Rush: Why We Thrive in the Rat Race
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Last annotated on July 24, 2016
Several years ago I began to write a book about happiness and the economy. It was to be called Tail Hunters: How Americans Are Chasing Success and Losing Their Souls. I was distressed to see so many people racing after money,Read more at location 58
Everyone wanted to be richer, skinnier, and, well, more outstanding.Read more at location 60
But most of us are stuck in the middle of the bulging bell curve and can’t climb out.Read more at location 63
I was convinced that bad parenting and misleading media images tricked people into wasting their lives pursuing a tiny sliver of possibility.Read more at location 64
Happiness studies have “proved” that even a strong economy makes us miserable.Read more at location 66
There is no proof that cutting out the frenzy would make us happier. The claims reflect an enduring yearning to return to Eden.Read more at location 69
How does happiness really fit into the economy? What would happen to the economy if we took happiness studies seriously?Read more at location 73
develop a new and controversial idea: that happiness comes from the rushing around. We feel better chasing the tails, even if we never catch them. The hunt makes us happier. I began to write at a furious pace, feeling that I was knocking down false prophets who speak from pulpits, classrooms, and yoga mats and make their followers feel guilty about trying to eke out some success in a chaotic world.Read more at location 74
New York Times featured a story about yoga. But this was not your old yogi’s yoga. It was avowedly competitive yoga. Men and women in Lululemon tights trying to prove that they are the most limber in the room. Who could tuck their heads under their butts and lower their blood pressure furthest?Read more at location 84
What does this tell us? That the spirit of competition and the rush of life is mighty.Read more at location 88
To make the connection between competition and happiness, we will deploy fMRI and PET scannersRead more at location 101
We will look at the workplace and the home and find all sorts of surprises: Stress is good for you; retiring makes you stupid;Read more at location 103
