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The fast track to a life well lived is feeling grateful - David DeSteno | Aeon Ideas
Gratitude enhances honesty
In a study published in Psychological Science, participants were presented with temptation. Those who recalled a time when they felt grateful were more likely to act in an honest manner than those who described a time when they felt happy or neutral.
People who feel grateful are more likely to help others, divide their profits and be loyal even at a cost to themselves.
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If virtue leads to a life well lived
How do we become virtuous?
Virtue comes from living an examined life - one where deep deliberation leads to holding on to noble qualities such as honesty and generosity, regardless of how difficult it can be to do them.
While one can take the time to pursue virtue deliberately, Cicero states that by cultivating gratitude, other virtues will grow.
The link between gratitude and self-control
Gratitude encourages people to repay debts. The more gratitude people feel toward those who have helped them, the more diligently they will work to return the favour.
When you want to repay someone you have to forgo your own immediate needs in service of someone else. This action boils down to self-control.
For instance, when you are grateful that a friend helped you to move to a new apartment, you are more likely to return the favor, even if you have to forgo something you looked forward to.
Gratitude enhances honesty
In a study published in Psychological Science, participants were presented with temptation. Those who recalled a time when they felt grateful were more likely to act in an honest manner than those who described a time when they felt happy or neutral.
People who feel grateful are more likely to help others, divide their profits and be loyal even at a cost to themselves.
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
Defining Eudaimonia
Eudaimonia is a term which comes from Aristotle’s work called ‘Nicomachean Ethics’ and means individual well-being and happiness. It combines the prefix eu (meaning good) ...
Plato And Eudaimonism
- Plato believed that because we feel unhappy internally when we do something wrong, eudaimonia is the highest feeling of moral thought and behaviour where there is real happiness from within. Happiness, according to him, was about living in the pursuit of various virtues, central to flourishing.
- Plato never mentioned the term eudaimonia, but his writings on the concept of courage, justice, wisdom and moderation point towards the same domain of wellbeing.
Aristotle And Eudaimonism
Aristotle in his many works has provided numerous interpretations of eudaimonia, explaining it as something reflecting the pursuit of virtue, excellence and the best within us. According to him, eudaimonia is a rational activity aimed at the pursuit of what is worthwhile in life.
Having an intention to be virtuous was an important factor for eudaimonia.
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Back to The Simple Life
Due to an increasingly complicated and hyper-connected world, a lot of people are revisiting and paying attention to the concept of a simple life.
From Buddha to Socrates and contemporaries l...
Simple Was Boring
In many prosperous, capitalist societies where consumerism, big pharma and supermarket culture is rampant, leading a quiet, simple life is considered boring.
Big Brands continue to persuade everyone to aspire for more and most people fall for that.
Benefits of Simple Living
- Millennials are showing interest in simple living, in pre-consumerist and pre-industrial ways.
- It seems like a moral way to live and it makes you into a better person.
- The struggle of living simple and frugal builds up new skill-sets, a certain independence and better health of the mind and body, by being close to nature.
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