And it’s a good one. But really, aren’t they all?
Here’s the inspiration for this hiatus: a study published in Psychological Science found that any smile, including a fake smile, decreases stress. The study measured smiles so completely fake (you’re going to smile when you read this) that they weren’t even made by study participants themselves: in some cases researchers used chopsticks to manipulate the lips of participants into the shape of a smile. Then they were subjected to a series of stress-inducing multi-tasking activities. The smilers heart rates and stress levels were measured throughout and were lower than the non-smiling control group. Genuine smiles (known as Duchenne smiles) were the most effective stress-busters, but even chopstick-created smiles worked. (The title of the study: “Grin and Bear It: The Influence of Manipulated Positive Facial Expression on the Stress Response.”)
In conclusion, happiness makes us smile. And smiling makes us happy. And now, on with the video portion of today’s presentation (feel free to click the full-screen icon in the lower right hand corner of the film to enlarge the image):