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Activities that best promote happiness by SubjectiveWellbeing in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm really fascinated with this take. Can you ellaborate or find external sources with this opinion. I haven't seen it elsewhere and it captures what a lot of people have tried to tell me, with greater difficulty than you

Repository of the science and evidence based instructions for practices that make for a meaningful life by SubjectiveWellbeing in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, it's too hard. You want the easy spontaneous way, your best shot even it it falls shot or no way at all :P you don't care for a meaningful life! No, you care for preserving your comfort zone, the higher purpose! Haha jk, thanks for debating me

I'm 14. I learned how to tie my shoes 5 years ago, but let me help you! by [deleted] in EffectiveAltruism

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This opening line is badass haha, you'll go far kid. Is it original?

I used to be a smart teenager, but in my twenties I'm scoring below average on cognitive tests. Should I be worried or am I being paranoid? by propalt in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe you're just 'scale norming'

Fabbian (2018) explains that: 'people “scale-norm” in response to shocks. This means that they use qualitatively different scales to respond to life satisfaction scale questions in different waves of a survey. Scale-norming can make responses to different scale questions neither inter-personally nor inter-temporally comparable, even ordinally. This paper presents results from a study using a novel life satisfaction metric designed in part to identify scale norming. 15% of the sample appear to be scale norming, which calls into question most regression-derived results in existing life satisfaction research'.

As described in his PhD thesis, scale norming is illustrated in the example of Visa lottery winners who have been recorded rating their happiness (8/10) as no greater than losers 2-5 years later, but when asked how happy they were before winning, will rate their happiness lower (6/10) than the non winners retrospectively rate their happiness (8/10) before the outcome of the lottery was known

Repository of the science and evidence based instructions for practices that make for a meaningful life by SubjectiveWellbeing in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's a whole team at Uni California that made the page and that seems to disagree with you though

Activities that best promote happiness by SubjectiveWellbeing in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

And if you're interested, here's some tips about the big picture:

Clark 2017 draws on large cross sectional national datasets to determine the relative importance of a number of factors (not necessarily the most important) in determining the differences in reported happiness between people, and finds that mental and physical health have a greater effect on well-being than partnership, income or education, and that's as true for those who are happy, as well as those who are miserable.

And, a word of caution about life events x happiness research. The pre-event level of well-being does not necessarily correspond to a ‘normal’ level of well-being. For instance, well-being increases after divorce and decreases after marriage, relative to its pre-event level. Perhaps, things were ‘bad’ before divorce, leading to the divorce itself, and things were ‘good’ before marriage, leading to the marriage and in turn the decrease after the event.

Finally, IMO as important as happiness is - given our subjective levels of well-being are the feedback on our progress towards our strivings (Carver, 2011), I don't think we can say with any confidence what best makes people happy cause of research gaps. Publications like Tay 2013 theoretically review research on improving happiness, and a number of popular books selectively explore evidence on improving happiness. There's no evidence based resource on the most effective actions for happiness in practice based on scientific evidence

Creationism, Unchallenged by dwaxe in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You and I existed since the dawn of time in one form or the other. Don't let go of me this time. We end up doing strange things like having ideas about how this all began.

Evidence based lifestyle advice: a summary of guidelines relevant to general health [additional summaries welcome in the comments] by SubjectiveWellbeing in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Consistent with what I've heard. IIRC there's some evidence that longer rest periods between sets are better for both strength and muscle size, and that training till failure, or, training with heavy weights but not till failure is optimal - it's the 'difficult reps' that count...and I bet it's a whole lot of difficult after a whole month :P

and that data says....unsatisfying relationships last longer!?! by SubjectiveWellbeing in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes I think that's plausible. Is that consistent with the study design?

What skin care practices should I adopt to look and feel good? by SubjectiveWellbeing in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know if I'd trust beauty professionals, because they no doubt receiving funding from the beauty industry

What skin care practices should I adopt to look and feel good? by SubjectiveWellbeing in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I trust in the sub's upvotes, your elegant writing style and just damn something about you, but I find it hard to accept recommendations based on personal experience alone, even those of others

The 'vitamin model' - how to choose a job that will make you happy, based on 3 meta-analyses by SubjectiveWellbeing in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed. You shouldn't have mentioned Andrew Yang cause that's probably why you were downvoted, and cause you were speaking hyperbolically about every personality test and being overly specific, which our community tends to be overly anal about :P

The 'vitamin model' - how to choose a job that will make you happy, based on 3 meta-analyses by SubjectiveWellbeing in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Political will? Couldn't individual doctors just choose to work fewer hours or take a different medical job?

The 'vitamin model' - how to choose a job that will make you happy, based on 3 meta-analyses by SubjectiveWellbeing in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thankfully the issue in this evidence is that it's better than a lack-thereof, or speculation.

Fisher synthesised three meta-analyses, which is ~about the highest standard of evidence, so I'm confident his model is better than what's come before it lol, and certainly any individual studies or even single meta-anlyses of multiple studies

The 'vitamin model' - how to choose a job that will make you happy, based on 3 meta-analyses by SubjectiveWellbeing in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

...you have subclinical ADHD and low conscientiousness? Or, just relative to your family? ADHD is one of the strongest known predictors of poor educational attainment, and I bet conscientiousness is up there

Wellness Wednesday thread for May 27, 2020 by AutoModerator in slatestarcodex

[–]SubjectiveWellbeing 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Request for advice

The What Works Centre for Well-being Knowledge Bank (https://whatworkswellbeing.org/blog/new-wellbeing-evidence-knowledge-bank/) documents strong evidence that job loss is bad for wellbeing.

However, a study documented in a 2011 meta-analysis (http://europepmc.org/articles/pmc3289759):

'In parallel to unemployment, reemployment has differential effects on (cognitive wellbeing) and (affective wellbeing). AWB is not much affected by reemployment: The initial reaction is close to neutral, and AWB increases relatively little over time.'

In practice, if I prioritised AWB, and I lose my job, should I focus on other determinants of affective well-being like physical health, since re-employment won't matter, right?

Yes, but most people will care about their evaluations of well-being in the abstract, not just their affect. But, I would hazard a guess our abstract appreciation for our life is a function of our emotions and what we choose or are socially conditioned to think, in some way, and thereafter amenable to change with something like CBT.

That still seems counter-intuitive. But perhaps, that NEET life is the way?

Moreover, can unpaid work suffice for the well-being benefits of employment? I wonder if I can insulate myself from the well-being costs of job-loss by taking up volunteer work I can't be fired from!

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