Want to ‘Optimize’ Your Happiness? This Happiness Expert Says: Don’t.

Solana Pyne0:00

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Lulu Garcia-Navarro· Host0:28

[upbeat music] From The New York Times, this is The Interview. I'm Lulu Garcia-Navarro. Are you happy? It's a deceptively simple question, right? But for me at least, it's a really difficult one to answer. Another tough question, why is it so hard to be happy for so many people? Despite a culture of wellness influencers with their happiness hacks and mindset tricks, all of the indicators show that we Americans are less happy than ever. What is going on and what can we do about it? I put those questions to Dr. Laurie Santos. Santos is a cognitive scientist whose class on happiness quickly became the most popular in Yale's history, and through her podcast, The Happiness Lab, and her free online course called The Science of Wellbeing, Santos' reach has extended well beyond the classroom. I wanted to understand what the science says happiness really is,