HowtoLiveandLoveinthe21stCentury

Therearemanyreasonstothinkquotidianethicsmatter.Forone,gobacktoAristotle，theinventorofwhathascometobeknownasvirtueethics。Aristotlerecognized

thathumanbeingsareessentiallycreaturesofhabit.Ifwewanttobegood,wehavetogetintothehabitofbeinggood。Andhabitsareformedbyconstantrepetitionofbehaviors.Thedailypracticeofcivilityandpolitenesshelps，becauseitreinforcesaregardforothersandconcernfortheirwelfare。Anotherreasontobeworriedaboutsmallactsofvirtueisthatlifeis,onthewhole，madeupofsmallthings。Mostofusmanagetoavoidmurderingpeopleorstealingtheircars．Amongthemajority，whatmakesthedifferencebetweenpeoplewethinkofasgoodandthoseweregardasselfish，meanorjustdisagreeable，isverymuchhowtheybehaveovermyriadsmallissues.Justthinkaboutthenicestpeopleyouknowandmostofthetimeyou’lldiscoverthatyourregardforthemisnotbasedontheirtirelessworktoeradicateworldpoverty,butabasicdecencyexpressedthroughtheireverydaydealingswithothers．

［2］Justasgoodcharactercomesfromthebottomup,sodoesagoodsociety.Thisis

whytheideaofclampingdownonanti-socialbehaviorbuildsonagenuineinsight.Respectforourfellowcitizensstartswitharespectfortheirrighttoleaveatrainwithouthavingtopushpastotherstryingtogeton,ortositonabuswithouthavingsomeoneshoutingintheirearsthewholeway．Soitisthatgoodmannerandcivilityneedtobereclaimedbysocial

progressives．Forgetetiquette：itreallydoesn’tmatterhowyouholdyourforkorwhichway

youpasstheport.Whatmattersishowyoutreatyourhostandfellowguests。It'snot

primarilyaquestionofrules；it'saquestionofhavinganattitudeofrespectandconsideration.

Still，ruleshelp,eveniftheyareonlyofthumb.Herearesomeofours.

［3］Wrongnumbers

Youshouldnotacceptorcontinueaphonecallifashopassistantisservingyou.IfJean-PaulSartrewerealive，whichheisn't，andhegaveadvice,whichhedidn，hemay’twellhaveshedlightonthecorrectuseofamobilephone。Sowhenweignorethepresenceofsomeonelikeashopassistant，treatingthemasabsentandtheabsentcalleraspresent，wearedoingnolessthandenyingtheirhumanity.Forthesamereason,youshouldnevertextanybodywhileinthemiddleofaconversation.Oremail,forthatmatter.Youshouldalwaysmonitoryourvolumewhenchattingonyourmobile。Peoplewhohaven'tyetlearnedthis

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basicfactshowthemselvestobeoblivioustothepresenceofothers.Thisisnosmallfailing。DavidHumeargued，thatmoralsarefoundedonabasicsympathyforourfellowcreatures,bywhichwecanappreciatethattheytoohaveplans，projectsandexperiencesoftheworld，onesthatmaynotinvolvehavingtolistentothefascinatingdetailsof

where—we—are—now。Confuciussays,“youWhatdonotwantdonetoyourself,donotdo

toothers."QED。

［4］TravellingrightStopforpedestriansatpedestriancrossings.Evensomeonewho

rejectsconventionalmoralityandassertstheirNietzscheanwilltopowerhasreasontodothis.Youdemonstrateyourpoweroverthepedestrianmoreeffectively,notbyignoringthem,butbyshowingthatyouvoluntarilystop，eventhoughyoucouldjustmotoronby。Suchadisplayofmagnanimityisworthyoftheubermensch。Onpublictransport，allowpeopletoalightbeforeyouboard.Donotputyourfeetupontheseats.AsBurkesaid,“Societyisindeedacontract,”andeachofushastomeetoursideofthe。bargains

