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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Vicarious Thrill"
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(90 seconds)
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READER SCRIPT
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THE SCIENCE OF HAPPINESS... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. IN ORDER TO FIND OUT WHAT NEW ENDEAVOR MIGHT MAKE YOU HAPPY, EXPERIENCING SOMEONE ELSE'S MAY BE THE BEST TEACHER. OR, AT LEAST, IT MAY BE THE BEST PREDICTOR OF WHAT YOU'RE LIKELY TO ENJOY--ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY OUT OF HARVARD AND THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA THAT SHINES A LIGHT ON OUR QUEST FOR PERSONAL HAPPINESS. AS HUMANS, WE TEND TO TRY AND IMAGINE WHAT NEW THINGS MIGHT MAKE US HAPPY-CAMPERS; THE RESEARCHERS BELIEVE THAT HEARING ABOUT A NEW EXPERIENCE FROM SOMEONE WHO'S LIVED THROUGH IT IS A FAR-MORE-ACCURATE INDICATOR THAN OUR IMAGINATIONS--EVEN IF THAT "SOMEONE" IS A TOTAL STRANGER. IN ONE EXPERIMENT, TWO GROUPS OF WOMEN PREDICTED HOW MUCH THEY WOULD ENJOY A "SPEED DATE" WITH A CERTAIN MAN: ONE GROUP GOT TO STUDY THE MAN'S PICTURE AND BACKGROUND PROFILE; THE OTHER GROUP SPOKE WITH A WOMAN WHOM THEY'D NEVER MET, BUT WHO HAD ALREADY DATED HIM. HEARING THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF ANOTHER PROVED TO BE A BETTER BAROMETER OF HOW THE DATE WOULD TURN OUT. OTHER EXPERIMENTS--LIKE ONE THAT INVOLVED PREDICTING HOW ONE WOULD REACT TO NEGATIVE PERSONALITY FEEDBACK FROM A PEER--YIELDED SIMILAR FINDINGS. IN THIS EXPERIMENT, THE FIRST GROUP GOT A WRITTEN COPY OF THE FEEDBACK; THE OTHER GROUP SIMPLY TALKED TO A STRANGER WHO HAD RECEIVED A SIMILAR CRITIQUE. THAT SECOND GROUP WAS MORE ACCURATE IN PREDICTING THEIR OWN REACTIONS. IN OTHER WORDS, BEFORE YOU VENTURE DOWN A ROAD TO HAPPINESS, IT MAY BE A GOOD IDEA TO TALK TO SOMEONE WHO'S ALREADY BEEN THERE. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
