To Get Happier, Make Yourself Smaller

Early in my academic career, I noticed that one of the most popular classes on campus was Introduction to Astronomy, a general-science course that anyone could take. The students all loved it—especially the non-science majors. I asked one of them, an economics student, why she enjoyed astronomy so much. She didn’t say anything about stars, but she did say something powerful about earthly existence. “When I go into class on Thursday mornings, I usually am stressed out about my life,” she told me. “But 90 minutes later, I feel relief because I am just a speck on a speck.”