［5]GoodLovingDonotsmoochinthecompanyofothers.Itisanoddityofhumannaturethatwhilepornographyismuchsoughtafter，wedonotgenerallydelightinseeingothersslurpilymanifesttheirloveinpublic.Maybeitisjustenvy:thesingleareharshly

remindedofthelackofaffectionintheirlives，thelong-attachedofthelackofrawpassionintheirs.Whatevertheexplanation，publicsmoochingisexceedinglyirritatingtoothers，whichmeansweshouldn’dotit。Alwaysdumpinperson，notbytext,faxoremail。Hamletmayhavesaidthat“consciencedothmakecowardsofusall",butsurelyittakesaspeciallackofconsciencetobesocowardlyastoendarelationshipanyotherwaythanfacetoface.It’thesonlywaytopreservebothrespectforthedumpedandthedignityofthedumper.

[6］NewageIfyougothroughadoorfirstyoushouldalwaysholditopenforthosewho

follow.Age，genderandsocialclassmakenodifference。Extendingthiscommoncourtesytoallisasignthatweholdeveryoneinequalrespect.Inotherwords,it’nothingslessthananexpressionoftheUniversalDeclarationofHumanRightsatthesmallestpossiblelevel。

Offeryourseattotheelderly,butdon’assumetthey’wantllit.Marxmayhavegothiseconomicsandhistoryterriblywrong，butwhenitcomestopublictransport，youcan’tdo

muchbetterthanapplyhisprinciple,“Fromeachaccordingtohisabilities,toeachaccording

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tohisneeds。”Thetroubleisthatmanyolderpeoplearefitterthanthefatthirtysomethings

whocanbarelygettheirarsesintotheseatsonpublictransport，andtheyresenttheassumptionthattheyaretoofrailtostandformorethanfiveminuteswithouthavingacardiacarrest.Soalthoughingeneralyoushouldoffertheelderlyaseat,avoidpatronizingthemwhenyoudoso。Offeryourseattoapregnantwoman。Butplease,onlyifyouconfident’reshe

reallyispregnant.

[7]SocialworkIfinvitedtosomeonesefor’dinnershou，don’tbeoneoftheungrateful

fed.Exactlywhatyoudocanvary，anditissillytothinkthatyoumustalwaysbringwineorflowers，orsendathank—youmessage，eventhoughbothareusuallyadvisable.Themain

thingisnottotakeyourhost’shospitalityforgrantedandshowgratitude.Don

’tdrinkmoreat

apartythanyoubrought。Thisisaversionoftheso-calledfreeloaderproblem,whichona

granderscaleincludespeoplewhousepublicserviceswithoutpayingfor

them，accept

charitywhilenevergiving，orponcecigarettesbutareneverknowinglyponcedthemselves.

ThisbreaksKantmaxim’sthatoneshouldonlyactinawaythatyoucanconsistentlywishall

tofollow。And，ofcourse，wecan’tallfreeload，astherewouldbenoonetofreeload

from.

[8］Child’splayDoincludelittleEmilyandbabyJackwhenaddressingChristmascards

totheirparents。Nevertellsomebodyelse’schildoffinfrontofthem,orcriticizeadultsfortheirpoorparenting。Exceptwhenyoushould.Donotundertake.Itmaybeafreecountry,butasJohnStuartMillpointedout，’srightforyou。Rememberthatneitherthecinemanorthetheatreisyourfrontroom.Apartfrom,obviously，makingsureyourmobileisturnedoff,don’ttalkduringtheprformance，andifyouhavetosaysomethingtoyourcompanion，makesureitisinaudibletoothers。Ifyouwanttotalk,rentavideo。Sorry,DVD。Don’tpunctuateyoursentenceswithprofanitiesinpublic。It’OKswithfellowfoul-mouthedfuckers，butmanypeoplearelikelytobeeitheroffendedorboredbyyourrepetitiveand

unimaginativeuseofvocabulary.Don’tthink“Iwasherefirsttrumpcard”。isaLetsomeoneelsegofirstiftheirneedisgreater。Apersonwhoonlyeverassertstheirrightsisn'tnecessarilyalwaysintheright.Don'twriteinandsaytheserulesarestupid.They’renot。

