Emily Esfahani Smith: There's more to life than being happy
艾蜜莉.艾斯法哈妮.史密斯: 人生不只是要快樂
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.
to happiness was success,
that beautiful apartment.
they struggled with this, too.
他們也有這種困擾。
to graduate school for positive psychology
changed my life.
改變了我的人生。
can make people unhappy.
around the world,
a 30-year high in America.
objectively better
gnawing away at people,
clinically depressed to feel it.
也能感覺到這個現象。
what predicts this despair
between being happy
as a state of comfort and ease,
一種舒服自在的狀態,
Martin Seligman says
and serving something beyond yourself
超越自我之外的事物,
is the more fulfilling path.
更讓人滿足的道路。
who have meaning in life,
interviewing hundreds of people
of pages of psychology,
four pillars of a meaningful life.
of these pillars in our lives.
from being in relationships
for who you are intrinsically
彼此是否處在
deliver a cheap form of belonging;
提供的是廉價形式的歸屬感;
是因為你所相信的事物、
to cultivate belonging with others.
你可以選擇與他人培養歸屬感。
buys a newspaper
a transaction, though.
didn't have the right change,
and bought something he didn't need
買了他不需要的東西,
like this without realizing it.
拒絕別人卻沒有意識到。
and barely acknowledge them.
卻沒跟他們打招呼。
when someone's talking to me.
invisible and unworthy.
隱形的、不值得的。
you create a bond
你就會創造出一種聯結,
is the most essential source of meaning,
人生意義的重要來源,
is the second pillar: purpose.
第二根人生意義的支柱是目的。
is not the same thing
than about what you give.
而不是你想要什麼。
her purpose is healing sick people.
她的目的是治癒生病的人。
is using your strengths to serve others.
用你的力量去服務他人。
that happens through work.
這是透過工作來達成的。
感到被需要的方式。
that issues like disengagement at work,
無心工作、失業、
they're existential ones, too.
也是存在主義問題。
purpose at work,
something to live for,
is also about stepping beyond yourself,
也和走出自我有關,
the hustle and bustle of daily life,
日常生活的喧囂擾攘,
to a higher reality.
transcendence came from seeing art.
超然來自於欣賞藝術。
and it happens through writing.
而超然是透過寫作發生的。
that I lose all sense of time and place.
會有一種忘我的境界。
experiences can change you.
at 200-feet-tall eucalyptus trees
200 英呎高的尤加利樹,
they felt less self-centered,
of meaning, I've found,
about yourself.
of your life brings clarity.
一個故事,能讓你看得更清楚。
how you became you.
that we're the authors of our stories
我們故事的作者就是自己,
and retell your story,
你仍可以編輯、
who'd been paralyzed playing football.
他因為打美式足球而癱瘓。
內心的對話是這樣的:
現在卻很糟。」──
比較容易焦慮和沮喪。
to weave a different story.
編造一個不同的故事。
my life was purposeless.
a pretty selfish guy.
I could be a better man."
我可以成為更好的人。」
changed Emeka's life.
從而改變了他的一生。
calls this a "redemptive story,"
現象為「救贖的故事」,
lives, he's found,
成長、愛來定義。
change their stories?
改變了他們的故事?
on your life thoughtfully,
and we all struggle.
也都在掙扎。
can lead to new insights and wisdom,
能帶來新的洞見與智慧,
transcendence, storytelling:
by all of the pillars.
這四根支柱給圍繞著。
from our home in Montreal.
開一間蘇菲派的聚會所。
associated with the whirling dervishes
旋轉苦行僧及詩人魯米
and share stories.
serving all of creation
要透過愛的小舉動,
even when people wronged you.
也要仁慈以對。
to reign in the ego.
去駕馭自我。
of Sufism in my life,
每天的基礎練習,
that make life worth living.
能讓我的人生值得活。
had a real culture of meaning.
有意義的真實文化。
helped us all live more deeply.
過更有深度的生活。
that use the pillars
給予人們活著和犧牲的意義。
something to live and die for.
我們身為一個社會,
within our families and our institutions
習俗制度當中建立這些支柱,
才能讓人生過得有意義。
we're constantly creating our lives,
我們不斷地創造我們的人生,
I had with my father.
很有影響力的經歷。
I graduated from college,
that should have killed him.
本來他應該性命難保。
what was going through his mind
當他在面對死亡時,
was needing to live
就是必須活下來,
for my brother and me,
to fight for life.
for emergency surgery,
the last words he spoke on earth
在世上說的最後幾個字
he had a reason to live:
他有一個活下去的理由:
repeating our names --
不斷覆頌我們的名字──
why he survived.
something to hold on to.
可以緊緊抓住的東西。
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