Learned Optimism: Martin Seligman on Happiness, Depression, and the Meaningful Life
by Maria Popova What 25 years of research reveal about the cognitive skills of happiness and finding life’s greater purpose. “The illiterate of the 21st century,” Alvin Toffler famously said, “will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Our outlook on the world and our daily choices of disposition and behavior are in many ways learned patterns to which Toffler’s insight applies with all the greater urgency — the capacity to “learn, unlearn, and relearn” emotional behaviors and psychological patterns is, indeed, a form of existential literacy. Last week, Oliver Burkeman’s provocatively titled new book, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking, prompted me to revisit an old favorite by Dr. Seligman begins by identifying the three types of happiness of which our favorite psychology grab-bag term is composed: The optimists and the pessimists: I have been studying them for the past twenty-five years. Share on Tumblr
Mike Parsons and Michael Peters | The Artist Project 2013
The Virtual Metropolis , 2011-2012, video still
Teaching ate me alive
It wasn’t one single incident that made me quit teaching in a public middle school. It was the steady, moldy accumulation of dehumanizing, lifeless, squalid misadventures of which I was a part. Like that time with “Carlos,” to pick an incident more or less at random. I can’t even remember what it was that happened between Carlos and me. The next day I saw my friend the Dean of Students. My friend the Dean of Students had diplomatically suggested that Carlos’ father and a couple of his uncles accompany him to his office, where the matter could be discussed at leisure. “Mission accomplished,” I said. So, I have to leave the Los Angeles Unified School District. The end of winter break came last January, and my wife saw the state I was in, and she said, “You’re not going back.” In the final analysis, I’m too sensitive for a public, inner city, “high-needs” middle school. That was not what I had envisioned. But, heck! The kids — most of them are fine; after all, they’re just kids.
Big Oil, Big Ketchup and "The Assassination of Hugo Chavez"
President Hugo Chavez shows reporter Greg Palast the sword of Simon Bolivar seen in portrait in background. Miraflores Palace, Caracas, 2006. (Photo: Richard Rowley) Greg Palast reviews the extraordinary career of Venezuelan President and Robin Hood figure Hugo Chavez, how he has cheated kidnap and assassination and may yet cheat death by maintaining his accomplishments. Venezuelan President Chavez once asked me why the US elite wanted to kill him. [As a purgative for the crappola fed to Americans about Chavez, my foundation, The Palast Investigative Fund, is offering the film, The Assassination of Hugo Chavez, as a free download here. Reverend Pat Robertson said, Hugo Chavez thinks we're trying to assassinate him. It was 2005 and Robertson was channeling the frustration of George Bush's State Department. But why the Bush regime's hate, hate, hate of the president of Venezuela? Reverend Pat wasn't coy about the answer: It's the oil. A really big pool of oil. How? "It's a chess game, Mr.
Seven Gripping Photos Of Homeless Los Angelenos Will Change The Way You Look At A Stranger
Photographer Michael Pharaoh is only 22 years old. Yet already, he possesses the uncanny ability to capture the story written on a stranger's face. New Zealand-based Pharaoh created the gripping series "The Homeless of L.A." while on vacation in California. The photographs evoke, in tremendous detail, the identity of Hollywood's homeless population in a series of muted yet stylistically gorgeous up-close portraits. "[The project] was fascinating to me because we don't have the same plethora of homeless people as L.A," Pharaoh explained in a statement for the series. "It was interesting to hear all of their stories and how they came to live on the streets. While the homeless population is all too often treated as invisible, Pharaoh's high definition portraits explore every facet of their visages to capture a striking and honest portrait of a complete stranger.
Postcards from the Revolution
That’s not autism: It’s simply a brainy, introverted boy
I have followed William in my therapy practice for close to a decade. His story is a prime example of the type of brainy, mentally gifted, single-minded, willful boys who often are falsely diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when they are assessed as young children. This unfortunate occurrence is partly due to defining autism as a “spectrum disorder,” incorporating mild and severe cases of problematic social communication and interaction, as well as restricted interests and behavior. Jacqueline, William’s mother, realized that he was a quirky baby within weeks of his birth. Some normal developmental milestones did not apply to William. When William encountered an interesting object or event as a toddler, he became so captivated by it that he completely ignored the people around him. By age three, William began developing a passionate interest in a range of adult-like topics. Steve, the lovable host of the children’s TV program “Blue’s Clues,” became an idol for William. Dr.
The Secret of the Seven Sisters - Special series
On August 28, 1928, in the Scottish highlands, began the secret story of oil. Three men had an appointment at Achnacarry Castle - a Dutchman, an American and an Englishman. The Dutchman was Henry Deterding, a man nicknamed the Napoleon of Oil, having exploited a find in Sumatra. The American was Walter C. The Englishman, Sir John Cadman, was the director of the Anglo-Persian oil Company, soon to become BP. The new automobile industry was developing fast, and the Ford T was selling by the million. That August night, the three men decided to stop fighting and to start sharing out the world's oil. Four others soon joined them, and they came to be known as the Seven Sisters - the biggest oil companies in the world. In the first episode, we travel across the Middle East, through both time and space. Throughout the region's modern history, since the discovery of oil, the Seven Sisters have sought to control the balance of power. But the real story, the secret story of oil, begins far from Africa.
