哈佛公开课《Positive Psychology 1504》学习笔记 － What’s Positive Psychology 1504 about

1  Introduction: What’s Positive Psychology 1504 about

1.1  Why Positive Psychology 1504 comes in

The explicitmandate of positive psychology as well as of this class is to create a bridgebetween Ivory tower and main street.In other words, it is to bring the rigor, the substance, the empirical foundation,the science from academia and merge it with accessibility of the self-help orNew Age movement.

Science that works.

1.2  The Class will be taught in two levels

1.      The class is taught in twolevels: Academic and applied.

除了学术，更重要的是去应用，课堂上讲到的东西如何运用到实际生活中，改善自己的状态，让自己更快乐。

How can I take theseideas and apply them to my life? How can I apply them to my relationship? Howcan I apply them to my community?

2.      Time-ins: Time to look inside.Experience, embrace stillness.

人需要时间安静下来去了解自己的内心，去思考自己所经历或学习到的东西，只有回顾和思考，所学习的东西才会被真正地消化和吸收。

When we reflect,when we replay the material, we are much more likely to retain, to rememberwhat we have just been through.

3.     Active note taking

Write down if you havean idea that you think you can apply. Better attention, better understanding ofthe material if you are actively engaged.

4.      We need to research kindness,goodness, happiness and optimism.  Wehave to work and look at the fine qualities and cultivate those. Focus on whatworks besides the negative things.

心理学，其实关注的不仅仅是负面的症状（如抑郁症，精神病等），更需要关注什么东西让人生活得更美好，关注生活的善和美，研究和学习幸福、乐观、自信等美好的东西可以让自己的生活变得更快乐。

1.3   What you expected in this class

1.3.1   Not about information buttransformation

1.3.1.1    Notes

5.      What is expected in positive psychology: The class is not just about information,it is also explicitly about transformation.  Not just the information goes in, but also theinterpretation, the perception the focus, which is determined by the shape ofthe form.

6.      Happiness is much more contingent on ourstate of mind than our status or the state of our bank account.

1.3.1.2   Thinking

积极心理学这门课程传递的不仅仅是信息，因为只有信息填充了脑袋是不够的，更重要的是我们如何去解读这些信息、理解这些信息和运用这些信息。

 

1.3.2   It'sabout chipping away the excess stone

1.3.2.1     Notes

7.      It's about chipping away the excess stone.It's about getting rid of limitations, of barriers, whether it's the fear offailure, something that we didn't have as kids. But today most people in ourculture have it. It's about chipping away perfectionism that is debilitatingand often hurts us. It's about chipping away our ability for success, becausemaybe we are afraid of success. Maybe we feel guilty about some of the thingsthat we have in our life, and that in turn limits us. Maybe it's about chippingaway the limitations on our relationships in while we don't thrive within them.

8.      We would not uncover some newthings, what we’ll do is uncover potential that we have inside, that we haveinside of us all along.  We uncover itthe utilize it.  We learn to chip awaythe excess stone, chip away the limitations that are preventing us fromfulfilling our potential,

9.      LaoTzu, "In pursuit of knowledge every day something is acquired. In pursuitof wisdom, every day something is dropped." Knowledge is aboutinformation. Wisdom is about transformation.

1.3.2.2     Thinking

 

1.3.3   There’s no WOW in the class

1.3.3.1   Notes

10.  A life, a fulfilling life, a rich lifeincludes ups and downs, includes pain and getting up again, includes failureand getting up again. It includes success and celebrating it. Victories andlosses, ups and downs

11.  Help the person to become thebest that his able to become.

12.  There is no wow to good life, allhe things are common sense. The aim of the class is to make common sense morecommon, especially in the real world of application.

