Happiness Comes from Everyday Things
You don't have to try so hard to find it, new research shows
Welcome back to your weekly dose of wisdom and wellness. I’m your host and publication editor, Robert Roy Britt. Below you’ll find several informative and actionable stories by our team of journalists, topical experts and practicing professionals. First, this week’s news brief…
It’s well established that for the most part, happiness doesn’t result from stuff. Science also shows chasing happiness is a fool’s errand. New research presents a simple prescription:
Regular chats with friends, time spent in nature and mentally engaging activities are strongly linked to better mental health.
The findings result from a survey of 600 Australians. More:
People who chatted with others daily scored 10 points higher on a standard mental well-being scale than those who did so less than once a week. Spending time in nature every day was associated with a five-point increase, while frequent catch-ups with friends, physical activity, practising spirituality and helping others were also linked to improved mental well-being.
“Regular connection with others, even a daily chat, can make a measurable difference to how people feel,” said the study’s lead author, Christina Pollard from Curtin University. “Similarly, spending time outdoors or doing something that requires thinking and concentrating like doing crosswords, reading or learning a new language provides an important mental reset.”
So, you know, call somebody! Get outside! Do something you enjoy!
I know, it’s not always that simple. But it’s not that hard, either.
Now, this week’s features:
Why Communicating Today Seems Tougher Than Ever
Linguistics teaches us, among many things, that language is always changing, and nobody gets to decide how. Usages come and go. Some are mere colloquialisms, others force wholesale, culture-wide change in how we talk. If you hate when language changes, maybe you’ll be glad to know that some of the most recent changes are… changing! This story’ll help you with texts, emails, emojis and more. By Kathleen Murphy
The Best Relationship Tool You Didn’t Know About: Google’s AI Course
Some of us have zero interest in using AI as a substitute for human relationships. But a lot of people, well… love it. But what if use could AI to help you do better IRL so you wouldn’t need AI? This writer’s investigation found that Google’s AI Prompting Essentials course offers much of the relationship advice and training that it took her years to learn the hard way. And her story itself is packed with advice. By May Pang
Why ‘Prebiotic’ Sodas Won’t Help Your Gut Health
Prebiotics and probiotics are valuable for good gut health. They’re even more valuable for clever marketing, soda makers have realized. But as your gut instincts might suggest, any soda that claims to be healthy is probably pulling your leg. Our favorite microbiome scientist confirms, and in so doing offers a great primer on how to really take good care of your insides. By Sam Westreich, PhD
Lead Poisoning Should be Leading News
We once stripped the paint in our 1900s-era home to remodel, realizing only afterward that we’d exposed the whole family to a weeks-long cloud of lead dust. You might think us naiave, and yep, we were. But did you know that a bid source of lead in our air comes from burning coal to generate electricity? That’s among the many surprising facts about lead I learned in this story. By John Kruse MD, PhD
Feel the Burn: Why Spiciness is Connected to Physical Heat
I’ve always wondered why spicy food is hot. I mean, even when it’s room temperature, it feels like fire. I get that it has to do with chemicals in peppers and other foods and spices, but why do we feel it as though it’s actual high-temperature hot? This scientist explains it all plus why some people can tolerate more spicy heat than… me! By Eliot Bush
I Live the Disability Paradox
Many of us are surprised when we learn that people with significant disabilities are often as happy, even happier, than people who don’t have similar physical or mental challenges. Unfortunately, even physicians often don’t get that happiness and handicaps can coexist, this writer notes as he explains this underappreciated paradox lived by millions of people. By
Randall H. Duckett
Joint Implants Create Some Serious Bad Blood
I’ve always thought it amazing, and a little creepy, that entire human joints could be replaced. Well, many years ago, some of them began to fail, and the replacements had to be replaced. New research finds further faults with the implants that are made of metal. None of this is to suggest people should not opt for joint replacements, but one needs to know the risks, and this writer lays them out. By Annie Foley
You Have Only 3 Options for How to Spend Your Time. You’ll Want to Choose Wisely.
There are three mutually exclusive states of being, my latest story posits. At any given moment, you can be physically active, sedentary, or asleep. You can’t be in more than one state at a time, and to some extent most of us have considerable choice over which to be in. And you might be able to guess which are ideal for brain health. New research confirms your suspicions. By Robert Roy Britt
Soap Science: How it Actually Works
Back before Covid, I wrote that only 5% of people washed their hands correctly. You might’ve since learned it involves vigorous scrubbing with soap during two singings of Happy Birthday. Then there were questions about soap vs. hand sanitizer. So… this biochemist now explains how soap works its magic, and why it’s far better than water alone (or hand sanitizer) at getting you clean. By Paul E. Richardson
Measles ‘on the Precipice’ of Becoming Common Again
Thanks to lower vaccination rates, the measles virus is enjoying an outbreak that’s on the verge of making the highly infections, sometimes deadly childhood scourge endemic again, meaning it circulates regularly through a population. But this new forecast doesn’t have to play out. Depends on whether or not vaccine misinformation continues to spread like… a virus. By Robert Roy Britt
I hope we’ve helped make your tomorrow a little better than today.
Cheers,
Rob