Hidden Brain
You 2.0: The Path to Contentment + Your Questions Answered on Conversations
14 Jul 2025
Many of us believe that hard work and persistence are the key to achieving our goals. But is that true when it comes to the pursuit of happiness? This week, we revisit a conversation with psychologist Iris Mauss, who explains why happiness can seem more elusive the harder we chase it, and what we can do instead to build a lasting sense of contentment. Then, we bring you the latest edition of our segment "Your Questions Answered." Behavioral scientist Alison Wood Brooks answers listener questions on how to be a better conversationalist — from what to do when the other person isn't contributing, to how to stop others from interrupting.Miss our original episodes with Alison Wood Brooks? They're called "We Need to Talk" and "The Conversations that Bring Us Closer." Do you have follow-up questions, thoughts, or ideas about the pursuit of happiness after listening to our conversation with Iris Mauss? If you'd be comfortable sharing your thoughts with the Hidden Brain audience, please record a voice memo on your phone and email it to us at [email protected]. Use the subject line "happiness." Thanks!
Full Episode
This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedanta. In the summer of 1776, 33-year-old Thomas Jefferson drafted one of the most important documents in the history of the United States. The Declaration of Independence laid out a vision for a new country and said all men had God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
86 changes to the draft were made by John Adams, Ben Franklin, and others. Like many writers, Thomas Jefferson is said to have been unhappy with the changes his editors recommended. But the line about how we are all entitled to the pursuit of happiness endured.
In recent years, many elements of the Declaration of Independence have come under scrutiny, including its omission of women, the poor, and enslaved people. We've examined some of these ideas in an earlier episode that looked at Thomas Jefferson's complicated life story.
Today on the show, we continue our U2.0 series with a favorite episode that explores Jefferson's psychological claim about what makes for a good life. What happens in our minds when we pursue happiness this week on Hidden Brain. When you ask people what they want in life, nearly everyone will tell you they want to be happy.
After all, that's the point of finding a great job, starting a family, or going on wonderful vacations. At the University of California, Berkeley, psychologist Iris Moss studies a paradox associated with our pursuit of happiness. Iris Moss, welcome to Hidden Brain.
Thank you so much for having me.
Iris, about a decade ago, you achieved a major milestone in the life of a scholar. You got tenure at a great university. How long had you dreamed of becoming a professor at a school like UC Berkeley?
I think forever. So this was a really big deal for me. I'd been working toward this for a long time and had been really looking forward to that moment, hoping I would get tenure. Getting tenure is a big deal, of course. I would get to be with the most lovely colleagues I could imagine and doing what I love in a beautiful area.
Now, whenever I visit UC Berkeley, I'm struck by how beautiful it is. I mean, Berkeley really is absolutely gorgeous. So mission accomplished, Iris?
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