“We spend money we don’t have,” observed Woody Allen, “to buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like.” Three years ago, an economics professor, an environmental watchdog, and an award-winning television producer set out to see if Allen’s humorous insight was true—do we Americans purchase things to feel better about ourselves and impress others? After carefully examining our frantic American lifestyle, they diagnosed us with a fictitious disease they creatively called affluenza. 

A few years ago my university started videotaping courses and posting lectures on iTunes U and YouTube. Two of my courses were selected and the effect it had on me was profound.

Marriage is one of the most reliable indicators of happiness. Martin Seligman writes in his book Authentic Happiness that “marriage is robustly related to happiness,” is one of the best predictors of life satisfaction, and that married couples express the highest levels of happiness and satisfaction.

When marriage is done well, couples not only experience the wonderful emotional and physical intimacy of being “on the same page” but also frequently sense a deeper, more profound, spiritual connection. While some couples think of it as being “soul-mates,” there is an aspect to it that is qualitatively different...

Whether single or dating, engaged or married, humans have a love-hate relationship with being in relationships. They are so simple in design, yet so complex in practice. When we are in love, we feel a flood of pleasurable emotions: from the warm calm of contentment to the overwhelming obsession of passion. But when we feel disconnected from others...