Robert Waldinger: What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness
Robert Waldinger: ¿Qué resulta ser una buena vida? Lecciones del estudio más largo sobre la felicidad
Robert Waldinger is the Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies in history. Full bio
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and your energy?
a la generación del milenio
most important life goals were,
más importantes en la vida,
was to get rich.
era hacerse ricos.
of those same young adults
adultos jóvenes
to lean in to work, to push harder
trabajemos más, que nos esforcemos
are the things that we need to go after
debemos perseguir estas cosas
and how those choices work out for them,
y el resultado de esas decisiones,
are almost impossible to get.
to remember the past,
a la gente que recuerde el pasado.
is anything but 20/20.
es todo menos agudeza.
of what happens to us in life,
de lo que nos sucede en la vida,
is downright creative.
es francamente creativa.
from the time that they were teenagers
desde la adolescencia
happy and healthy?
feliz y saludable?
de Adultos de Harvard
of adult life that's ever been done.
de la vida adulta en la historia.
the lives of 724 men,
la vida de 724 hombres,
their home lives, their health,
su trabajo, su vida hogareña, su salud,
without knowing how their life stories
todo ese tiempo sin saber
son extremadamente raros.
fall apart within a decade
se desmoronan pasada una década
drop out of the study,
abandonan el estudio,
further down the field.
la investigación de campo.
of several generations of researchers,
de investigadores,
of two groups of men.
de dos grupos de hombres.
en la Universidad de Harvard.
at Harvard College.
during World War II,
durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial,
to serve in the war.
from Boston's poorest neighborhoods,
barrios más pobres de Boston,
from some of the most troubled
de las familias con más problemas
many without hot and cold running water.
sin agua corriente, sin agua caliente.
and we interviewed their parents.
y entrevistamos a sus padres.
grew up into adults
se hicieron adultos
and bricklayers and doctors,
abogados, albañiles, médicos,
A few developed schizophrenia.
Unos pocos sufrieron esquizofrenia.
all the way to the very top,
in the opposite direction.
standing here today, 75 years later,
hoy aquí, 75 años después,
the study still continues.
and dedicated research staff
y paciente personal de investigación
and asks them if we can send them
si pueden enviarles
about their lives.
de Boston nos preguntan:
My life just isn't that interesting."
Mi vida no es tan interesante".
nunca hacen esa pregunta.
of these lives,
de estas vidas,
from their doctors.
escaneamos sus cerebros,
about their deepest concerns.
con sus esposas sobre sus preocupaciones.
we finally asked the wives
les preguntamos a las esposas
as members of the study,
como miembros del estudio,
"You know, it's about time."
"Sabes, ya era hora".
from the tens of thousands of pages
decenas de miles de páginas
or fame or working harder and harder.
con riqueza, fama, ni con trabajar mucho.
from this 75-year study is this:
75 años de estudio es este:
happier and healthier. Period.
más felices y más saludables. Punto.
about relationships.
sobre las relaciones.
are really good for us,
sociales nos hacen bien,
who are more socially connected
con más vínculos sociales
and they live longer
que tienen menos vínculos.
turns out to be toxic.
than they want to be from others
de lo que quisieran de otras personas
de salud en la mediana edad,
decaen más precipitadamente
than people who are not lonely.
que no están solas.
is that at any given time,
will report that they're lonely.
informarán estar solos.
can be lonely in a crowd
estar solos en la multitud
que aprendimos
the number of friends you have,
la cantidad de amigos que tenemos,
you're in a committed relationship,
que estemos en una relación,
of your close relationships that matters.
de las relaciones más cercanas.
of conflict is really bad for our health.
es muy malo para la salud.
without much affection,
por ejemplo, sin mucho afecto,
perhaps worse than getting divorced.
quizá peores que el divorcio.
warm relationships is protective.
buenas y cálidas da protección.
all the way into their 80s,
llegaron a sus ochenta y tantos,
cómo fue su mediana edad
into a happy, healthy octogenarian
octogenario feliz y saludable
everything we knew about them
lo que sabíamos de ellos
cholesterol levels
de la mediana edad
were going to grow old.
in their relationships.
que tenían en sus relaciones.
in their relationships at age 50
en sus relaciones a los 50 años
a los 80 años.
seem to buffer us
parecen amortiguar
of getting old.
que están en parejas felices
when they had more physical pain,
in unhappy relationships,
en relaciones no felices,
reported more physical pain,
tener más dolor físico,
por el dolor emocional.
about relationships and our health
sobre las relaciones y la salud
don't just protect our bodies,
no solo protegen el cuerpo,
in a securely attached relationship
relación de apego seguro
is protective,
da protección,
on the other person in times of need,
con la otra persona si lo necesitan,
stay sharper longer.
permanecen más nítidos más tiempo.
can't count on the other one,
contar con la otra persona,
earlier memory decline.
antes la memoria.
they don't have to be smooth all the time.
no ser armoniosas todo el tiempo.
could bicker with each other
podían pelearse a veces
could really count on the other
podían contar con el otro
on their memories.
are good for our health and well-being,
son buenas para la salud y el bienestar,
and so easy to ignore?
y tan fácil de ignorar?
y que sea permanente.
and keep them that way.
and they're complicated
son complicadas,
to family and friends,
who were the happiest in retirement
más felices al jubilarse fueron las que
to replace workmates with new playmates.
de trabajo por nuevos compañeros de juego.
in that recent survey,
la generación del milenio,
were starting out as young adults
cuando eran adultos jóvenes
and high achievement
y lograr grandes cosas
to have a good life.
para tener una vida buena.
our study has shown
nuestro estudio ha demostrado
the people who leaned in to relationships,
que se inclinaron por las relaciones,
con la comunidad.
or you're 40, or you're 60.
to relationships even look like?
are practically endless.
son casi ilimitadas.
as replacing screen time with people time
más tiempo con personas que con pantallas
by doing something new together,
haciendo algo nuevo juntos,
who you haven't spoken to in years,
que no hemos visto en años,
tan comunes
from Mark Twain.
de Mark Twain.
heartburnings, callings to account.
animosidades, pedidos de cuenta.
so to speak, for that."
por así decirlo, para eso".
with good relationships.
con buenas relaciones.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Robert Waldinger - Psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, Zen priestRobert Waldinger is the Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies in history.
Why you should listen
Robert Waldinger is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and Zen priest. He is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and directs the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running studies of adult life ever done. The Study tracked the lives of two groups of men for over 75 years, and it now follows their Baby Boomer children to understand how childhood experience reaches across decades to affect health and wellbeing in middle age. He writes about what science and Zen can teach us about healthy human development.
Dr. Waldinger is the author of numerous scientific papers as well as two books. He teaches medical students and psychiatry residents at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and he is a Senior Dharma Teacher in Boundless Way Zen.
To keep abreast of research findings, insights and more, visit robertwaldinger.com.
Robert Waldinger | Speaker | TED.com