Getting to Happy

The United Nations recently declared the first International Happiness Day. What’s not to like about individual and general happiness? After all, our national culture is founded on an expectation of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” So, what can we all do to get happier?

One of the things that I learned, while working for Amoco Oil Company, was the management principle that “what gets measured gets done.” The idea is that a leader must not only establish expectations, but create a way to measure progress and provide feedback to those who are responsible for, or affected by, the changes needed to achieve goals. (He or she must also find ways to reward those who promote that progress and punish those who obstruct it.)

The United States has used “Gross Domestic Product” (GDP) as a measure of economic activity since the Great Depression. Our measure of GDP has persistently improved; it has doubled since the 1960s. Yet, the economist who devised the GDP once warned Congress that “the welfare of a nation can … scarcely be inferred from a measurement of national income.”

Positive Personal Emotions

Traditionally, psychology has focused on identifying and treating mental disease. However, the new field of positive psychology can help us identify and cultivate personal strengths so as to pursue happiness and enjoy positive emotions. This constructive outlook frees us from heavy burdens of regret for our past, unnecessary sadness in our present, and fear of our future.

Many people spend too much time entertaining sorrow, blame, and guilt over events from their past. However, the past is unchangeable. All we can do now is contemplate the past, learn from it, accept our present situation and decide how we intend to move on. Consuming ourselves with negativity is never productive. If we want to be able to forgive others and want others to be able to forgive us, we must start with learning how to accept our own forgiveness.

The present is what we have. Right now, we can experience this moment, interpret it for better or worse and make a choice. We can be happier if we act virtuously – in harmony with our values. Many people have realized that acting out of harmony with their values produces a lot of unnecessary stress.

Positive Institutions

As Americans, the “pursuit of happiness” is an important concept. The branch of psychology called “positive psychology” introduced a focus on creating mental health. Positive psychology can also help us enjoy positive institutions. Of course, personal traits strengthen us as individuals, build character and help us to be happy. Positive institutions are also built on the strengths and traits of their organizing principles, their leaders, and others who are associated with them.

“Institutions” include much more than our schools, workplaces and governments. Families are one notable example of institutions. And so, we are actually talking about, not only family values, but the quality of all of the organizations to which we belong. We can also think of our cultural ideals of democratic group decision-making and personal access to free inquiry as institutional strengths that promote happiness.

Do You Know a Complainer?

"Criticizing and complaining spring from the same well of anger combined with impotence. Do you prefer to play the victim or the problem-solver? Would you rather be an anchor or a sail? Besides, persistence and success beat the alternative."

Is Social Psychology Best Left Unstudied?

Is love fair game for science? Or, is it a sacred mystery that we should not try too hard to understand?

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Is Social Psychology Best Left Unstudied?

The late U.S. Senator William Proxmire of Wisconsin criticized the work of two prominent social psychologists when he stated that, "Americans want to leave some things in life a mystery, and right at the top of things we don’t want to know is why a man and a woman fall in love." Are there some things in life best left unstudied?

Proxmire, pork, and passionate prudishness

With all due respect, Senator Proxmire was a windy old curmudgeon who bragged that he was fired from his first job for impertinence and was fondly eulogized as being a maverick. His personal integrity, however, was reflected by a record 10,252 consecutive roll call votes across twenty-two years of public service. Proxmire took pride in lampooning wasteful “pork barrel” government spending and was notorious for giving “Golden Fleece” awards to many pork appropriations (with the notable exception of dairy supports in his home state of Wisconsin). The quotation, above, refers to his very first Golden Fleece, which went for $84,000 given to the National Science Foundation in 1975 for the study of “Why a man and a woman fall in love.” He should be forgiven a little hyperbole.

Under the circumstances,

Essay: Stages of psychosocial consciousness and culture

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Stages of psychosocial consciousness and culture

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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Read or download this essay as a PDF file at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4eNv8KtePyKdFo2ZWw4cTVkd3M/edit?usp=sharing

Integral

Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters





Stages of psychosocial consciousness and culture




The 19^th century German philosopher, Georg Hegel, noted that conflict enables transformation to higher states of organization. This idea was reinforced by research in the 20^th; particularly in Developmental Psychology. These states have developed sequentially through human history as increasingly organized world views—for both individuals and cultures.

