Prof. Yoram Barak from Tel Aviv University is trying to find the "Garden of Happiness" and claims that it is responsible for 50% of the optimistic outlook on life
The search for happiness is apparently inherent in man. But for those who suffer from stress, financial problems or a chronic illness, a positive outlook on life is not so simple. Now, a researcher from Tel Aviv University believes that the answer should be sought in genes.
Prof. Yoram Barak, from the Sklar School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University, is trying to find the "happiness gene - the genetic component for happiness", which is perhaps responsible for 50% of the optimistic outlook on life. The research was done in collaboration between Tel Aviv University and Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer.
Early findings from the research made Prof. Barak himself optimistic about his success. "When something is genetic, it should have a broad match between twins," he said. "And studies done on the twins we examined showed that 50% of happiness is determined at the genetic level." Prof. Barak is now working together with Prof. Anat Ahiron from Sheba Medical Center to identify the specific genes related to happiness.
Dr. Barak's findings in the search for the Garden of Happiness were presented at the World Congress on Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis held in Montreal, Canada, in 2008, and were recently published in the newspaper "Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, April 2009".
Although we are still far from our ability to genetically engineer happiness, Prof. Barak believes that it is possible to start with positive thinking. Most of his work is based on positive psychology, which is "the fastest growing psychological field in the United States and the world," according to him.
Regarding the 50% of happiness that is not genetic, Prof. Barak is currently working on a plan to develop a positive psychology course, which includes exercises that he recently tested in a one-day seminar with 120 participants at the Israeli Multiple Sclerosis Association. Early results from the experiment indicate that the seminar improved the level of happiness of the participants by about 30%.
According to Prof. Barak, his work is entirely dedicated to "research in practical intervention and the application of psychology in medicine". The research, which examines the physical effects of the mental state on patients with neurological diseases, is an attempt to bridge the gap between psychology and medicine.
Prof. Barak believes that the psychological benefits of the program are accompanied by physical benefits as well. "We were able to raise the levels of happiness in these patients so that they almost reached a level equal to that of healthy people. If positive psychology can be applied we can increase their adherence to the treatment plan. We were also able to show that there is stability in the neurological disability as well," he said.
For healthy people, Prof. Barak believes that "happiness exercises" can enrich life as well. Meanwhile, his research in search of the Garden of Happiness continues.
20 תגובות
Meir:
Try to write shorter sentences and you won't get confused.
Each of you is somehow trying to come up with the correct definition.
But please know, the one who has never tasted happiness - permanent, not momentary, is the one who will correctly answer the definition - happiness.
Did you know of such a person or someone like him?
Dawn:
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but happiness is a state of mind that has many reasons and some of the reasons are clearly chemical.
That's why people take drugs and get drunk, that's why there are diseases like manic depression that are treated with antidepressants, that's why there are differences between the happiness levels of members of the same family and bigger differences between non-identical twins than between identical twins and that's why serious researchers like the editors of this study conducted research and did not settle for stupid statements.
A. Who are we talking about? About those who suffer in Africa or those who are happy?
This is the life under oppression and starvation, I doubt if they live with a complete sense of happiness.
In any case, happiness is a personal matter and conditioned by a belief system.
What satisfies me does not satisfy you.
Personal fulfillment can also be the feeling of a father who found fruit for his family and provided them with food.
A sense of security does not have to come because of $20.000 in the bank.
A person who is confident in his feeling that he will not lack anything and that every day he will find the food he needs also enjoys a sense of financial security.
In many cases, eating natural produce, fresh fish and poultry is much more nutritious and healthy than most of the synthetic foods sold to us in the grocery store.
So how do you explain the happiness of the citizens in Africa?
They probably don't feel personal satisfaction and fulfillment, their nutrition and health are poor, they have no financial security
And yet - happy.
Happiness is harmony between the person and the various circles of life.
The more harmony there is between man and the circles of life,
So the person is also happier.
Happiness can be momentary or lasting.
There is no need for any approvals because when a person is happy,
He feels it and feels it in different ways.
Happiness is inner joy and a feeling of wholeness that comes from full satisfaction in all areas of life, nutrition and health, financial security, a feeling of personal fulfillment and a feeling that you are part of something bigger than yourself.
Happiness is momentary and serves as a moment of "confirmation" regarding healthy behavior. It cannot be eternal in an imperfect world because then it would change its definition to "euphoria".
Happiness is not harmony.
I am satisfied if there is a person in the world who can correctly define what happiness is.
So, for now it's all talk...
A few years ago, studies were published indicating a genetic predisposition to gambling.
Could it be the same thing?
There seems to be a connection between the things because a tendency to gamble is probably based in part on over-optimism.
Optimism is not necessarily a good thing. It's not just that nature created a balance between optimistic and pessimistic people.
Eddie:
I wouldn't jump in and be dismissive without checking what really happened.
You can be sure the researchers were aware of the family influence.
In this type of research, conclusions can be drawn from the differences between identical twins and non-identical twins.
In many cases, cases of twins who were separated at birth and raised in different families are also investigated.
I don't know what really happened here but my point of departure is that the researchers are not necessarily stupid or cheaters.
It is not clear to me how the researcher arrived at the statement 1. that there is a gene responsible for 'happiness' at all, 2. that it is responsible for 50% of the optimistic outlook on life.
If the idea "when something is genetic, it should have a broad match between twins" - is the basis for the above assertions, then it is a shaky and unsatisfied basis. In my opinion, a sentence like 'when something cultural is well-rooted in a family raising twins under very similar conditions and circumstances - there should be a broad compatibility between the twins' and similar or alternative sentences are stronger bases for a 'happiness gene' that is not genetic at all, or is mostly not genetic.
That's why the idea of a 'garden of happiness' seems seemingly a gimmick. And maybe he came to promote something more interesting (and maybe also brings in money) - the program of developing a course for positive psychology, which the researcher is talking about.
I am willing to donate my genome
Happiness is harmony.
What is happiness?
Well done, Prof. Berk, and in the end, psychology has more influence, but if there is a gene that is responsible for that, what's the good
We really need this in our country, it's a shame that it's not so easy to find the "garden" if there is one to reproduce and pass on (:
A beautiful pine rationale.
point,
not the other way around? Why extend our lives if there are people who have no reason to live the full extent of their "short" lives as they are now?
Before they find a reason for us to continue living longer, then we will think about how to continue to prolong them. No? 🙂
First they will try to find how to prevent the aging process, then they will talk about a positive outlook on life