science

Project Happiness

Project Happiness is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Project Happiness rather than just read about it. In short: Project Happiness is a 2011 documentary film created, narrated, and produced by Randy Taran and directed by John Sorenson. The documentary follows students on three continents as they search for the meaning of "lasting happiness".

Key takeaways

Project Happiness belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Project Happiness to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Project Happiness from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Project Happiness is a 2011 documentary film created, narrated, and produced by Randy Taran and directed by John Sorenson. The documentary follows students on three continents as they search for the meaning of "lasting happiness".

Background Project Happiness started as personal story. The film came into being after creator Randy Taran discovered that her daughter was stressed, saying "I want to be happy, I just don't know how". Randy, after speaking with experts, discovered that this situation was more widespread than she had known. Determined to find a way for her and other parents to speak to their children about happiness, she decided to make a film to educate and initiate the conversation for youth, families and the communities to which they belong.

Film context The film connects students from three continents – North America, Africa and Asia – and throughout their senior year, they students discuss amongst themselves with several notable individuals one central question: "What brings lasting happiness?" During the filming, the students involved conducted interviews with scientists, celebrities, and world political and spiritual leaders including Richard Gere, Dr. Richard Davidson, Adam Yauch, the late Nirmala Deshpande, Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, George Lucas, and Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama.

Reception This film had a sneak preview at the University of Southern California and the Daily Trojan said of the film "Project Happiness is a journey applicable not only to graduating high school students, but people of all ages." The film has been chosen as an Official Selection at the Seoul International Youth Film Festival in Seoul, South Korea as well as the WorldKids International Film Festival in Mumbai, India. Proceeds from the film go to the Project Happiness nonprofit organization.

See also Race to Nowhere Academically Adrift Waiting for "Superman"

References

External links Official website Happiness Resources Project Happiness at IMDb

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Project Happiness

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Project Happiness claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Project Happiness before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Project Happiness ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Project Happiness

In research: Project Happiness appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Project Happiness in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Project Happiness is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2011 English-language films, 2011 documentary films, 2011 films, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Project Happiness outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Project Happiness in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Project Happiness means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Project Happiness out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Project Happiness in simple terms?

Why does Project Happiness matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Project Happiness?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Project Happiness.