Happiness is a wonderful thing. For years now I’ve written about different specific topics regarding how to live a happier life, but for a long time I’ve wanted to create somewhat of a ‘one-stop shop’ resource page for you that will be regularly updated.

The goal of this resource page is to gather the most interesting and effective work on happiness psychology that’s ever been made available to the public.

It’s a work in progress and I look forward to updating it as new research, videos and articles come out.

Being a relatively new field of study, our scientific understanding of happiness is still growing, with some areas of deep controversy and debate.

This is good, though, as it gives us a chance to think critically, question the research and points being made and begin to create opinions on different topics independently.

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It always surprises people when they find out I don’t watch the news or read newspapers.

A common response is ‘well how do you know what’s going on in the world?!’

My natural response is deep concern.

It concerns me that people think the news gives an accurate representation of what’s going on in the world.

It concerns me deeper that many people make reading the newspaper or watching the news a part of their daily routine.

I never had a reason for not consuming commercial news when I was growing up, I just disliked consuming negative information in general, so I never did.

As I got older I began to question why the news presented such a lopsided ratio of negative to positive content, and continued to still avoid the news.

I wasn’t aware of any of the research at the time, and it’s been refreshing to learn that there has been some scientific interest in the effects of consuming commercial news on one’s happiness.

Following this curiosity, I continued to avoid commercial news, and still do to this day.

The question in my head became: is the news we hear about through our radios and televisions helpful or not to our development as individuals, psychologically?

Although there has been some fluctuating viewership numbers for news channels in the recent year, the numbers still all remaining in the many millions.

Is there some value that I am missing by avoiding the news, something that I am naively not owning up to in my pursuit of happiness?

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How do you define success?

Granted, if you’re reading an article such as this your definition is likely to be more well thought out than many people.

So let’s phrase it this way:

How do you think most people define success?

Well, one way to answer this is to look at who society, specifically the media, celebrates beyond all others.

These people have two important characteristics:

1. Riches beyond necessity
2. International fame

It definitely is not what you and I may want to celebrate in people, such as one’s behavioural attributes and/or contributions towards society.

I’m fully aware, of course, that people such as this are celebrated in the media.

I’m speaking primarily of those who are most celebrated in public.

You see more magazine covers, more adverts, more billboards, more interviews and more attention going towards the latest pop star than you do the most innovative new philanthropist. We can accept this as fact.

Thus, we as a culture are led to assume that those which are most celebrated have achieved goals that are surely the most wanted by all, right?

If you were to put in front of the world as the cornerstone of achievement 5 people who achieved the ability to fly, surely you are suggesting these people have achieved a goal others would benefit from achieving, inspired and interested by, indicating they are doing well in life.

Whilst the relationship between money and happiness is a separate topic in itself, today I’d like to discuss with you the other question that the vast majority of people in western society do not ask themselves ever in their life:

Are famous people happy?

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One feature that will surely define this era is the creation and proliferation of the internet.

And within this transformative new technology, still in it’s infant stages, is the most widely adopted new communication platform in history: social media.

If companies like Google, Facebook and SpaceX reach their goals, soon we’ll have the entire human population with access to online social networks.

The promise of social media? To connect with friends, make the world a more open place, and keep up to date with your social circles.

Social media has enabled everyone with access to the World Wide Web the ability to see what their friends are doing, to interact in debates about controversial news and much more.

It would be easy to assume, therefore, that this new democratisation of social interaction, that we would feels closer to others, more connected, and thus happier.

Does relating to another person online, through online chat or viewing a friend’s pictures from an event last night, actually result in an enhanced feeling of closeness?

As parents it’s a common wonder whether the hours and hours kids spend on social sites scrolling and clicking incessantly actually is healthy for them and whether it really makes the happier.

All of these concerns are both valid and urgent.

The expansion of Internet usage is not slowing. Our culture has forever changed because of it, and how we as humans are being affected by it is a worthwhile point of discussion.

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