cheryl
Administrator
Staff member
The Brain-Changing Magic of New Experiences - GQ
The psychological reasons why novelty—from visiting new places to socializing—makes us happier and healthier people.
Early on in the pandemic, when I spent most of my days confined to my apartment, I noticed something strange start to happen. Even the most mundane new experiences made me feel genuinely elated. When the trees bloomed in spring, they looked psychedelic. Seeing the sun glint on a nearby lake was as pleasurably disorienting as peering into a kaleidoscope. Taking a walk to a different neighborhood I had never explored might as well have been a trip to Marrakesh.
Before this, I would not describe myself as a person who enjoyed “the simple pleasures.” Previous springtimes were not spent thinking **** yeah, look at that tree! whenever I saw a cool tree. I had historically chased down constant newness out of abject fear of boredom. So when comparatively minor experiences that otherwise wouldn’t have registered made me exhilarated, I wanted to know exactly what was going on in my brain—and how I could make that feeling last.
“There is a connection between novelty and happiness,” Dr. Laurie Santos, a cognitive scientist who teaches the wildly popular “Psychology and the Good Life” course at Yale, told me. “Novel stimuli tend to activate regions of our brain that are associated with rewards.” There’s more than just the dopamine rush, though. “Novel things also capture our attention … you’re more likely to notice things and be present,” Santos continued. “There’s lots of evidence that simply being more present can improve our mood and happiness.”
The psychological reasons why novelty—from visiting new places to socializing—makes us happier and healthier people.
Early on in the pandemic, when I spent most of my days confined to my apartment, I noticed something strange start to happen. Even the most mundane new experiences made me feel genuinely elated. When the trees bloomed in spring, they looked psychedelic. Seeing the sun glint on a nearby lake was as pleasurably disorienting as peering into a kaleidoscope. Taking a walk to a different neighborhood I had never explored might as well have been a trip to Marrakesh.
Before this, I would not describe myself as a person who enjoyed “the simple pleasures.” Previous springtimes were not spent thinking **** yeah, look at that tree! whenever I saw a cool tree. I had historically chased down constant newness out of abject fear of boredom. So when comparatively minor experiences that otherwise wouldn’t have registered made me exhilarated, I wanted to know exactly what was going on in my brain—and how I could make that feeling last.
“There is a connection between novelty and happiness,” Dr. Laurie Santos, a cognitive scientist who teaches the wildly popular “Psychology and the Good Life” course at Yale, told me. “Novel stimuli tend to activate regions of our brain that are associated with rewards.” There’s more than just the dopamine rush, though. “Novel things also capture our attention … you’re more likely to notice things and be present,” Santos continued. “There’s lots of evidence that simply being more present can improve our mood and happiness.”