Happiness is contagious

It is said that some people have a natural gift of making pleasant or valuable discoveries just by accident. There is a special word for such ability and it is called serendipity. Well, I don’t have that talent, but yesterday I came across an article about happiness while searching for something entirely different. You might say this is a natural course of events if someone is not focused while surfing on the net. I won’t argue about that but the findings are certainly worth sharing. 

According to this research article, thousands of people were studies for more than twenty years to assess the spread of happiness within social groups. The participants were asked to evaluate their level of happiness on the following four item scale.

How often during the past week:

1. I enjoyed life.

2. I was happy.

3. I felt hopeful about the future.

4. I felt that I was as good as other people.

The results, on the hindsight, seem quite obvious. People’s happiness depends on the people they live or connect with. Clusters of happy and unhappy people were visible on the network. Apparently, happiness can spread from person to person like an infectious disease. So, if you want to be happy, just hang around someone euphoric and try to avoid the company of gloomy ones. I would recommend checking the level of happiness on the above four item scale once in a while if not every week. After all, happiness and unhappiness both are contagious.

Image credit: www.gagdonkey.com

The five biggest unanswered questions

Globular Star Cluster Omega Centauri - Image courtesy: NASA

The leading scientific magazine Physics World in its 25th anniversary issue has listed the following top five unanswered questions in physics.

• What is the nature of the dark universe?
• What exactly is time?
• Is life on Earth unique?
• Can we unify quantum mechanics and gravity?
• Can we exploit the weirdness of quantum mechanics?

Some of these eternal riddles might get resolved within the lifetime of current generation, while others may continue to haunt scientists in the centuries to come. 

The question, I would like to know the answer to in my life-time, is about the rarity of life. According to the legendary science-fiction writer Arthur C Clarke "Two possibilities exist; either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying."

To me, both possibilities are equally exciting.

On facing death

"Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not. The absence of life is not evil; death is no more alarming than the nothingness before birth." 

I was reading an article about ancient Greek philosophers a few days ago when I came across these lines by Epicurus. The ideas of this 3rd century B.C. philosopher were indeed unique. To him, the purpose of philosophy was to lead a happy and tranquil life with freedom from fear. Living such a self-sufficient life surrounded by good friends was considered the ultimate achievement by his school of thought.

The mind of God

 Pillars of creation and other star forming regions in the Eagle Nebula (constellation Serpens)

"If we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason - for then we would truly know the mind of God."

Stephen Hawking (A Brief History of Time - concluding passage)

Image courtesy: NASA

A Pvblic Library?

A Pvblic Library! Why was the 'u' substituted by a 'v' on the facade of Yorkville library branch at 22 Yorkville Avenue? The front desk was not sure about that so she contacted a senior staff member. It turns out that it is true for most of the historical buildings. In old English and Latin, the letter 'V' was considered sufficient for both sounds. The letter 'U' was introduced at a much later time. This is certainly an example where the past is preserved in stone.