Uploaded March 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Like ‘Love’, the word ‘Happiness’ is polysemous. In this short clip the pioneer of Positive Psychology Marty Seligman talks about the 3 different kinds of Happiness which correspond to different kinds of life. The big question of course (as Paul Bloom would say) is not what Happiness is, but what it is FOR. We have evolved to take pleasure from these 3 different ways of life for a number of good reasons. So here are the 3 ‘Lives’ that Seligman describes (with an evolutionary gloss):
- The Pleasant Life: (Yes, go ahead and eat that burger / ice-cream [in our evolutionary past this would have meant a caloric bonanza]; and of course try not to miss any opportunity to sleep with the likes of Monica Bellucci / Johnny Depp [depending on your sex] if you get the chance…)
- The Good Life: (Do lose yourself in purposeful activities which are challenging, yet manageable; chances are that this will make you more versatile and enhance both your skills and your standing in your peer group).
- The Meaningful Life: (It makes sense to belong and commit yourself passionately to causes which in our ancestral past would have promoted the interests of your kin group or your clan in competition with other groups [the group selection hypothesis – first put forward by Darwin himself]).
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
Like ‘Love’, the word ‘Happiness’ is polysemous. In this short clip the pioneer of Positive Psychology Marty Seligman talks about the 3 different kinds of Happiness which correspond to different kinds of life. The big question of course (as Paul Bloom would say) is not what Happiness is, but what it is FOR. We have evolved to take pleasure from these 3 different ways of life for a number of good reasons. So here are the 3 ‘Lives’ that Seligman describes (with an evolutionary gloss):
- The Pleasant Life: (Yes, go ahead and eat that burger / ice-cream [in our evolutionary past this would have meant a caloric bonanza]; and of course try not to miss any opportunity to sleep with the likes of Monica Bellucci / Johnny Depp [depending on your sex] if you get the chance…)
- The Good Life: (Do lose yourself in purposeful activities which are challenging, yet manageable; chances are that this will make you more versatile and enhance both your skills and your standing in your peer group).
- The Meaningful Life: (It makes sense to belong and commit yourself passionately to causes which in our ancestral past would have promoted the interests of your kin group or your clan in competition with other groups [the group selection hypothesis – first put forward by Darwin himself]).
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
![Comedy for ELT - Homo Devis 3 [Tottenham]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ybkqUWw3i5o/mqdefault.jpg "Comedy for ELT - Homo Devis 3 [Tottenham]
[To download a worksheet (+ KEY, + Script) just click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByC3QwWZuGXdQkwxY3RheVJDVHM/view?usp=sharing ]
Scientists have recently discovered a new human (sub-)species. It’s called ‘Homo Devis’. Most of us plebs refer to them as ‘the super posh’ and ‘the filthy rich’, though people have been known to use other names as well… These people live differently, they think differently, they speak differently.
A brilliant comment on class stratification by the very talented Catherine Tate. Taken from the BBC TV Series ‘The Catherine Tate Show’. Level: C1 – C2 Topics: Rich – Poor / Class / Discrimination / Values.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this audio clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
SCRIPT
A: And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon Englands mountains green?
S: Oh mummy, I do enjoy our visits to Gillaume.
D: He really is the greatest ….charcutier (sic).... in London – if not the home counties!
M: (suddenly concerned) Good God in heaven above!
D: What is it?
M: I must have taken a wrong turning… We seem to have driven into a place called ‘Tottenham’! *
S: Mummy, look! What’s that?!? * Can we feed him?
M: No, if you do that he may follow us, so… *
S: Mummy, this is scary… I’m looking but everyone is wearing brogues! *
M: Calm down, we must remember the time when we were on safari in the Serengeti. * We keep the windows and doors locked, and don’t let the locals see the windscreen wipers moving, in case they try to rip them off… *
S: Mummy, look at this! (sign says ‘Iceland.co.uk’) *
M: Yes, I’ve heard of that; * I think they sell…
D: Sell what, mummy?
M: …frozen food… * Now try not to panic, but the traffic lights are red, and there’s a man standing next to them with a bucket of dirty water and a sponge… * Just smile and look out front. .... * (the man knocks on the windscreen) * Don’t look him in the eyes! He wants you to look him in the eyes, but you mustn’t! *
S: He’s going away – we did it!
D: I can’t wait to tell them at school – ‘My Day in Tottenham’… *
A: (the man splashes soapy water on the windscreen and they all scream) We’re all going to die!! **")
