Emily Esfahani Smith: There's more to life than being happy
Emily Esfahani Smith: Hay más en la vida que ser feliz
In her book "The Power of Meaning," Emily Esfahani Smith rounds up the latest research -- and the stories of fascinating people she interviewed -- to argue that the search for meaning is far more fulfilling than the pursuit of personal happiness. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
was pursuing happiness.
era perseguir la felicidad.
to happiness was success,
hacia la felicidad era el éxito,
that beautiful apartment.
ese hermoso apartamento.
they struggled with this, too.
también sentían lo mismo.
to graduate school for positive psychology
para estudiar psicología positiva,
hace feliz a la gente.
changed my life.
algo que cambió mi vida.
can make people unhappy.
que perseguir la felicidad,
around the world,
ha aumentado en todo el mundo,
a 30-year high in America.
un máximo de 30 años en EE.UU.
objectively better
objetivamente
deprimida y sola.
gnawing away at people,
clinically depressed to feel it.
clínicamente para sentirlo.
what predicts this despair
lo que predice esta desesperación
y significado en la vida.
between being happy
as a state of comfort and ease,
como un estado de comodidad y tranquilidad,
es más profundo.
Martin Seligman says
Martin Seligman dice que
and serving something beyond yourself
y servir algo más allá de ti
obsesionada con la felicidad,
is the more fulfilling path.
es el camino más satisfactorio.
personas que hallan sentido en la vida,
who have meaning in life,
de manera más significativa?
interviewing hundreds of people
entrevistando a cientos de personas
of pages of psychology,
four pillars of a meaningful life.
de una vida significativa.
vidas significativas
of these pillars in our lives.
estos pilares en nuestras vidas.
el sentido de pertenencia.
from being in relationships
de estar en relaciones
for who you are intrinsically
por lo que intrínsecamente eres
deliver a cheap form of belonging;
ofrecen una forma barata de pertenencia.
proviene del amor.
to cultivate belonging with others.
cultivar la pertenencia con otros.
buys a newspaper
compra un periódico
una transacción, sin embargo.
a transaction, though.
didn't have the right change,
no tenía el dinero exacto
and bought something he didn't need
y compró algo que no necesitaba
like this without realizing it.
de maneras como esta sin darnos cuenta.
sin apenas prestarle atención.
and barely acknowledge them.
when someone's talking to me.
cuando alguien me está hablando.
invisible and unworthy.
invisibles e indignos.
you create a bond
creas un vínculo
es la fuente más esencial de significado,
is the most essential source of meaning,
is the second pillar: purpose.
es el segundo pilar: el propósito.
is not the same thing
que te hace feliz.
than about what you give.
de lo que quieres que de lo que das.
her purpose is healing sick people.
propósito era curar a la gente enferma.
is using your strengths to serve others.
tus fortalezas para servir a los demás.
that happens through work.
eso sucede a través del trabajo.
y nos sentimos necesarios.
that issues like disengagement at work,
asuntos como la desconexión en el trabajo,
en la capacidad laboral
they're existential ones, too.
sino también existenciales.
encontrar el propósito en el trabajo,
purpose at work,
something to live for,
que te impulsan a avanzar.
is also about stepping beyond yourself,
es ir más allá de uno mismo,
completamente diferente:
son esos raros momentos
the hustle and bustle of daily life,
y el bullicio de la vida cotidiana,
to a higher reality.
a una realidad superior.
transcendence came from seeing art.
la trascendencia vino de admirar arte.
and it happens through writing.
me sucede con la escritura.
that I lose all sense of time and place.
que pierdo todo sentido de tiempo y lugar.
experiences can change you.
pueden cambiarte.
at 200-feet-tall eucalyptus trees
árboles de eucaliptos de 60 m de altura
they felt less self-centered,
más generosamente
de ayudar a alguien.
of meaning, I've found,
que he encontrado,
about yourself.
of your life brings clarity.
de tu vida trae claridad.
how you became you.
cómo se convirtió en quién es.
somos los autores de nuestras historias
that we're the authors of our stories
de contarlas.
and retell your story,
y relatar tu historia,
por los hechos.
who'd been paralyzed playing football.
quedó paralítico jugando al fútbol.
cuentan historias como esta:
to weave a different story.
comenzó a tejer una historia diferente.
my life was purposeless.
a pretty selfish guy.
era un tipo bastante egoísta.
