Why do you do an activity? To earn money? Feel successful? Beat boredom? There are plenty of reasons why we do things. Professor Christopher Hsee and colleagues, at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, say their studies suggest that the deeper reason we do activities is because we hate being idle. People need a reason to be busy, and without a reason they choose to be idle — yet even a false reason can motivate them to be busy. The researchers also say busy people are happier than idle people.

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What’s one of the best ways to discover how to live a long and happy life? Study elderly people.

US writer and researcher Dan Buettner is doing exactly that. He travels the world studying centenarians, people aged 100 and over, tracking their behavior to find what makes for a long and happy life.
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