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TheGlobalFoodCrisis

［1］Lastyeartheskyrocketingcostoffoodwasawake-upcallfortheplanet。

Between2005andthesummerof2008,thepriceofwheatandcorntripled,andthepriceofriceclimbedfivefold，spurringfoodriotsinnearlytwodozencountriesandpushing75millionmorepeopleintopoverty。Butunlikepreviousshocksdrivenbyshort-termfood

shortages,thispricespikecameinayearwhentheworld’sfarmersreapedarecordgrai

Thistime,thehighpriceswereasymptomofalargerproblemtuggingatthestrandsofour

worldwidefoodweb,onethat’snotgoingawayanytime。Simplysoonput:Formostofthe

pastdecade，theworldhasbeenconsumingmorefoodthanithasbeenproducing.After

yearsofdrawingdownstockpiles,in2007theworldsawglobalcarryoverstocksfallto61daysofglobalconsumption,thesecondlowestonrecord。Agriculturalproductivitygrowthisonlyonetotwopercentayear.Thisistoolowtomeetpopulationgrowth.

2]Highpricesaretheultimatesignalthatdemandisoutstrippingsupply,thatthereissimplynotenoughfoodtogoaround.Suchagflationhitsthepoorestbillionpeopleontheplanetthehardest,sincetheytypicallyspend50to70percentoftheirincomeonfood.Eventhoughpriceshavefallenwiththeimplodingworldeconomy，theyarestillnearrecordhighs,andtheunderlyingproblemsoflowstockpiles，risingpopulation,andflatteningyieldgrowthremain.Climatechange-withitshottergrowingseasonsandincreasingwaterscarcity—isprojectedtoreducefutureharvestsinmuchoftheworld,raisingthespecterofwhatsomescientistsarenowcallingaperpetualfoodcrisis.

[3]Withworldpopulationspiralingtowardninebillionbymid—century,theseexpertsnowsayweneedarepeatperformance,doublingcurrentfoodproductionby2030。Inotherwords,weneedanotherGreenRevolution。Andweneeditinhalfthetime.

[4］Eversinceourancestorsgaveuphuntingandgatheringforplowingandplantingsome12，000yearsago,ournumbershavemarchedinlockstepwithouragriculturalprowess。Eachadvance—thedomesticationofanimals,irrigation,wetriceproduction—led

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toacorrespondingjumpinhumanpopulation.Everytimefoodsuppliesplateaued，

populationeventuallyleveledoff.EarlyArabandChinesewritersnotedtherelationship

betweenpopulationandfoodresources,butitwasn’tuntiltheendofthe18thcenturythata

Britishscholartriedtoexplaintheexactmechanismlinkingthetwo-andbecameperhapsthe

mostvilifiedsocialscientistinhistory.

［5]ThomasRobertMalthus，thenamesakeofsuchtermsas“Malthusiancollapse"and

“Malthusiancurse,”was-manneredmildmathematician，aclergyman—and，hiscriticswouldsay，theultimateglass—half-emptykindofguy.WhenafewEnlightenmentphilosophers，giddyfromthesuccessoftheFrenchRevolution，beganpredictingthecontinuedunfetteredimprovementofthehumancondition,Malthuscutthemoffattheknees.Humanpopulation，heobserved,increasesatageometricrate，doublingaboutevery25yearsifunchecked,whileagriculturalproductionincreasesarithmetically—muchmoreslowly.Thereinlayabiologicaltrapthathumanitycouldneverescape。

