Immersion: The Science of the Extraordinary and the Source of Happiness

by  Paul J. Zak  (Author)

The US just fell out of the top 20 countries for happiness in research by Oxford University. Why aren't we happy all the time?  

 The short answer is that our brains do not allow this. The brain works on changes, not levels. In other words, we need contrasts to know when we are happy or sad. Even the U.S. Declaration of Independence states that humans are designed to pursuehappiness, not be satiated with it. While happiness is a fleeting state, thriving is a long-term condition associated with consistent positive mood, energy, and increased healthspan. The notion of thriving derives from eudaimonia in Aristotelian virtue ethics and research in positive psychology on satisfaction with life (Heinaman, 1988; Diener et al., 2010). A person is thriving when they are socially-emotionally engaged and when episodic stress resolves during rest and recreation (Merritt et al., 2022).

 So, what should individuals do to actively increase their own satisfaction with life? I call the five most important things people that improve thriving the Five Pillars.  They are:

1. Eating a healthy diet based primarily on plants

2. Regular moderate to vigorous exercise

3. Sleeping well

4. Having a rich social life

5. Identifying and acting on one's life purpose.

Let's go through these.  Diet, exercise and sleep: These are well-known and there are a variety of apps that can help people track and improve them. Next up, how about a rich social life? The kicker here is the term "rich."  Does that mean the number of friends? Or how often one visits friends? What about family relationships? How about saying hello to a stranger in an elevator (something I like to do)? If we cannot define a rich social life, then we cannot measure it, and if we cannot measure it, we cannot manage it to improve thriving. In fact, the research from Oxford University showed that about one-half of our happiness is due to social relationships so this is vitally important.

Research from my lab over the last twenty years has identified how the brain values social-emotional experiences.  I named this network 'Immersion" and developed technology that allows anyone to measure their neurologic Immersion continuously in real-time to quantify if their social life is sufficiently rich. The Immersion brain network is driven by two core aspects of our social lives. First, to have a valuable experience, we must be present rather than distracted. Second, social experiences must generate emotional resonance.  

Being present is associated with the neurotransmitter dopamine binding to the brain's prefrontal cortex, generating attention to what is occurring. The second component, emotional resonance, was traced by my lab to the action of another neurochemical, oxytocin. Dopamine and oxytocin interact in a complex dance that induces neuroelectrical activity. 

A decade ago, my team and I developed a technique to capture neurologic Immersion from the brain's cranial nerves--the bundle of fibers that connects the brain to the peripheral nervous system. The brain is embodied and we assiduously traced out the relationship between a one-second frequency continuous signal from the cranial nerves to the activity of dopamine and oxytocin in the brain. We then wrote algorithms that enable us to measure Immersion from signals pulled from smartwatches and fitness wearables.  

OK, that was a lot of neuroscience. Here's the key point: we have shown that individuals who get six or more peak Immersion waves per day are healthier and happier (Merritt & Zak, 2024, Zak et al., 2022). A peak Immersion wave is an experience that lasts for three minutes or longer and is highly valued neurologically. Easy, peasy you say? Peak Immersion experiences are metabolically costly and when they occur, the brain invests resources to fully process what is happening and why it is important. These experiences are also saved in long-term memory and on reflection are seen as enjoyable and meaningful (Zak, 2022).  

Here's how you get them: service. My research has shown that helping behaviors--serving others--is the most effective way to have peak Immersion experiences. Helping others not only produces a peak Immersion experience for the helper, but the person being helped often also has a peak Immersion occurrence as well, especially when the help is unexpected.  

For example, I hike regularly and decided to volunteer to help clear trails that I use. Nearly every hiker and mountain biker who passed me while I was working on the trails thanked me, often profusely. This response made volunteering feel great and, on measurement, generated peak Immersion. Besides feeling good, highly valued experiences also improve immune responses and make sleep more refreshing. When you invest in others, your social life is rich and you are leaning into a key aspect of flourishing.

This brings to Pillar five: purpose.  People who live lives of purpose are nearly always focused on helping others. If your purpose is to be a world-class rock climber, you rarely do this alone, even if some training is solitary and produces peak Immersion. Put differently, adding a social component to any experience will increase its neurologic Immersion, full stop. We are social creatures and we need to engage with others to truly thrive. My research has shown that those who have six or more peak Immersion experiences a day are happy and full of energy. Six daily peak experiences should be your goal. 

The Five Pillars specify the actions you should take to thrive: diet, exercise, sleep, service and purpose.  Put these into action and you will live longer, happier, and healthier.  

-Paul

Paul J. Zak, PhD, is University Professor at Claremont Graduate University, co-founder of Immersion Neuroscience and author of Immersion: The Science of the Extraordinary and the Source of Happiness.