[Buddha-l] buddhism and brain studies

[Alberto Todeschini]

Hi Jamie (and Richard),

> Richard Hayes wrote:
>> That is a much more charitable interpretation than the one I would give.
>> What I am inclined to say is that what the experiment illustrates is the
>> penchant of psychologists to perform experiments that give us blinding
>> insights into the obvious.
>>

Jamie Hubbard replied:

> My colleague's explanation is that they need hard data, even to
> demonstrate the obvious.

Sounds right to me. I've recently come across a study according to
which happy people are less likely to commit suicide. Some may discard
this as, er..., bleeding obvious but there's nothing like the
imprimatur of science even on the obvious. And I'm not saying this
tongue-in-cheek. There has been plenty of obvious knowledge in the
past that has rightfully had to be discarded. I venture to think that
folk-psychology is one of the realms in need of thorough examination.

> Interestingly, he tends to dismiss the studies showing people to be
> generally pretty satisfied as subjective reporting and hence unreliable
> whereas I tend to accept the studies

I don't know. [WARNING: what follows contains unsubstantiated claims
formed by engaging in amateur, arm-chair psychology.] I wouldn't be at
all surprised -and in fact am inclined to believe- that people tend to
say they are happier than they are.

I hope I'm not going to offend anyone but I find American society
(where I've been living for some years now) as a whole to be
particularly fake. That's, of course, a generalization against which I
know plenty of individual exceptions. Hence -and for other reasons- I
too am skeptical that people can and would report their level of
happiness reliably and I have doubts about America ranking as one of
the happiest countries on earth.

Anyway, from my admittedly limited reading on happiness it seems that
one of the most important and reliable factors that can have a
substantial positive influence is regular, vigorous exercise. Since
many people lack the time and determination to do both, it would be
interesting to see whether and for whom meditation or exercise is most
effective to reduce the amount of unhappiness we experience in life.
Of course, while one may work for some, the other may be better suited
for others.

Best,

Alberto Todeschini