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‘Sharing your wisdom is key to happiness’
Knowing when to work for yourself and when to share your wisdom to help lift others is key to happiness and contentment, according to a renowned social science expert who underscored the need to recognise the neurological and social factors that influence us as we age.
Speaking on the third day of the 20th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Thursday, American academic, author and public speaker Arthur C Brooks cited research and experience to share insights on how people can overcome a feeling of decline as they enter the second half of their lives, and what they must do for happiness.
The two halves of life, Brooks said during the conversation with HT’s editor-in-chief R Sukumar over video, are determined by two distinct intelligences “that we have been able to ascertain in neuroscience and social science”.
“The first is called fluid intelligence, which occurs in your twenties and thirties, and starts to decline in your forties. That’s [when you have] your ability to innovate, to focus very intently, to come up with new ideas to solve problems — it’s your early life genius,” he said. The second, he added, was “crystallised intelligence”, when the fluid intelligence begins to decline. “That decline in forties or fifties happens very quickly. People tend to think that’s the end of good times, but it is not.”
The shift to what he described as crystallised intelligence, too, was “based on neuroscience that shows the structure of your brain changes”. “You move from the innovative capacity to your capacity to use your wisdom as a teacher. In other words, you go from someone who solves the problem to knowing what problems to solve.”
Brooks said it is often when people don’t recognise this transition — which becomes necessary due to changes in the brain — that they tend to feel a decline in life. He tackles the subject in his latest book, From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life.
“The problem is that people try to stay in fluid intelligence curve, which is a recipe for frustration,” he said, while also using the concept of asrama in Hindu philosophy to describe the need to transition between phases of life. Asrama splits life in four phases: that of brahmacharya (the student), grhastha (the householder), vanaprastha (the pursuit of spirituality), and sannyasa (the pursuit of enlightenment).
It is the latter phase of life, in the crystallised intelligence, which he also described as the “we curve” (as opposed to the “me curve” when younger), where people tend to find more happiness. “It’s where I am investing in other people, where I am lifting others”.
On happiness itself, Brooks sought to define it as not a feeling — “feelings are evidence of happiness” — but as a combination of three things: “enjoyment of your life, finding satisfaction with your action and your goals, and finding meaning and purpose”. Finding meaning and purpose, he added, was most important and involved sacrifices, including things that would count as “unhappiness” earlier in life.
Brooks also spoke on some of the challenges to happiness and moving from the early phase to the latter. “We tend to worship the sole entrepreneur, the cowboy. We also tend to worship young people who have fluid intelligence. That’s a problem. Look at the tech world, they are suffering. There are economic reasons for it, yes, but the real reason is that they are run by children. They have a lot of fluid intelligence. But they need wisdom.”
Spirituality, Brooks added, was key to the pursuit of happiness, drawing again on the concept of asramas. “Look at the vanaprastha stage, which is a metaphor to step back from life, from the chaos that comes from family life and business. We tend to focus too much on details of everyday life but instead, we need perspective and peace,” he said.
Spirituality itself was part of four key factors that he said were crucial for happiness. “These are, work that serves others, having real friends — not deal friends — who you share a close bond with, having a family life, and spirituality, no matter what your faith,” he said.