英语短文-英语美文：幸福的公式

英语短文

英语美文：幸福的公式

HAPPINESS

has

traditionally

been

considered

an

elusive and

evanescent thing. To some, even trying to achieve

it

is

an

exercise

in

futility.

It

has

been

said

that

“

happiness

is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our

grasp,

but

which

if

you

will

sit

down

quietly,

may

alight

upon

you.

”

Social scientists have caught the butterfly. After

40 years of research, they attribute happiness

to three major

sources: genes, events and values. Armed with this knowledge

and

a

few

simple

rules,

we

can

improve

our

lives

and

the

lives

of

those

around

us.

We

can

even

construct

a

system

that

fulfills

our founders

’

promises and empowers all Americans to pursue

happiness.

Psychologists

and

economists

have

studied

happiness

for

decades.

They

begin

simply

enough

—

by

asking

people

how

happy they are.

The richest data available to social scientists is

the University of Chicago

’

s General Social Survey, a survey

of Americans conducted since 1972. This widely used resource

is considered the scholarly gold standard for understanding

social

phenomena.

The

numbers

on

happiness

from

the

survey

are

surprisingly consistent. Every other year for four decades,

roughly

a

third

of

Americans

have

said

they

’

re

“

very

happy,

”

and about half report being

“

pretty happy.

”

Only about 10

to

15

percent

typically

say

they

’

re

“

not

too

happy.

”

Psychologists have used sophisticated techniques to verify

these

responses,

and

such

survey

results

have

proved

accurate.

Beneath

these

averages

are

some

demographic

differences.

For

many

years,

researchers

found

that

women

were

happier

than

men,

although

recent

studies

contend

that

the

gap

has

narrowed

or

may

even

have

been

reversed.

Political

junkies

might

be

interested

to

learn

that

conservative

women

are

particularly

blissful:

about

40

percent

say

they

are

very

happy.

That makes them slightly happier than conservative men and

significantly happier than liberal women. The unhappiest of

all are liberal men; only about a fifth consider themselves

very happy.

But even demographically identical people vary in

their happiness. What explains this?

The

first

answer

involves

our

genes.

Researchers

at

the University of Minnesota have tracked identical twins who

were separated as

infants and

raised by separate families. As

genetic carbon copies brought up in different environments,

these

twins

are

a

social

scientist

’

s

dream,

helping

us

disentangle

nature

from

nurture.

These

researchers

found

that

we inherit a surprising proportion of our happiness at any

given moment

—

around 48 percent. (Since I discovered this,

I

’

ve been blaming my parents for my bad moods.)

If about half

of our happiness is hard-wired in our

genes,

what

about

the

other

half?

It

’

s

tempting

to

assume

that

one- time events

—

like getting a dream job or an Ivy League

acceptance letter

—

will permanently bring the happiness we

seek. And studies suggest that isolated events do control a

big

fraction

of

our

happiness

—

up

to

40

percent

at

any

given

time.

But while one- off events do govern a fair amount

of

our

happiness,

each

event

’

s

impact

proves

remarkably

short-lived. People assume that major changes like moving to

California or getting a big raise will make them permanently

better

off.

They

won

’

t.

Huge

goals

may

take

years

of

hard

work

to meet, and the striving itself may be worthwhile, but the

happiness they create dissipates after just a few months.

So

don

’

t

bet

your

well- being

on

big

one- off

events.

The big brass ring is not the secret to lasting happiness.

To review: About half of happiness is genetically

determined. Up to an additional 40 percent comes from the

things

that

have

occurred

in

our

recent

past

—

but

that

won

’

t last very long.

That leaves just about 12 percent. That might not

sound like much, but the good news is that we can bring that

12 percent under our control. It turns out that choosing to

pursue

four

basic

values

of faith, family,

community

and work

is

the

surest

path

to

happiness,

given

that

a

certain

percentage is genetic and not under our control in any way.

The

first

three

are

fairly

uncontroversial.

Empirical

evidence

that

faith,

family

and

friendships

increase

happiness and meaning is hardly shocking. Few dying patients

regret

overinvesting

in

rich

family

lives,

community

ties

and

spiritual journeys.

Work,

though,

seems

less

intuitive.

Popular

culture

insists our jobs are drudgery, and one survey recently made

headlines by reporting that fewer than a third of American

workers felt engaged; that is praised, encouraged, cared for

and

several

other

gauges seemingly

aimed at

measuring

how

transcendently fulfilled one is at work.

