Predicting Future Happiness

[September 2008 - "Realism and Illusion in Americans' Temporal Views of Their Life Satisfaction" - PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE] Some people are naturally optimistic or pessimistic, but how accurately they predict the level of satisfaction they may attain in the future depends on a variety of factors, according to research published in PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE. In a study led by Brandeis University psychologist Margie Lachman, subjects were surveyed over a nine-year period. In the first survey, in 1995-1996, participants between the ages of 24 and 74 rated their satisfaction with life now, with life 10 years earlier, and with how life may be in another 10 years. They were asked the same questions again in 2004. Lachman and colleagues discovered that there are age-related differences in how individuals view both the past and the future; those age 65 and older rated the past and present equally satisfying but predicted that the future would be less satisfying. Those under age 65 were more optimistic about the future and believed they would be more satisfied a decade hence. "These more negative expectations from older adults may be their way of bracing for an uncertain future, a perspective that can serve a protective function in the face of losses and that can have positive consequences if life circumstances turn out to be better than expected," says Lachman. More

UK campaigners lose key stage in compulsory retirement battle

[23 September 2008 - The Guardian (UK) via Older-Learners] The compulsory retirement age in the UK is set at 65. Campaigners for
age equality today lost a key stage in their legal battle to banish the compulsory retirement age in the UK. Age Concern had gone to the European court of justice in Luxembourg to argue that compelling people to stop work at or after 65 without compensation breaches EU equality requirements. However the charity's claim was rejected by the advocate-general. Today's legal opinion is a blow to hundreds of people forced to retire against their wishes who are claiming compensation through UK employment tribunals. More

Those with disabilities should likewise create

[30 August 2008 - The Jakarta Post] At the closing session of a recent international conference on "Creative Communities and the Making of Place: Sharing Creative Experiences" at the Institute of Technology Bandung, one of the keynote speakers concluded that in the end, the focus should be on people rather than on cities. This conclusion was certainly indisputable, because a city without people is dead. It is the people in their diversity who make a place lively. As shown by the present range of enterprises in Bandung, people are continually creating new things, either as a hobby, as an expression of art, for research purposes, or as a source of income. Gradually these creative products become an industry, called the creative industry. Not only do people do this creative work for their own benefit, but the urban economy flourishes because of these thriving businesses. ... The most underestimated are the disabled. They constantly face barriers to access physical infrastructure or opportunities for self development. They have the potential to make a significant economic contribution to the city, if only the environment could be more physically and socially friendly for them. People are creative by nature and so are disabled people. By excluding them from development opportunities, the society neglects a rich resource of talented and creative people. People who meet the standard of normalcy in performing creative work, predominate the creative industries. They are the ones who are healthy, agile, not disabled and have the financial resources to start an enterprise. Nowadays, young people are very much involved in creative industries. Thinking creatively, they produce goods with an economic value. Their free spirit means allowing people to be different, which is sometimes difficult in our conformist culture. By tolerating different ideas, their creativity emerges. More

Your Health: Einstein was an image streamer

[23 August 2008 - The New Straights Times - Malaysia] THERE are basically two types of meditation and they are diametrically opposed to each other. One is passive and the other dynamic. One attempts to still the mind while the other follows the vagaries of the mind and the thoughts that go with it. Most people are familiar with passive meditation. However, the concept of dynamic meditation -- called "image streaming" by researcher and educator, Win Wenger, is less well known. As discussed last week, this is a type of medication that Einstein may have used. Except that he described it as "vague play" with "signs," "images," and other elements, both "visual" and "muscular." "This combinatory play," he wrote, "seems to be the essential feature in productive thought." Win Wenger's project of the last 25 years has been to develop techniques and mental exercises, based in part on Einstein's methods. These work in the short term and seem to develop the mind's permanent powers. The Image Streaming technique that Win Wenger developed opens the mind to a flow of symbolic imagery as potent as that of any dream. However, unlike dreaming, you can practise image streaming while wide awake. Best of all, you can do it virtually any time, anywhere. More