewer than 10 percent flourishing, were France, Hungary, Portugal and Russia.
Dr. Seligman remembers his early experiments that identified the concept of “learned helplessness.”
Given a series of arbitrary punishments or rewards, animals and people stopped trying to do anything constructive.
“We found that even when good things occurred that weren’t earned, like nickels coming out of slot machines, it did not increase people’s well-being,” he said. “It produced helplessness. People gave up and became passive.”’
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Bilingual version:
Is happiness overrated?
快樂的重要性被高估了嗎？
Martin Seligman now thinks so, which may seem like an odd position for the founder of the positive psychology movement. As president of the American Psychological Association in the late 1990s, he criticized his colleagues for focusing relentlessly on mental illness and other problems. He prodded them to study life’s joys, and wrote a best seller in 2002 titled “Authentic Happiness.”
馬汀．塞利格曼現在認為的確如此，身為樂觀心理運動的創建人卻抱持這樣的立場，似乎有點奇怪。他在1990年代末以美國心理學會會長的身分，批評同僚只把注意力全放在心理疾病和其他問題上。他敦促他們研究人生的樂趣，並在2002年寫了暢銷書《真實的快樂》。
But now he regrets that title. As the investigation of happiness proceeded, Dr. Seligman began seeing certain limitations of the concept. Why did couples go on having children even though the data clearly showed that parents are less happy than childless couples? Why did billionaires desperately seek more money even when there was nothing they wanted to do with it?
但他現在後悔用了這個書名。他繼續研究快樂，開始看到這個概念的一些限制。資料明白顯示有子女的夫妻不及沒有子女的快樂，為什麼人們還是要生孩子？對億萬富豪而言更多錢已無用處，為什麼他們卻還是拚命想賺更多錢？
And why did some people keep joylessly playing bridge? Dr. Seligman, an avid bridge player himself, kept noticing players who never smiled, not even when they won. They didn’t play to make money or make friends or feel engaged. They didn’t savor that feeling of total engagement in a task that psychologists call flow.
為什麼有些人橋牌已經打得索然無味，卻還是繼續打下去？塞利格曼本身也是橋牌迷，他注意到有些人打橋牌從來不帶笑容，連贏了也一樣。他們打牌不是為了贏錢、交朋友或得到一種全心投入的快感。他們沒有嘗到全心投入去做一件事的快感，心理學家稱之為心流（flow）。
They didn’t take aesthetic satisfaction in playing a hand cleverly and “winning pretty.” They were quite willing to win ugly, sometimes even when that meant cheating.
他們不能從打了一手絕妙好牌，「贏得漂亮」得到美感上的滿足。只要能贏就好，再難看都不在乎，甚至不惜作弊。
“They wanted to win for its own sake, even if it brought no positive emotion,” says Dr. Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. “They were like hedge fund managers who just want to accumulate money and toys for their own sake. Watching them play, seeing them cheat, it kept hitting me that accomplishment is a human desiderata in itself.”
在賓州大學擔任心理學教授的塞利格曼說：「他們能贏就好，哪怕贏不會帶給他們正面的情緒。他們就像累積財富和奢侈品的避險基金經理人，為賺錢而賺錢。看他們打橋牌，看他們作弊，不斷讓我想到，成就本身就是人類想要的東西。」
My notes: hedge: n [C] something that gives you protection in case you lose money. Buying a house will be a hedge against inflation. (Longman)
desideratum: n [C] (plural: desiderata) Latin formal something that is wanted or needed (Longman)
成就感能提供古希臘人所謂的幸福（eudaimonia），大致翻譯為「幸福感」（well-being）或「富足充實」（flourishing）。
“Well-being is a combination of feeling good as well as actually having meaning, good relationships and accomplishment,” Dr. Seligman writes in his new book, “Flourishing.”
塞利格曼在他的新書《富足充實》中寫道：「幸福感把感覺很好和實際上擁有財富、良好的人際關係及成就結合在一起。」
The positive psychology movement has inspired efforts around the world to survey people’s state of mind, like a new project in Britain to measure what David Cameron, the prime minister, calls GWB, for general well-being. Dr. Seligman says he’s glad to see governments measuring more than just the G.D.P., but he’s concerned that these surveys mainly ask people about their “life satisfaction.”
樂觀心理運動在世界各地掀起研究人類心理狀態的風氣，例如英國一項新計畫要測量英國首相卡麥隆所謂的「總體幸福感」（general well-being，簡稱GWB）。塞利格曼說，他樂見各國政府不再只測量國內生產毛額（GDP），但擔心有關幸福感的調查主要問的是「生活滿意度」。
In theory, life satisfaction might include the various elements of well-being. But in practice, Dr. Seligman says, people’s answers to that question are largely — more than 70 percent — determined by how they’re feeling at the moment of the survey, not how they judge their lives over all.
理論上，生活滿意度可以包含各種不同的幸福要件。但塞利格曼說，實際上，受訪者的回答大體上（超過七成）受他們受訪當下的感覺所左右，而不是他們對於整體生活的評斷。
So what should be measured instead? The best gauge so far of flourishing, Dr. Seligman says, comes from a study of 23 European countries by Felicia Huppert and Timothy So of the University of Cambridge. Besides asking respondents about their moods, the researchers asked about their relat ionships with others and their sense that they were accomplishing something worthwhile.
那麼，該測量什麼呢？塞利格曼說，到目前為止對「富足充實」最好的測量，是劍橋大學的費莉西亞．賀伯特和蘇德中對歐洲23國所做的研究。研究人員除了問受訪者的心情，也問他們與他人的關係，以及是否覺得自己正在完成某件有價值的事。
Denmark and Switzerland ranked highest , with more than a quarter of their citizens meeting the definition of flourishing. Near the bottom, with fewer than 10 percent flourishing, were France, Hungary, Portugal and Russia.
丹麥和瑞士名列前茅，逾四分之一國民達到「富足充實」的定義。法國、匈牙利、葡萄牙和俄羅斯墊底，不到百分之十的人有此感受。
Dr. Seligman remembers his early experiments that identified the concept of “learned helplessness.”
塞利格曼還記得他早期做的實驗，他從這些實驗確認了「由學習得來的無助感」的觀念，
Given a series of arbitrary punishments or rewards, animals and people stopped trying to do anything constructive.
給動物和人一連串肆意的懲罰或獎勵，會使他們不再做有建設性的事。
“We found that even when good things occurred that weren’t earned, like nickels coming out of slot machines, it did not increase people’s well-being,” he said. “It produced helplessness. People gave up and became passive.”’
他說：「我們發現，即使有非經努力得來的好事發生，像是從吃角子老虎吐出的錢幣，人們的『幸福感』也不會增加，反而會產生無助感，人們放棄追求，變得被動。」
My comments: In a word, a sense of accomplishment outweighs happiness.
This feeling of accomplishment contributes to what the ancient Greeks called eudaimonia — which roughly translates to “well-being” or “flourishing.”
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