Those

criteria

are

too

high

for

most

marriages,

let

alone jobs. What if we ask something simpler:

“

All things

considered,

how

satisfied

are

you

with

your

job?

”

This

simpler

approach

is

more

revealing

because

respondents

apply

their

own

standards. This is what the General Social Survey asks, and

the results may surprise. More than 50 percent of Americans

say they are

“

completely satisfied

”

or

“

very satisfied

”

with

their

work.

This

rises

to

over

80

percent

when

we

include

“

fairly satisfied.

”

This finding generally holds across

income and education levels.

This

shouldn

’

t

shock

us.

Vocation

is

central

to

the

American

ideal,

the

root

of

the

aphorism

that

we

“

live

to

work

”

while

others

“

work

to

live.

”

Throughout

our

history,

America

’

s flexible labor markets and dynamic society have given its

citizens

a

unique

say

over

our

work

—

and

made our

work

uniquely relevant to our happiness. When Frederick Douglass

rhapsodized

about

“

patient,

enduring,

honest,

unremitting

and

indefatigable work, into which the whole heart is put,

”

he

struck the bedrock of our culture and character.

I

’

m

a

living

example

of

the

happiness

vocation

can

bring in a flexible labor market. I was a musician from the

time I was a young child. That I would do it for a living was

a foregone conclusion. When I was 19, I skipped college and

went on the road playing the French horn. I played classical

music across the world and landed in the Barcelona Symphony

Orchestra.

I

was

probably

“

somewhat

satisfied

”

with

my

work.

But in my late 20s the novelty wore off, and I began plotting

a

different

future.

I

called

my

father

back

in

Seattle:

“

Dad,

I

’

ve

got

big

news.

I

’

m

quitting

music

to

go

back

to

school!

”

“

You can

’

t just drop everything,

”

he objected.

“

It

’

s very irresponsible.

”

“

But I

’

m not happy,

”

I told him.

There

was

a

long

pause,

and

finally

he

asked,

“

What

makes you so special?!

”

But I

’

m really not special. I was lucky

—

lucky

to be able to change roads to one that made me truly happy.

After going back to school, I spent a blissful decade as a

university professor and wound up running a Washington think

tank.

Along the way, I learned that rewarding work is

unbelievably important, and this is emphatically not about

money.

That

’

s

what

research

suggests

as

well.

Economists

find

that

money

makes

truly

poor

people

happier

insofar

as

it

relieves

pressure

from

everyday

life

—

getting

enough

to

eat,

having a place to live, taking your kid to the doctor. But

scholars

like

the

Nobel

Prize

winner

Daniel

Kahneman

have

found

that

once

people

reach

a

little

beyond

the

average

middle-class

income level, even big financial gains don

’

t yield much, if

any, increases in happiness.

So

relieving

poverty

brings

big

happiness,

but

income,

per

se,

does

not.

Even

after

accounting

for

government

transfers

that

support

personal

finances,

unemployment

proves

catastrophic

for

happiness.

Abstracted

from

money,

joblessness

seems

to

increase

the

rates

of

divorce

and

suicide,

and the severity of disease.

And according to the General Social Survey, nearly

three-quarters

of

Americans

wouldn

’

t

quit

their

jobs

even

if

a financial windfall enabled them to live in luxury for the

rest

of

their

lives.

Those

with

the

least

education,

the

lowest

incomes

and

the least

prestigious

jobs

were

actually

most

likely to say they would keep working, while elites were more

likely to say they would take the money and run. We would do

well to remember this before scoffing at

“

dead-end jobs.

”

Assemble these clues and your brain will conclude

what your heart already knew: Work can bring happiness by

marrying our passions to our skills, empowering us to create

value in our lives and in the lives of others. Franklin D.

Roosevelt

had

it

right:

“

Happiness

lies

not

in

the

mere

possession

of

money;

it

lies

in

the

joy

of

achievement,

in

the

thrill of creative effort.

”

In

other

words,

the

secret

to

happiness

through

work

is earned success.

This is not conjecture; it is driven by the data.

Americans who feel they are successful at work are twice as

likely to say they are very happy overall as people who don

’

t

feel

that

way.

And

these

differences

persist

after

controlling for income and other demographics.

You

can

measure

your

earned

success

in

any

currency

you choose. You can count it in dollars, sure

—

or in kids

taught to read, habitats protected or souls saved. When I

taught

graduate

students,

I

noticed

that

social

entrepreneurs

who

pursued

nonprofit

careers

were

some

of

my

happiest