Can you live up to the challenge of living life well? Do you know how to live a happier, healthier, more helpful life?

On Thursday, March 18, Dr Nick Baylis, Times columnist and Lecturer in Positive Psychology in the Department of Social and Developmental Psychology at the University of Cambridge, will introduce the fast emerging field of Positive Psychology - the scientific pursuit of the most promising routes to a more healthy, successful, and satisfying life. The aim is to benefit not only individuals but also the communities in which we live and work. But don’t mistake it for positive thinking, which is merely a thinking technique related to optimism. Positive Psychology is a whole new field of scientific inquiry launched in the USA in 1998, and championed by leading figures at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Stanford and Yale.

Since the Second World War, psychologists have focused almost exclusively on the study and repair of negative behaviour and mental illness. In doing so, psychology has accidentally neglected how to make our lives more fulfilling. In an attempt to restore a balance, Positive psychology focuses far more on human strengths rather than weaknesses, and how lives can go well rather than wrong.

The seminar will be held at the Babbage Lecture Theatre, New Museums Site, off Downing Street, from 7.30pm-8.30pm.

For more information on the seminar or The Cambridge Science Festival, please phone 01223 766 766.


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