“Thepowerofpopulationisindefinitelygreaterthanthepowerintheearthto

producesubsistenceforman,”hewroteinhisEssayonthePrincipleofPopulation。in1798

“Thisimpliesastrongandconstantlyoperatingcheckonpopulationfromthedifficultyof

subsistence.Malthus”thoughtsuchcheckscouldbevoluntary,suchasbirthcontrol，

abstinence,ordelayedmarriage—orinvoluntary，throughthescourgesofwar,famine,anddisease.Headvocatedagainstfoodreliefforallbutthepoorestofpeople，sincehefeltsuchaidencouragedmorechildrentobebornintomisery。ThattoughloveearnedhimanastycameoinEnglishliteraturefromnoneotherthanCharlesDickens.WhenEbenezerScroogeisaskedtogivealmsforthepoorinAChristmasCarol,theheartlessbankertellsthedo-goodersthatthedestituteshouldheadfortheworkhousesorprisons。Andifthey’dratherdiethangothere,“theyhadbetter，doanditdecreasethesurpluspopulation。”

7]Thisisn'tthefirsttimetheworldhasstoodatthebrinkofafoodcrisis-it’sonlythe

mostrecentiteration。In1943asmanyasfourmillionpeoplediedinthe“Malthusiancorrection"knownastheBengalFamine。Forthefollowingtwodecades,Indiahadtoimportmillionsoftonsofgraintofeeditspeople.

8]ThencametheGreenRevolution。Inthemid-1960s,asIndiawasstrugglingtofeeditspeopleduringyetanothercripplingdrought，anAmericanplantbreedernamed

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NormanBorlaugwasworkingwithIndianresearcherstobringhishigh—yieldingwheatvarietiestoPunjab。Thenewseedswereagodsend，saysKalkat，whowasdeputydirectorofagricultureforPunjabatthetime。By1970，farmershadnearlytripledtheirproductionwiththesameamountofwork。

However，theGreenRevolutionBorlaugstartedhadnothingtodowiththeeco-friendlygreenlabelinvoguetoday。Withitsuseofsyntheticfertilizersandpesticidestonurturevastfieldsofthesamecrop，apracticeknownasmonoculture，thisnewmethodof

industrialfarmingwastheantithesisoftoday’。sRatherorganic，trendWilliamS.Gaud，

，coinedthephrasein

1968todescribeanalternativetoRussia’sRedRevolution,in，whichsoldiersworkers，and

hungrypeasantshadrebelledviolentlyagainstthetsaristgovernment。ThemorepacifyingGreenRevolutionwassuchastaggeringsuccessthatBorlaugwontheNobelPeacePrizein1970。

Today，though，themiracleoftheGreenRevolutionisoverinPunjab:Yieldgrowthhasessentiallyflattenedsincethemid-1990s。Overirrigationhasledtosteepdropsinthewatertable，nowtappedby1。3milliontubewells，whilethousandsofhectaresofproductivelandhavebeenlosttosalinizationandwaterloggedsoils。Fortyyearsofintensiveirrigation,fertilization，andpesticideshavenotbeenkindtotheloamygrayfieldsofPunjab.

InthedustyfarmingvillageofPunjab,villageelderJagsirSingh，addsupthetoll:“We’vehad49deathsduetocancerinthelastfouryears，"hesays。“Mostofthemwere

’spoisonous，contaminatedwater。Yetpeoplestilldrinkit.”

Allthewhilethepopulationclockkeepsticking,withanetof2.5moremouthstofeedborneverysecond,whichleadsus,inevitably，backtoMalthus.

［13］Onabriskfalldaythathasputcolorintothecheeksofthemostdie—hard

Londoners,IvisittheBritishLibraryandcheckoutthefirsteditionofthebookthatstill

generatessuchheateddebate.Malthus’onstheEssayPrincipleofPopulationlookslikean

eighth—gradescienceprimer。Fromitsstrong，clearprosecomesthevoiceofahumbleparishpriestwhohoped,asmuchasanything，tobeprovedwrong.