13.  The ABC: affect, behaviour andcognition.  Be all you can be.

14.  The class is about humanistic approach,fulfilling our potential, chipping away those limitations.

15.  It is helping the person to become the bestthat he is able to become.

1.3.3.2  Thinking

积极心理学这门课程讲的都是一些基本的常识，没有令人耳目一新的内容，但就是这些基本常识，带我们去认识原本的自己，认识自己的潜能。每个人天生都有存在的潜能，但是随着年龄的增长和环境的变化，慢慢地，自己反而不认识自己了，慢慢地，外部的限制和影响也越来越多，我们也不敢去追求自己。我们要做的，是认识自己的潜能，去除一些存在的障碍，让自己成为本应该成为的那个自己。

 

1.3.4   Not providing answers butindentifying the right questions

1.3.4.1   Notes

16.  This class is not about providinganswers concerning the good life and happiness. It’s about identifying theright questions. The quest for information and transformation must begin withthe question.

17.  The person extraordinarilysuccessful groups because of two things: the first thing is that they reallybelieve in themselves. And the second thing is that they are always askingquestions. They are always in the state of curiosity. They are life longlearners.

18.  How can we help ourselves andothers, individuals, communities and society become happier?

19.  Happiness resides on a continuum.Happiness is lifelong pursuit.

1.3.4.2   Thinking

这门课程并不是告诉大家幸福的秘诀是什么，而是带领大家去思考、去问为什么，通过不停地追寻，让自己更加快乐。

1.3.5  Thisclass is not a survey of positive psychology

1.3.5.1 Notes

20.  The class is not survey ofpositive psychology. What it is is selective exploration of the question of thequestions. It is eclectic.

21.  The class is guided by thequestion of what would contribute to happiness. The useful thing would becomepart of the class.

1.3.5.2 Thinking

1.3.6  Things are common acrossculture

1.3.6.1   Notes

22.  The class is not cross-cultural. Butit can also be applied to people from different places in the world.

1.3.6.2 Thinking

1.3.7  Study ourselves

1.3.7.1   Notes

23.  We’ll study yourself. I’m goingto encourage you more than anything to look inside yourselves. To studyyourself

24.  When we study ourselves better,when we identify ourselves, we are better able to identify with others.  In fact, this is in many ways the source ofempathy, of the healthy empathy.

25.  There are some studies showingthat people who know themselves, who study themselves, who are self-reflective,display less egregious behaviour, less immoral behaviour toward others.

26.  It’s important to studyourselves, because when we see our deep nature, what we encounter there’s partof the universal nature.

27.  There’re some bias when juststudying ourselves. It’s important to encounter it, to add to it, academic work,studying others.

1.3.7.2  Thinking

无论是想要成功，还是想要幸福，抑或是想要身边的人快乐，都需要认识自己，知道自己是怎样的人、自己想要什么、有哪些地方做得不好的，拷问内心、反思自我、提升自己，也因此将快乐和温暖带给身边的人。认知自己，并不仅仅是为了自己的幸福，而是将幸福传递，因为只有一个人幸福的生活并不是真正的快乐。

1.3.8  Requiresa different kind of effort - the effort of application

1.3.8.1 Notes

28.  What this class requires is avery different kind of effort. The kind of effort that it does require is theeffort of application, of applying to your life, of introducing behaviouralactual change to your life.

29.  At the end of the semester or atthe end of the lecture, if you enjoyed it, by all means tell me that youenjoyed it, that you had fun. But more important, it is what you are doingdifferently, how this has an impact on your life that takes effort.

30.  That’s about introducing change. That’sabout reflecting. That’s about taking time-in. That’s about chipping away theexcess stone. And it can only be done through this kind of effort. So if youreally want class to make a difference in life, it’s up to you. What’s up toyou is to take it and apply it.

1.3.8.2   Thinking

花时间去听这门课，并不是说听了就算了，而是要去领悟、思考老师讲课背后的真谛，并且将它应用到自己的生活中，改变自己的日常行为和想法，让自己变得更懂生活、更懂得发现生活的善和美。