幸福難 解釋幸福更難

Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen revealed recently that before going to sleep she mentally ticks off the things for which she is thankful. This must be a cumbersome exercise: the long-limbed beauty is the world’s highest-paid clothes horse; is married to a rich, handsome American football star ; she has two gorgeous children; features in Forbes’ annual power list; and, in her spare time, is a UN goodwill ambassador for the environment.

巴西超級名模吉賽爾邦辰(Gisele Bündchen)最近披露，每天睡覺前，她都會在心裏數一數自己感恩的事情。這對她肯定是件繁重的任務：這位長腿美女是全球收入最高的“衣架子”；嫁給了一位富有、英俊的美國橄欖球明星；育有兩位漂亮子女；躋身於《福布斯》(Forbes)最具影響力人物的年度榜單；抽得出空的時候還是聯合國(UN)環境親善大使。

She is obviously clued up about happiness research, too, which extols the benefits of counting one’s blessings — usually in a “gratitude journal”. This kind of ledger is bound to figure in a series of evening classes launched this week across the UK by a group called Action for Happiness. The six-week self-improvement course, endorsed by the ** Lama, claims to harness the science of happiness, which has charmed its way into policymaking.

她顯然對有關幸福的研究也十分了解。這類研究高度讚揚感恩（通常是寫在一本“感恩日誌”中）的效益。在最近英國各地推出的一個晚間課程中，這種日誌肯定會被提及。這一持續六週的課程由一個名爲“爭取幸福”(Action for Happiness)的組織推出，得到了達賴喇嘛(** Lama)的認可。該課程聲稱運用了“幸福科學”，後者憑藉其魅力，已受到政策制定圈子的注意。

Also this week, the Office for National Statistics published its geographical league table of personal wellbeing in the UK, compiled by quizzing 165,000 people on how satisfied they are with life. Fermanagh in Northern Ireland is the jolly table-topper; London is steeped in melancholy. Since the ultimate goal in life for most people is to be happy, the logic goes, governments should find ways of increasing civic contentment.

同樣在最近，英國國家統計局(Office for National Statistics)發佈了英國各地個人福祉排行榜。該排行榜的依據是對16.5萬人的生活滿意度調查。結果是北愛爾蘭的弗馬納郡喜獲第一，而倫敦瀰漫着抑鬱情緒。由於大多數人的終極目標就是幸福，合乎邏輯的結論是，政府應該想辦法提高公民的滿足感。

But the science of wellbeing has turned out, over the past 15 years, to be a keenly disputed field of psychology whose practitioners have struggled to elucidate the nature of nirvana, let alone put numbers to it. Meanwhile, happiness has become a central issue in public health. A 2014 study of 3,000 older people, led by Professor Andrew Steptoe at University College London, found that participants who said they enjoyed life saw a slower rate of physical decline than their curmudgeonly peers , even taking into account other factors such as income, smoking and drinking.

不過，有關福祉的科學在過去15年裏成了心理學一個極具爭議的領域。其從業者甚至難以闡明涅槃狀態的特徵，更別說對它加以量化研究了。與此同時，幸福已成爲公共健康的核心問題。2014年倫敦大學學院(University College London)安德魯斯特普託(Andrew Steptoe)教授領導開展的一項研究發現，即使把收入、吸菸和飲酒等其他方面的因素考慮在內，那些表示自己享受人生的參與調查者，生理上的衰退速度也慢於脾氣不好的同齡人。

Scientists have been hunting the precise mechanism through which a positive state of mind exerts a beneficial effect on our biology. Barbara Fredrickson, a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina, published a startling paper in 2013 suggesting that the genomic profile of deeply contented people differed measurably from those of others, possibly influencing im洀甀渀攀 function. The finding provoked publicity and then controversy; one reanalysis using Prof Fredrickson’s data failed to reach the same conclusion.

科學家一直在尋找積極心態產生有益生理影響的精確機制。2013年，美國北卡羅來納大學(University of North Carolina)心理學教授芭芭拉弗雷德裏克森(Barbara Fredrickson)曾發表一篇令人震驚的論文，提出深層次滿足的人羣的基因組圖譜與其他人顯著不同，這可能會影響免疫功能。這一發現得到了廣泛報道，隨即引發了爭議；根據弗雷德裏克森教授的數據重新開展的一項分析未能得出相同結論。

None of which should stop us from trying to discern the elements of a happy life. This is the goal of the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, which combines re猀攀愀爀挀梔 on happiness with practical recommendations. It defines happiness as “the experience of joy, contentment, or positive wellbeing, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful and worthwhile”. Contentment stems not from material wealth, as the rich keep reminding us, but from relationships and personal development. Compassion and altruism seem central.

所有這一切都不應阻止我們努力找出幸福生活的要素。這正是美國加利福尼亞大學伯克利分校(University of California, Berkeley)至善科學中心(Greater Good Science Center)的目標。該中心把有關幸福的研究與實用建議相結合。它對幸福的定義是“喜悅、滿足或積極健康的體驗，再加上人生美好、充實而有價值的感覺”。正如富裕人羣一直在提醒我們的，滿足感並不來自物質財富，而來自人際關係和個人發展。同情心與無私似乎是核心要素。

And this is, perhaps, the most helpful pointer furnished by science: true happiness is rarely a succession of immediate, individual pleasures, such as sex, drugs and chocolate. Indeed, many experiences deemed enriching — raising children, mastering an instrument, donating a kidney — require pain and sacrifice. Happiness appears to be linked to living a life of purpose and meaning; the ONS survey now asks residents whether their lives feel worthwhile.

而這也許正是科學提供的最有幫助的指標：真正的幸福極少是一個接一個直截了當的、個人的愉悅體驗——比如性、毒品和巧克力。的確，許多被視爲充實的人生體驗——撫養子女、掌握一種樂器、捐贈一個腎臟——都需要痛苦和犧牲。幸福似乎與帶着目標和意義生活存在關聯：如今，英國國家統計局的調查會問居民是否感覺活得有價值。