［14］Thoughhisessaysemphasized“positivechecks”onpopulationfrom，famine

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disease,andwar,his“preventativechecks”mayhavebeenmoreimportant.Agrowingworkforce,Malthusexplained,depresseswages,whichtendstomakepeopledelaymarriageuntiltheycanbettersupportafamily.Delayingmarriagereducesfertilityrates,creatinganequallypowerfulcheckonpopulations.IthasnowbeenshownthatthisisthebasicmechanismthatregulatedpopulationgrowthinWesternEuropeforsome300yearsbeforetheindustrialrevolution.

15]Noneofthegreatclassicaleconomistssawtheindustrialrevolutioncoming,orthe

transformationofeconomiesandagriculturethatitwouldbringabout。Thecheap,readilyavailableenergycontainedincoal—andlaterinotherfossilfuels-unleashedthegreatestincreaseinfood，personalwealth,andpeopletheworldhaseverseen,enablingEarth’spopulationtoincreasesevenfoldsinceMalthus'sday。Andyethunger，famine，andmalnutritionarewithusstill,justasMalthussaidtheywouldbe。

Newscienceofhappiness

1]Formostofitshistory,psychologyhadconcerneditselfwithallthatailsthehuman

mind:anxiety，depression，neurosis，obsessions,paranoia，delusions.Overthedecades,afewpsychologicalresearchershadventuredoutofthedarkrealmofmentalillnessintothesunnylandofthementallyhaleandhearty。MartinSeligman，apsychologistatUniversityofPennsylvania，wantedtolookatwhatactivelymadepeoplefeelfulfilled，engagedandmeaningfullyhappy.Mentalhealth,hereasoned,shouldbemorethantheabsenceofmentalillness。Itshouldbesomethingakintoavibrantandmuscularfitnessofthehumanmindandspirit.

WhatMakesUsHappy

2]So，whathassciencelearnedaboutwhatmakesthehumanheartsing？Morethanonemightimagine—alongwithsomesurprisingthingsaboutwhatdoesn’tringourinnerchimes。Takewealth,forinstance,andallthedelightfulthingsthatmoneycanbuy。

ResearchbyDeiner,amongothers，hasshownthatonceyourbasicneedsaremet,additional

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incomedoeslittletoraiseyoursenseofsatisfactionwithlife。Neitherdoeducation,youth，marriageandsunnydays.

[3]Onthepositiveside，religiousfaithseemstogenuinelyliftthespirit,thoughit’stoughtotellwhetherit’stheGodpartorthecommunityaspectthatdoestheheavylifting.Friends？Agiantyes.A2002studyconductedattheUniversityofIllinoisbyDienerandSeligmanfoundthatthemostsalientcharacteristicssharedbythe10%ofstudentswiththehighestlevelsofhappinessandthefewestsignsofdepressionweretheirstrongtiestofriendsandfamilyandcommitmenttospendingtimewiththem.“Wordneedstobespread,”concludesDiener。“Itisimportanttoworkonsocialskills,closeinterpersonaltiesandsocialsupportinordertobehappy."

MeasuringOurMoods

[4］Ofcourse,happinessisnotastaticstate.Eventhehappiestofpeople—thecheeriest10％—feelblueattimes.Andeventhebluesthavetheirmomentsofjoy。Thathaspresentedachallengetosocialscientiststryingtomeasurehappiness。That，alongwiththesimplefactthathappinessisinherentlysubjective。Togetaroundthosechallenges,researchershavedevisedseveralmethodsofassessment.Dienerhascreatedoneofthemostbasicandwidelyusedtools,theSatisfactionwithLifeScale.Thoughsomescholarshavequestionedthevalidityofthissimple，five-questionsurvey，Dienerhasfoundthatitsquareswellwithothermeasuresofhappiness,suchasimpressionsfromfriendsandfamily,expressionofpositiveemotionandlowincidenceofdepression.

