8 years ago, when I started researching how we can define happiness, I repeatedly ran across a distinction between two different types of happiness. The first, hedonic happiness, is often described as a positive mental high point, usually temporary, related to the experience of pleasure. It may be fleeting, it may be momentary, and can be habit-forming. For example, some of our hedonic pleasures can lead to addictions such as smoking. The second type of happiness is known as eudaimonic happiness, a deeper kind of happiness and contentment. This was (is) a major topic in my book Technology vs Humanity, and you can now download the entire ‘happiness chapter' (9) via the links below.
One of my long-standing memes in my talks is that HAPPINESS cannot be manufactured, automated or downloaded, and now, during a time where more than ever we have to stay virtually connected, it might be a good reminder that “You won't find happiness in the Cloud”:)
I also talk about it in this different format video that I have recorded recently, “The Good Future: A Conversation with Gerd Leonhard” (now with English, Spanish and Portuguese subtitled versions), in a conversation with my producer; where I reflect on the theme of my next film (which will be shot in beautiful Lanzarote / Canary Island in May this year)
And if you like the theme, it is also widely approached in Chapter 9 of my book “Technology vs Humanity”. You can get this chapter as a FREE PDF, below.
More links to my videos on HAPPINESS. Read some of the latest links and reads I have gathered, via GerdFeed. Read my latest Forbes Column ‘A Futurist's learnings from the Corona Crisis'.
