Core77

Happiness is something we all want, but it can often seem like an unreachable state of being, especially in a continuous and uninterrupted form. A dreary Friday morning at Pop!Tech delivered a most welcome call in the form of finding happiness in some of the most unexpected places.

Dan Gilbert opened the "happiness" topic by turning it on its head--introducing one of its greatest consequences: Risk. People vigilantly respond to threat in defense of their well being. Their happiness. Global Warming is a major universal concern on the back burner. But why? Gilbert reveals a pattern that has flashed before us over many lifetimes. The human brain is extremely adept at responding to threats on a recognizably human, morally-thrashing, suddenly changing, and in-the-now kind of level--it's nearly crippled in handling the bigger picture with such fervor. Global Warming doesn't get a rise out of us like other "imminent" matters such as abortion, gay marriage, and terrorism. And for this reason Gilbert stresses the deadliness of Global warning, warranted in large part by our incapacity to recognize and respond to gradual change--the skills we need to self-evolve in order to overcome bigger-picture threats.

Now that we're aware of our affinity to be aware of our own personal awareness, we're pumped for a correlated talk by Slow Revolution advocate and convert Carl Honoré. In the same way we tend to lose touch with the big picture, we also forget to nurture the most human sides of ourselves. Honore makes clear his support and love for technology and gadgetry, but only in moderation within our "roadrunner culture" filled to the brim with acceleration--speed dating, speed reading, speed yoga, and even drive-thru funerals. "We lose sight of the damage it does to our health, diet, work, relationships, community, and environment." Slowness is a powerful not-so-new way of thinking about food, cities, schools, relationships, children, and even the working world. Honoré means not-so-new in the sense that "slow is not an extremist or fundamentalist movement. It's relearning the lost art of shifting gears." As a rehabilitated speedaholic himself, he reminds us to consider living not not as fast as possible, but as well as possible.

Every human in the world shares a strong commonality in that we all have stories to tell. Finding new ways to tell them and actually taking the time out to "listen" can bring happiness by recognizing relationships and likenesses on a human level, across large populations. Jonathan Harris is an expert in storytelling platforms in the digital realm, using a mix of media to tell, reveal, and aggregate stories in such ways that make you feel connected even if you're sitting alone. He even busted out with a fun audience participation segment that proved effective, though there were 350+ of us sitting shoulder to shoulder. He explains simply that "life is overlapping threads of narrative stories from the real world." Harris uses categorization, visual cues, and layered interactivity to tell stories within stories within stories (etc.)--a digital/emotional experience, like none other, beautifully expressed by his project "We Feel Fine."

We feel super fine right now. Learning makes us happy too.