Positive Neuroscience The Neuroscience Of Human Flourishing

How do we thrive in our behaviors and experiences? Positive neuroscience research illuminates the brain mechanisms that enable human flourishing. Supported by the John Templeton Foundation's Positive Neuroscience Project, which Martin E. P. Seligman established in 2008, Positive Neuroscience provides an intersection between neuroscience and positive psychology. In this edited volume, leading researchers describe the neuroscience of social bonding, altruism, and the capacities for resilience and creativity. Part I (Social Bonds) describes the mechanisms that enable humans to connect with one another. Part II (Altruism) focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying the human ability and willingness to confer costly benefits on others. Part III (Resilience and Creativity) examines the mechanisms by which human brains overcome adversity, create, and discover. Specific topics include: a newly discovered nerve type that appears to be specialized for emotional communication; the effects of parenting on the male brain; how human altruism differs from that of other primates; the neural features of extraordinary altruists who have donated kidneys to strangers; and distinctive patterns of brain wiring that endow some people with exceptional musical abilities. Accessible to a broad academic audience, from advanced undergraduates to senior scholars, these subjects have generated a fascinating and highly convergent set of ideas and results, shaping our understanding of human nature.

This open access book presents a novel multidisciplinary perspective on the importance of human flourishing. The study of the good life or Eudaimonia has been a central concern at least since Aristotelian times. This responds to the common experience that we all seek happiness. Today, we are immersed in a new paradoxical boom, where the pursuit of happiness seems to permeate everything (books, media, organizations, talks), but at the same time, it is nowhere, or at least very difficult to achieve. In fact, it is not easy to even find a consensus regarding the meaning of the word happiness. Seligman (2011), one of the fathers of the positive psychology, confirmed that his original view the meaning he referred to was close to that of Aristotle. But, he recently confessed that he now detests the word happiness, since it is overused and has become almost meaningless. The aim of this open access book is to shed new light on human flourishing through the lenses of neurosciences and health, organizations, and arts. The novelty of this book is to offer a multi-disciplinary perspective on the importance of human flourishing in our lives. The book will examine further how different initiatives, policies and practices create opportunities for generating human flourishing.

This volume describes research supported by the John Templeton Foundation's Positive Neuroscience Project, aimed at illuminating the neural mechanisms that promote human flourishing. Topics include social bonds, altruism, creativity, and resilience.

Human flourishing is an ever-expanding concept that crosses geographic, ethnic, cultural, and religious lines as persons, both individually and corporately, seek to find happiness, fulfillment, and purpose. This book brings together well-established and burgeoning Wesleyan scholars to consider not only John and Charles Wesley’s understanding of human flourishing but the broader Wesleyan perspectives on contemporary issues such as calling, creation care, healthcare, education, technological enhancements, death and dying, and more. Throughout these chapters the complexities and challenges of life, both past and present, are explored and grappled with, and we are reminded over and again that God is the ultimate source of flourishing.

The best minds in positive psychology survey the state of the field Positive Psychology in Practice, Second Edition moves beyond the theoretical to show how positive psychology is being used in real-world settings, and the new directions emerging in the field. An international team of contributors representing the best and brightest in the discipline review the latest research, discuss how the findings are being used in practice, explore new ideas for application, and discuss focus points for future research. This updated edition contains new chapters that explore the intersection between positive psychology and humanistic psychology, salugenesis, hedonism, and eudaimonism, and more, with deep discussion of how the field is integrating with the new areas of self-help, life coaching, social work, rehabilitation psychology, and recovery-oriented service systems. This book explores the challenges and opportunities in the field, providing readers with the latest research and consensus on practical application. Get up to date on the latest research and practice findings Integrate positive psychology into assessments, life coaching, and other therapies Learn how positive psychology is being used in schools Explore possible directions for new research to push the field forward Positive psychology is being used in areas as diverse as clinical, counseling, forensic, health, educational, and industrial/organizational settings, in a wide variety of interventions and applications. Psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to promote human flourishing and well-being will find the second edition of Positive Psychology in Practice to be an informative, comprehensive guide.

This text reviews and synthesizes the theories, research, and empirical evidence between human flourishing and the humanities broadly, including history, literary studies, philosophy, religious studies, music, art, theatre, and film. Via multidisciplinary essays, this book expands our understanding of how the humanities contribute to the theory and science of well-being by considering historical trends, conceptual ideas, and wide-ranging interdisciplinary drivers between positive psychology and the arts.

The International Science and Evidence Based Education (ISEE) Assessment is an initiative of the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), and is its contribution to the Futures of Education process launched by UNESCO Paris in September 2019. In order to contribute to re-envisioning the future of education with a science and evidence based report, UNESCO MGIEP embarked on the first-ever large-scale assessment of knowledge of education.