一台电脑，一杯咖啡，万千学子随时随地都能汲取知识的养分。近日，据联合国教科文组织的调查显示，新冠疫情对教学的主要影响是在线教育的增加。各种新潮网课纷纷上线，一些“老牌网课”的注册人数也呈增长趋势。以耶鲁大学为例，建校以来最受欢迎的“老牌网红课”----幸福课，疫情期间的选修人数再创历史新高。选修幸福课究竟能学到什么？这真的是一门能改变人生的课程吗？人生的幸福密码真的掌握在教授手中吗？让我们走近今日外刊，听听多角度的声音吧。
The Yale happiness class, formally known as Psyc 157: Psychology and the Good Life, is one of the most popular classes to be offered in the university’s 320-year history.The class was only ever taught in-person once, during the spring semester. That March, a free 10-week version made available to the public via Coursera, titled “the Science of Well-Being,” also became instantly popular, attracting hundreds of thousands of online learners. But when lockdowns began last March, two full years later, the enrollment numbers skyrocketed. To date, over 3.3 million people have signed up, according to the website.
耶鲁大学幸福课的正式名称是“心理157:心理学与美好生活”，它是该校3历史里最受欢迎的课程之一。该课仅在春季学期进行过一次现场授课。同年三月，通过Coursera向公众开放的为期十周，名为“幸福的科学”的免费版本也立即流行起来，吸引了数十万的线上学习者。但当去年3月防疫封锁开始时，恰逢该在线课程开课两周年，选修人数激增。
Laurie Santos, a professor of psychology at Yale and the head of the university’s Silliman College. “Everyone knows what they need to do to protect their physical health: wash your hands, and social distance, and wear a mask,” she added. “People were struggling with what to do to protect their mental health.” The Coursera curriculum, adapted from the one Dr. Santos taught at Yale, asks students to, among other things, track their sleep patterns, keep a gratitude journal, perform random acts of kindness, and take note of whether, over time, these behaviors correlate with a positive change in their general mood.
耶鲁大学西利曼学院院长、心理学教授劳里·桑托斯认为：“每个人都知道应该做什么以保护身体健康：洗手、保持社交距离、带口罩，”她补充道，“人们在纠结该如何保护自己的心理健康。”Coursera的课程改编自桑托斯在耶鲁教授的一门课程。它要求学生记录自己的睡眠规律、写感恩日记、随机做一些好事，并记录随时间的推移，这些行为是否与自身总体情绪的积极变化相关。
Tracy Morgan, a programming supervisor at the Bob Snodgrass Recreation Complex in High River in Alberta, Canada, signed up for the class last June, as she was in lockdown with her children and husband. “There’s no reason I shouldn’t be happy,” she said. “I have a wonderful marriage. I have two kids. I have a nice job and a nice house. And I just could never find happiness.” Since taking the course, Ms. Morgan, 52, has made a commitment to do three things every day: practice yoga for one hour, take a walk outside in nature no matter how cold it may be in Alberta, and write three to five entries in her gratitude journal before bed.And some studies show that finding reasons to be grateful can increase your general sense of well-being.
特蕾西·摩根是加拿大阿尔伯塔省高河市鲍勃·斯诺格拉斯娱乐中心的一名计划主管。去年六月，在和丈夫孩子们一起被封锁期间，她选修了这门课程。“我没有理由不快乐，”她说，“我的婚姻很美满，我有两个孩子，我有一份好工作和一个好房子。可我就是永远找不到幸福感。“自从上了这个课程后，52岁的摩根承诺每天做三件事：练习一小时瑜伽；无论阿尔伯塔省有多冷，都要到户外的大自然中去散步；睡觉前在感恩日记里写三到五件事。一些研究表明，寻找感恩的理由可以增加整体幸福感。
Ewa Szypula, 37, a lecturer of French studies at the University of Nottingham in Britain. One small study from Dr. Santos’s curriculum that stuck with her involved polling 632 Americans to predict how happy they would be if they were given $5 to spend on themselves versus getting $5 and being told they must spend it on someone else. In the study, people predicted that they would be happier if they were allowed to keep the money. But participants consistently reported afterward that they had in fact derived more satisfaction from spending money on someone. Dr. Szypula had the opportunity to combine her newfound knowledge in a practical experiment on her sister’s birthday. Instead of keeping an expensive dress she had bought, she gave it to her sister. “I’m still feeling that happiness months later,” she said.
37岁的埃瓦·西普拉是英国诺丁汉大学的法语研究讲师。桑托斯教授的课程里有一项小研究令她难忘，632名参与研究的美国人投票预测，假如给他们五美元，那么这笔钱是花给自己，还是花给别人会让他们更幸福？在研究中，受试者预测把钱留给自己会更幸福。但此后，不断有受试者报告，称他们把钱用在别人身上时感受到了更大的满足。在西普拉姐姐的生日，西普拉有机会运用新知识展开实践尝试。她没有把自己买的一条昂贵的裙子留下来，而是给了姐姐。“那种幸福感几个月后仍在。”她说。
Not every student of the class has felt transformed. Matt Nadel, 21, a Yale senior said he was disappointed that the class was a sort of review of the kinds of obvious good advice you may get from a grandmother: Get enough sleep, drink enough water, just do your best. “I knew that sleeping was good. I knew that my grades didn’t matter for long-term happiness, that I wasn’t going to be a happier, better person because of having good grades,” he said. “Did the class impact my life in a long term, tangible way? The answer is no.”While the class wasn’t life-changing for him, Mr. Nadel said that he is more expressive now when he feels gratitude. “Which is great,” he said. “But that’s about all.”
并非班上的每个学生都感受到了转变。21岁的耶鲁大四学生迈特·纳德尔声称，他对这门课程感到失望，因为它只是回顾了一些祖母给你的显然很好的建议：保证睡眠、多喝水、量力而行。“我明白睡觉是好事，我知道我的分数跟长期的幸福无关，单凭好分数并不能使我成为一个更开心、更好的人，”他说，“这堂课给我的人生造成了什么深远而切实的影响吗？答案是否定的。”虽然课程并未改变他的人生，但纳德尔认为他现在会更乐于表达感恩。“这很好，”他说，“但仅限于此。”
读完了这篇外刊，你会去尝试选修幸福课么？你的人生的幸福密码又是什么呢？最后，献给大家一首关于”幸福“的英文诗给大家，愿每个人都能找到自己的幸福。
Happiest DaysPoet: Edward H. Donnelly
I said to the little children,
"You are living your happiest days,
"And their bright eyes opened wider In innocent amaze.
For their happiness was so perfect,
They did not know it then;
"Oh, no," they said, "therell be happier days
When we are women and men."
I said to the youth and maiden,
"You are living your happiest days,"
And into their sparkling eyes there crept
A dreamy, far-off gaze;
And their hands sought one another,
And their cheeks flushed rosy red;
" Oh, no," they said, " therell be happier days
For us when we are wed."
I said to the man and woman,
"You are living your happiest days,"
As they laughingly watched together
Their babys cunning ways.
"These days are days of labor.
They can hardly be our best;
Therell be happier days when the children are grown,
And we have earned our rest."
I said to the aged couple,
"You are living your happiest days,"
Your children do you honor,
You have won success and praise.
" With a peaceful look they answered,"
God is good to us, thats true: But we think there are happier days for us
In the life we e going to."