As we develop through childhood we experience this transformation and change as our thoughts and feelings become more complex. Developmental psychology demonstrates that this kind of staged development continues through adulthood. Leading researchers have supported this concept of developmental stages: Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, Jane Loevinger, Abraham Maslow, and Robert Kegan.

Hierarchical structures seem judgmental to many and too-easily reflect a prejudicial bias toward people like themselves. Kegan concluded, and carefully defended the objectivity of a staged developmental model, which is generally now considered indisputable.




The work of American psychologist Clare W. Graves extended the concept of cross-cultural staged psychological development. He described these stages as part of a

Essay: Dis-integrating old beliefs

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Dis-integrating old beliefs

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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Read or download this essay as a PDF file at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4eNv8KtePyKTW1ENEN0aTRMUVk/edit?usp=sharing

#Faith #Integral #Psychosocial 

Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Dis-integrating old beliefs

I have recently been challenged that my comments threaten to “dis-integrate” people’s beliefs and that this comes off as “threatening and painful” to them. Thus, I am being rude, inconsiderate, and unsociably aggressive. Talk about a curve ball! I just didn’t see that one coming.

The concept is that most people are already quite satisfied with their sources of authority and their beliefs. They believe things that are similar to what their friends believe and this makes them feel comfortable and secure. They feel that their existing beliefs all make sense together (are integrated). Thus, it is not nice for someone like me to come along and upset their apple cart.

I chewed on this problem for a while before it occurred to me to launch from, “What Would Jesus Do?” Actually, Jesus published a new gospel and admitted that he came to cause division, rather than peace. He warned his disciples that they and their new message would encounter violent resistance. I don’t mean to compare myself to Jesus – only to point out that there come times when one’s ideas have to transcend comfortable and familiar traditions.

While having a similar discussion with my youngest son, he proposed a model of

Essay: Conservative values vs. Liberal values

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Conservative values vs. Liberal values

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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Read or download this essay as a PDF file at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4eNv8KtePyKRDVCZDNobEdUUkE/edit?usp=sharing

#Conservative #values vs. #Liberal values. Jonathan #Haidt #Virtues

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Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Conservative values vs. Liberal values

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt recently published research that has been taken to indicate that conservatives hold six key values while liberals hold only three. Naturally, some commentators have had a great time with this one. Haidt followed this up with a new book: “The Righteous Mind.”

This was all based on the results of a “Moral Foundations questionnaire” completed by 2,212 participants. In the end, both liberals and conservatives are seen to relate positively to the concepts of Fairness, Liberty and Caring for the weak.

This is all good and commendable, as far as it goes. However, I made a point of finding and viewing all of the Republican primary debates and heard something else. I was left with serious doubts about the consequences of many proposed policies… and the callous audience reactions to them. The virtues of Fairness and Caring for the weak seemed to be missing in action. Individual Liberties received a lot of emphasis but issues of civil Liberties were neglected. The overall take-away seemed to be:

Story: Oceans of Love

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Oceans of Love

from the book: Life Will Get You in the End:
Short stories by David Satterlee

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Life Will Get You in the End:
Short Stories by David Satterlee

Reader's theater for two male voices. A raw and hyper-verbal talk show host just won't let a serious gender-relations author explain his book.

Oceans of Love

With apologies to “Saturday Night Live,” David Deida author of “The Way of the Superior Man,” and John Gray, author of “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.”
Also with compliments to the insights of psychologists Carol Gilligan and Terrence Real.

Scene – two men are seated across from each other at a desk. Both are in business casual attire.

Fred Baxter (interviewer)

(in announcer voice)

Okay, we’re back. For those of you just joining us, you’re listening to conservative shock-talk radio K.R.A.P. – Krap in the morning. This is your host Fred Baxter and you’re listening to Baxter’s Book Bilge.

Our guest in the studio today is Richard Johnson, author of the new book, “Women are Like Oceans and Men are Like Ships.” Richard, welcome to the show.

Richard, you’re a tall man, about 6 foot 3; may I just call you big Dick?

Richard Johnson (Author)

No.

Fred Baxter (interviewer)

Big Johnson?

Richard Johnson (Author)

No.

Fred Baxter (interviewer)

Okaaay then.

Richard, why don’t we move right on to having you tell us a bit about your book.

Is this a self-help book? Are there, you know, pictures?

Richard Johnson (Author)

No.

Fred Baxter (interviewer)

(sighing)

Well, all right, how about you just jump right in there and get this puppy moving.