Laurie Santos: Happiness is not that simple

What is happiness? Can it be studied? Are there steps we can all take to become happy? To answer these questions, Pedro Pinto interviews Laurie Santos in this episode of the series «It's Not That Simple».

A specialist in the science of happiness, Laurie Santos is professor of Psychology and Head of Silliman College at Yale University. In addition to her work on the evolutionary origins of human cognition, she specialises in how our minds mislead us about what makes us happy. Her course at Yale, «Psychology and the Good Life», teaches students how the science of psychology can provide important lessons on how to make wiser choices and live happier, more fulfilling lives.

Her course has become Yale's most popular in over 300 years, with almost one in four students enrolled, and has been the subject of news stories and articles in the New York Times, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, GQ Magazine, Slate and O! Magazine. The online version of the course - «The Science of Well-Being» on Coursera.org - has attracted over four million students from all over the world. Her podcast, «The Happiness Lab», is one of Apple's top three podcasts, with over 85 million downloads since its launch.

In this episode, Laurie Santos explains what happiness research tells us about what people who claim to be happy have done to achieve it. She also looks at the impact of the covid-19 epidemic and technology on the current mental health crisis and highlights the importance of social interaction - and fun - for our happiness. Finally, she explains how «negative» emotions such as sadness, anger or frustration are important for our ability to be happy. An unmissable conversation.