Alex Hwang

Response to “The Secrets to a Happy Life, From a Harvard Study” by Anahad O’Connor

Before this course, I had known the main contention of this article, that close
relationships are good for the soul and are correlated with happiness. Without taking this
course, however, I wouldn’t have the deeper understanding of relationships that I got from
reading the combination of Haidt and outside texts. Now, I can read an article like this, that
basically says nurture your close relationships to be happy, and understand the nuances of it:
how does reciprocity influence relationships and contentment, what types of friendship should
these relationships exhibit, and does altruism and giving behavior have any role in shaping the
most meaningful relationships? It would also be tempting, from just reading this article, to
conclude that relationships are the only important factor in one’s happiness, and that work,
associated with “wealth and fame” doesn’t matter, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, as
we’ve seen with Haidt’s emphasis on both love and work. Loving relationships are but one part
of the piece of one’s happiness that enable us to “find happiness from between.”