耶鲁大学最难的课 作业竟然是睡觉？|Yale’s most popular class goes online
学习本该是件快乐的事，而快乐又是人类本能。但现在，连快乐也需要学习了。
世界知名高校耶鲁大学今年一月刚刚推出了一门“快乐”课程，希望能让学生在学习和生活之间找到平衡，心理上更加快乐，生活中更加幸福。
The most popular course in Yale’s 317 years of history is going online this month. People from all around the globe will now be able to access the “Psychology and the Good Life” at online platform “Coursera”.
“快乐”课程全名 “Psychology and the Good Life”， 即“心理学和美好生活”。短短几天，报名人数达到1272之多。
The online version has been renamed “The Science of Well-Being” as it will be a short adaptation of the original one with about five lectures on offer.
这个数字意味着全校四分之一的学生都报名了这门课，使之轻松问鼎“史上最受欢迎”的耶鲁课程。
Yale’s “happy class” was introduced at the beginning of this year. At its peak, 1,272 students signed up for the class, accounting for one fourth of Yale’s undergraduates and making the class the most popular in the Ivy League school's history.
开这门课的教授Laurie Santos推测，这门课如此受欢迎的原因在于学生们在高中时为了学位只能把快乐放在次要地位，并养成了有害的生活习惯，以至于许多像耶鲁这样的高校正面临着“心理健康危机”。
Laurie Santos, the psychology professor behind the course, speculated that the insane demand was because students have deprioritized their happiness to gain admission to the school, and adopted unhealthy lifestyle habits since then which further grew into “the mental health crises we are seeing at places like Yale”.
Laurie Santos
根据2013年耶鲁大学委员会出具的报告显示，超过一半的耶鲁本科生都曾寻求过心理健康方面的辅导。
“In reality, a lot of us are anxious, stressed, unhappy, and numb. The fact that a class like this has such large interest speaks to how tired students are of numbing their emotions – both positive and negative – so they can focus on their work, the next step, the next accomplishment,” a student enrolled in the class said in an interview with the New York Times.
Laurie Santos delivers one of her biweekly lectures. She says the course aims to not only make individual students happier, but also change the culture at Yale. /Photo by Monica Jorge for The New York Times.
Santos教授表示，在耶鲁，“拼命”几乎已经成为一种学校文化，她不得不用留作业的方式“逼迫”学生改变现有的不良生活习惯。
A 2013 report issued by Yale University showed that over half of undergraduate students had sought mental health care during their college years.
比如——这个星期内至少三天保证七小时以上睡眠。
Offering such a large course is not without challenges: It requires 24 teaching fellows drawn from various departments and may have driven down enrollment in other courses whose times conflict with it. /Photo by Monica Jorge for The New York Times.
课程还包括学会感恩、“日行一善”、减少拖延症、建立良好的社交关系等“积极心理学”内容。
Concern over students’ mental health has led universities across the US to offer courses about positive psychology long before Yale introduced its class.
“很多都是常识”，一位耶鲁学生在上过课之后表示，“但是确实是只有在它们跟学业挂钩的前提下，我才有动力去实践这些内容”。
凌晨四点半的哈佛图书馆
其实，很多美国大学比耶鲁更早地开设了“快乐”课程——
2006年哈佛大学 泰勒·本·沙哈尔教授开设的“幸福课”，"Positive Psychology 1504"（积极心理学）；
2014年加州大学伯克利大学开设的网络课程 "The Science of Happiness"（快乐的科学）；
还有2016年美国马里兰大学开设的 "Living the Good Life: Psychology and the Good Life"（美好生活：快乐心理学）。
然而，学业压力的问题，又何止止步于美国，止步于高校呢？
Chinese students, especially those in primary and middle schools, are enduring even greater pressure than college students in the US.
中国国内学生“被学习支配的恐惧”明显更加低龄化，情况也更严峻。
据教育类APP阿凡题2017年发布的《中国中小学写作业压力报告》显示，中国学生的课业压力“领跑全球”。
In a report issued by an online education app in 2017, primary school students in China spend on average 2.82 hours on homework – three times the world average. Over 81 percent of primary school students, 93 percent of junior high school students, and 94 of their senior high school peers go to bed after 10 p.m. because of their study load.
为此，中国也一直致力于教育改革，以保障学生的身心健康，今年更是出台了一个接一个“动真格儿”的新政策。
The concept of “happy education” emerged in China in recent years.
比如，浙江和黑龙江等多地相继出台推迟中小学早上上学改革的相关举措，让学生早上“从容”地上学；
整治校外培训班，多个奥数比赛被勒令叫停；
杭州部分城区的学生九、十点钟写不完作业可以不做，优先睡眠。
A raft of new policies has been issued to protect the physical and mental health of Chinese students.
This year, the east China’s Zhejiang province and northeast China’s Heilongjiang province delayed the start time of schools, and scrapped a number of extracurricular programs and tournaments, especially math matches. In some districts of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, students were encouraged to prioritize sleeping over finishing their homework.
学习，就算不快乐，起码不应该痛苦。
Being happy is the “hardest class” as Santos maintained.
好消息是，在千呼万唤之下，耶鲁决定将“快乐”课程分享给全球所有需要它的人们，网络课程名为“The science of well-being”（幸福的科学），已经于三月初正式上线，目前已经可以开始报名，但课程材料还未上传。
比起正式课程，在线课程会更加简短浓缩。届时国内的小伙伴们也可以从网上体验这份“快乐”。
如果迫不及待的话，小编还准备了10个普遍被科学论证过的让人变得快乐的小tip~一起来尝试一下吧~
Here are 10 tips to help you be happier:
1） Exercise: Seven minutes a day keep stress at bay
运动，7分钟就足够
2） Sleep More: You'll be less sensitive to negative emotions
充足的睡眠是压制负面情绪的好帮手
3） Spend More Time With Friends/Family: Money can't buy happiness
多跟家人和朋友相聚
4） Get Outside More: Happiness is maximized at 57°F (13.9°C)
多出去走走，13.9度是最令人身心愉悦的温度哦~
5） Help Others: 100 hours a year is the magical number
多帮助他人，平均1年100个小时是最佳见证“奇迹的时刻”
6） Practice Smiling: It reduces pain, improves your mood, and help you think better
笑一笑十年少。笑容可以帮你减少疼痛，改善情绪，思维更清晰
7） Plan a Trip: It helps even if you don't actually take one
计划一场旅行，即使最后没有真的去成也可以帮你你改善心情
8） Meditate: It rewires your brain for happiness
冥想
9） Move Closer to Work: A short commute is more valuable than a big house
搬到离公司更近的地点住
10) Express Gratitude: It increases happiness and satisfaction
学会感恩
就像耶鲁教授Santos说的那样，“快乐”说起来简单做起来难，它是耶鲁最后欢迎的课程，同时也是最难的一课。
毕竟，我们修的不是快乐，我们修的是人生。