I could be a better man."
que podía ser un hombre mejor.
changed Emeka's life.
cambió la vida de Emeka.
la nueva historia a sí mismo,
calls this a "redemptive story,"
a esto una "historia redentora"
dice McAdams,
lives, he's found,
el crecimiento y el amor.
cambien sus historias?
change their stories?
ayuda de un terapeuta,
puede hacerlo por su cuenta,
on your life thoughtfully,
sobre la propia vida profundamente:
definitorias nos dieron forma,
de la noche a la mañana;
and we all struggle.
y todos luchamos.
can lead to new insights and wisdom,
llevar a nuevos conocimientos y sabiduría,
trascendencia, narrativa:
transcendence, storytelling:
by all of the pillars.
de todos los pilares.
from our home in Montreal.
de reunión en nuestra casa en Montreal.
associated with the whirling dervishes
asociada con los derviches giratorios
los sufís a nuestra casa
and share stories.
y compartir historias.
serving all of creation
servir a toda la creación
even when people wronged you.
incluso cuando la gente les hizo daño.
to reign in the ego.
dominar el ego.
of Sufism in my life,
del sufismo en mi vida,
that make life worth living.
hacen que la vida merezca la pena vivirla.
ahora me doy cuenta
had a real culture of meaning.
una verdadera cultura de significado.
helped us all live more deeply.
nos ayudó a vivir más profundamente.
that use the pillars
que usan los pilares
something to live and die for.
para vivir y morir.
por la que nosotros como sociedad
within our families and our institutions
nuestras familias y nuestras instituciones
en lo mejor de sí misma.
requiere trabajo.
we're constantly creating our lives,
creamos constantemente nuestras vidas,
I had with my father.
experiencia que tuve con mi padre.
I graduated from college,
tras graduarme de la universidad,
that should have killed him.
que debería haberlo matado.
what was going through his mind
qué pasaba por su mente
was needing to live
era en la necesidad de vivir
for my brother and me,
para mi hermano y para mí,
to fight for life.
de luchar por la vida.
for emergency surgery,
para la cirugía de emergencia,
the last words he spoke on earth
las últimas palabras que dijera
he had a reason to live:
tenía una razón para vivir:
dentro de su familia,
repeating our names --
repitiendo nuestros nombres,
why he survived.
por las que sobrevivió.
se cuenta a sí mismo.
something to hold on to.
a lo que aferrarte.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Emily Esfahani Smith - Journalist, authorIn her book "The Power of Meaning," Emily Esfahani Smith rounds up the latest research -- and the stories of fascinating people she interviewed -- to argue that the search for meaning is far more fulfilling than the pursuit of personal happiness.
Why you should listen
Emily Esfahani Smith is the author of The Power of Meaning: Finding Fulfillment in a World Obsessed With Happiness. In her book and TED Talk, she argues that we're chasing the wrong goal -- a life of meaning, not happiness, should be our aim.
Our culture is obsessed with happiness. Even though we devote vast amounts of time and resources trying to be happier, many of us feel aimless and alienated nonetheless. With depression and loneliness trending upward for decades and the suicide rate rising around the world -- recently reaching a 30-year high in the United States -- it's clear that something is wrong. In recent years, social scientists have been trying to understand what exactly the problem is. What they've found is striking. What predicts the rising tide of despair sweeping across society is not a lack of happiness. It's a lack of something else -- a lack of having meaning in life. In fact, chasing and valuing happiness, the way our culture encourages us to do, can actually make people unhappy.
This set Smith on a journey to understand what constitutes a meaningful life. After extensive research and reporting, she came to see that there are four pillars of a meaningful life -- and she lays them out in her TED Talk. Ultimately, she discovered that the search for meaning is far more fulfilling than the pursuit of personal happiness -- and we all have the power to build more meaning in our lives.
Smith's articles and essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and The Atlantic. The former managing editor of The New Criterion, Smith is also an editor at the Stanford University's Hoover Institution, where she advises the Ben Franklin Circles project, a collaboration with the 92nd Street Y and Citizen University to build meaning in local communities.
Emily Esfahani Smith | Speaker | TED.com