心理学家：“活在当下”最幸福

　　Psychologists at Harvard University have discovered that we are happiest when we are "living in the moment". However, daydreaming, contemplating the future and raking over the past take up nearly half of our waking hours, they said. They claim that our minds wander 46.9 percent of the time and it is these moments which make us most unhappy。

　　Our lives are most enjoyable and content when we are completely focused on the job in hand–even more than when we are daydreaming about pleasant thoughts. This is most likely to happen when we are having sex, exercising or in intense conversations with friends, they discovered. And, listening to music and playing also helped take us out of our heads。

　　On the other hand the mind wanders most when we are resting, working or using our home computer. Activities such as reading, doing the housework and watching television appear to be almost neutral in their effect on our minds。

　　Professor Matthew Killingsworth, co-author of this study, invented an iPhone application that randomly questioned 2,250 volunteers from all over the world at different intervals of the day about their levels of happiness, what they were doing and what they were thinking about. Each time the participants, aged between 18 and 88, were asked to select one of 22 general activities and record how happy they were while doing it。

　　"Human beings are unique in their ability to focus on the non-present–to learn from the past, anticipate and plan for the future and even imagine about things that may not happen at all." He said, like many religions and philosophies, the report suggested it was "living in the moment" that offered us most happiness。

　　英国《每日电讯报》11日报道称，哈佛大学的心理学家们近日发现，“活在当下”的人们最幸福。然而，科学家也发现，人们还是会用一半时间做白日梦、畅想未来、打捞过去岁月。他们称，正是占用了一天时间46.9%的“神游太虚”让人们幸福不起来。

　　研究证明，完全关注于“手头工作”的生活最为舒适，而这种满足感比做白日梦还要强烈。这里的“手头工作”包括发生性关系、体育锻炼或者和朋友深入交谈。同样，听音乐、玩乐器也能帮助我们快乐地“活在当下”。

　　相反地，人们最容易在休息、工作或者在家上网时“神游”四处。而阅读、做家务以及看电视似乎具有中性效果(即既不会给我们时间遐想，也不会让我们全神贯注)。

　　该研究论文撰稿人之一、哈佛大学教授马修-基林斯沃思发明了一款可安装在iPhone上的应用软件，并借此调查了世界范围内2250名志愿者一天之内不同时段的幸福度，问题具体到彼时他们在做什么，在想什么。这些志愿者的年龄跨度为18岁到88岁，每次被调查时他们都需在22个活动大类中做出选择，并依据自己做所选活动的幸福感进行排名。

　　“人类关注‘非当下’的能力可谓独一无二——他们以史为鉴、展望未来，甚至设想那些完全不可能发生的事情。”马修称，和宗教、哲学异曲同工，该报告得出了这样一个结论：“活在当下”的人们最幸福。