5]Justlastmonth,ateamledbyNobelPrizewinningpsychologistDanielKahnemanofPrincetonUniversityunveiledanewtoolforsizinguphappiness：thedayreconstructionmethod。Participantsfilloutalongdiaryandquestionnairedetailingeverythingtheydidonthepreviousdayandwhomtheywerewithatthetimeandratingarangeoffeelingsduringeachepisode（happy,impatient，depressed,worried，tired，etc.)onaseven—pointscale。

[6］Seligman,incontrast,putstheemphasisontherememberingself.hinkweare“Itourmemoriesmorethanwearethesumtotalofourexperiences,he”says。Forhim，studyingmoment—to-momentexperiencesputstoomuchemphasisontransientpleasures

anddispleasures。Happinessgoesdeeperthanthat,hearguesinhis2002bookAuthenticHappiness。Asaresultofhisresearch,hefindsthreecomponentsofhappiness:pleasure

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(“thesmiley-facepiece）”,engagement(thedepthofinvolvementwithone'sfamily，work,romanceandhobbies）andmeaning(usingpersonalstrengthstoservesomelargerend)。Ofthosethreeroadstoahappy,satisfiedlife，pleasureistheleastconsequential，heinsists:

“ThisisnewsworthybecausesomanyAmericansbuildtheirlivesaroundpursuingpleasure。

Itturnsoutthatengagementandmeaningaremuchmoreimportant。”

CanWeGetHappier?

[7］Oneofthebiggestissuesinhappinessresearchisthequestionofhowmuchourhappinessisunderourcontrol。DavidLykken,aresearcheratUniversityofMinnesota，gatheredinformationon4，000setsoftwinsborninMinnesotafrom1936through1955.Aftercomparinghappinessdataonidenticalvs。fraternaltwins,hecametotheconclusionthatabout50％ofone’ssatisfactionwithlifecomesfromgeneticprogramming.

Becauseofthelargeinfluenceofourgenes，Lykkenproposedtheideathateachofushasahappinesssetpointmuchlikeoursetpointforbodyweight.Nomatterwhathappensinourlife—good,bad,spectacular，horrific-wetendtoreturninshortordertooursetrange。

Somepost—tsunamiimageslastweekofsmilingAsianchildrenreturningtoschoolunderscoredthisamazingcapacitytorightourselves。

Whenheproposedhisset-pointtheoryeightyearsago，Lykkencametoadrasticconclusion.“Itmaybethattryingtobehappierisfutileasastryingtobetaller，"hewrote.

Hehassincecometoregretthatsentence.“Imadeadumbstatementintheoriginalarticle,"

hetellsTime。“Its’clearthatwecanchangeourhappinesslevelswidely-upordown.??

Lykken’srevisionistthinkingcoincideswiththeviewofthepositive—psychology

movement，whichhasputapremiumonresearchshowingyoucanraiseyourlevelofhappiness。ForSeligmanandlike-mindedresearchers,thatinvolvesworkingonthethreecomponentsofhappiness—gettingmorepleasureoutoflife(whichcanbedonebysavoring

sensoryexperiences,although,hewarns,arenever“yougoingtomakeacurmudgeonintoa

gigglyperson”),becomingmoreengagedinwhatyoudoandfindingwaysofmakingyourlifefeelmoremeaningful。

［10］Therearenumerouswaystodothat,theyargue.AttheUniversityofCaliforniaatRiverside，psychologistSonjaLyubomirskyisusinggrantmoneyfromtheNationalInstitutesofHealthtostudydifferentkindsofhappinessboosters.Oneisthegratitude

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journal—adiaryinwhichsubjectswritedownthingsforwhichtheyarethankful.Shehasfoundthattakingthetimetoconscientiouslycounttheirblessingsonceaweeksignificantlyincreasedsubjects?overallsatisfactionwithlifeoveraperiodofsixweeks，whereasacontrolgroupthatdidnotkee