Session 8

The Science of Happiness, Session 8

Miracles and Happiness

We approach the rules of happiness in these sessions, calling, peak experience, so it is only natural to get into....Miracles.

Don't worry, this is not going to be witchcraft, only science

To begin with however, I would mention

-          Walt Whitman , Miracles

-          Why, who makes much of a miracle?

-          As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,

-          Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,

-          Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,

He has a poem in which he starts by saying he knows of nothing but miracles.

Leaving that aside, I would like you to believe in a miraculous transformation.

-          Brain is changed at the end of these sessions

-          Stefan Klein, The Science of Happiness

I will mention a few studies that prove, if this is needed the power of the human mind and volition.

-          Ellen Langer, Harvard Professor

-          Time travel/ people getting younger study

She took a group of men into a retreat and without going into the details here, which would extend this video to one hour or more, I will just say that these people became younger at the end of this research.

-          This is to be added to the other research studies, stories:

-          Also at Harvard, they talked to maids and these...

-          Lost weight!!

When participants in experiments were primed with words associated with old age, they took much longer to get to the door

-          Florida, grey, slow...

There is of course the miracle of

-          Roger Bannister, 4 minute mile

The main message here is that you have to believe in yourself, indeed experts say that

-          if not you, who?

-          Self –esteem

-          Donald Trump as a case study

There are plenty of other incredible, magical experiments that really happen and they seem to defy logic, but you can even see them happening

-          Gorilla in the room...to be added to experiments stories

-          Subliminal apple logo, fast food image on screen

The next will probably not fit onto the screen as it is...maybe it will be used at a later date, in some other form or shape...

Why, who makes much of a miracle?

As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,

Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,

Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,

Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the

        water,

Or stand under trees in the woods,

Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at night

        with any one I love,

Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,

Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,

Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer

        forenoon,

Or animals feeding in the fields,

Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,

Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so

        quiet and bright,

Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring;

These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,

The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,

Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,

Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the

        same,

Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.

To me the sea is a continual miracle,

The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—the

        ships with men in them,

What stranger miracles are there?

The magic of Influence

Robert Cialdini, Influence

Principles- respect for authority...

Electrical chair test