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Pole to Pole with Will Smith - Season 1 - Episode 04: The Himalayas
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00:13For most of my life, I felt really confident that I could build anything I wanted.
00:22I built all of the dreams that I ever dreamed.
00:30But a couple of years ago, after the Oscars, I realized that nothing can last forever.
00:43That shook me a little bit.
00:46So what do you do?
00:48Collapse?
00:51Dissolve?
00:52I began to ask myself the question,
00:58how can I be happy knowing that everything falls apart?
01:03What do you do?
01:06What do you do?
01:21What do you do?
01:40For the next leg on my pole-to-pole journey, I've landed in the Kingdom of Bhutan, to join
01:48a scientific expedition in search of one of life's most elusive treasures, the secret
01:54to happiness.
01:57Hey, Will!
01:59Welcome to Bhutan!
02:00Hi!
02:01Dekker and Danker!
02:03Yes, Will!
02:04Absolute pleasure, man!
02:08All to explore!
02:10Yes!
02:11Heading up the expedition are Bhutanese rider Danker Cheering...
02:15The road trip begins!
02:17...and Dekker Keltner, one of the world's leading professors in the science of happiness.
02:26How did you make your way to the study of happiness?
02:31I got interested in it because I think it's one of the biggest questions we can ask about
02:36life.
02:37You know, are you happy?
02:39I've been studying happiness and emotions for 30 years.
02:44In that time, the data tells us people are getting richer.
02:49People live longer.
02:50But what's astounding is that for many of us, our sense of well-being is actually going
02:56down.
03:00We have a lot of bad ideas about what makes us happy.
03:06I haven't been this excited in a long time.
03:09This is coming at a really interesting time in my life.
03:14You can have a lot of successes and it just doesn't bring you a lot of happiness.
03:18Yes.
03:19Definitely be interesting to get a sense of why that is.
03:22Right.
03:23So what do we do?
03:24You come to Bhutan!
03:25We come to Bhutan!
03:29Bhutan is very different compared to the rest of the world.
03:33Everything we strive for is people's happiness.
03:38In our country, we measure our development through the well-being and happiness of the
03:45people here.
03:46You measure the wealth of a nation by the happiness of the people.
03:51That is beautiful.
03:54And there's even a village where the happiest people live.
03:59They have been living in the mountains for centuries at 13,000 feet.
04:06We're actually heading to Laya.
04:09Laya?
04:10Yup.
04:10It's literally at the top of the country.
04:13It's like one of the highest settlements in the world.
04:17So I want to show you what's going on in that community.
04:20This is like the perfect Disney movie.
04:23The journey to the top of the mountain to find the secret of happiness.
04:28We are...
04:29No, no.
04:41Oh, yeah.
04:43I'm ready.
04:44Let's go.
04:46On our journey up to Laya, I'm going to introduce Will to some of the most important principles
04:51of happiness by putting him to the test in some extraordinary experiments.
04:56I thought it was really wise to start with the most simple source of happiness where people
05:02very often run into trouble.
05:11What is pleasure to me?
05:15Oh.
05:17You know, the big three.
05:21Money, sex, power.
05:28You know, when I set out, I told myself I wanted to be the biggest movie star in the world.
05:34And I was going to have as much money as I could have and I was going to be happy
05:39all
05:39the time.
05:40As you can imagine, that idea came crashing down.
05:46So I'm hoping you got something for me.
05:49Yeah.
05:50We're going to need to explore pleasure in the body.
05:52Oh, love it.
05:53What's it feel like in our heart?
05:55What happens in our brain?
05:56All right.
05:57Let's have some fun.
05:58Yeah.
06:05We're stopping.
06:11Here we are.
06:12Jeez.
06:14All right.
06:15So what are we doing?
06:16So in this exploration of pleasure, I need you to jump off that bridge.
06:21Oh, my God.
06:30See, because you said we were doing pleasure.
06:33I don't think you understand pleasure.
06:37We are wired to go out into the world and find exciting things.
06:43We seek out sex.
06:45We seek out delicious foods and even extreme sports.
06:50Very often, we find pleasure in pushing our body to the limits.
06:56We're going to track your heart rate and your breathing all the way down through the whole
07:00experience.
07:01So go right across there?
07:02Yeah, that's right.
07:05Decker went out on a limb.
07:07You just can't ask somebody to jump off a bridge when you first meet them.
07:14Your parents would say that to you.
07:16If your friends jumped off of a bridge, would you do it?
07:20And apparently, yes.
07:26Oh, check that out.
07:31How's that heart rate doing?
07:32The heart rate is certainly up.
07:34You'll be fine.
07:36Not ready.
07:36Not ready.
07:37Not ready.
07:38Not ready.
07:40Not ready.
07:45Not ready.
07:48Not ready.
07:49Not ready.
07:55Not ready.
08:00Not ready.
08:01Not ready.
08:02Not ready.
08:04Not ready.
08:05Not ready.
08:06Not ready.
08:07Not ready.
08:08Not ready.
08:08Not ready.
08:08Not ready.
08:08Not ready.
08:12Will!
08:21Hey, Will!
08:24There you go!
08:28I think I pulled.
08:30Wow, that's exciting!
08:32Get in here!
08:33Alright, now it's starting to get beautiful.
08:36Will, are you coming up anytime slow?
08:38I certainly hope so!
08:44This was a radical experiment.
08:46He's falling through space.
08:49And we're gathering measures of, you know,
08:51down to the millisecond of what his heart is doing
08:53and what his respiration is like.
08:55So, here's your heart.
08:57Clipping along, you're kind of nervous.
08:58And then you step up on the ledge,
09:00and your heart is almost 160 beats per minute.
09:03Wow!
09:04And then you jump, and as you start to
09:07reframe this acute stress, like,
09:09I'm not dying. The ropes worked.
09:11That then activates dopamine.
09:15Dopamine is a neurotransmitter
09:17that is activated
09:19by sources of pleasure.
09:22We have this quick high.
09:24And then by design,
09:25our body calms down.
09:28It's how we are chemically constructed.
09:31Pleasure is not meant to last.
09:32This is the hedonistic view of happiness.
09:35We could call that the willanistic view
09:37of happiness.
09:41I've lived most of my adult life here,
09:45climbing the mountain of success,
09:48climbing the mountain of money,
09:50you know, sex and power and fame.
09:52And I absolutely believed
09:57that would bring me happiness.
10:00That wasn't the case.
10:05I got a deeper understanding
10:07about the concept of pleasure.
10:10It's like drinking salt water.
10:12It just makes you thirstier.
10:21So, Will, yesterday,
10:22we explored pleasures of the body,
10:24and you chose to jump off a bridge.
10:26Yeah.
10:27You got a lot going on in your life,
10:29and what about your mind gets in the way?
10:32So, the second part of the happiness equation
10:34is stress.
10:42My father was military.
10:45So, I was raised with that military mindset,
10:50and I've always felt like,
10:55you know, bring it.
10:56I'll handle whatever.
10:59But I'm starting to look at it
11:02as something that's damaging to my health.
11:07I can always tell when I'm stressed,
11:10I'll usually wake up,
11:12and my neck will be locked.
11:14You know?
11:15And I'll be looking around corners like this.
11:18Here we are, sir.
11:25You're gonna swab this around your cheek
11:27to get cortisol,
11:28which is a stress hormone.
11:29A stress hormone.
11:31Right.
11:31And we're gonna read your cortisol levels
11:33and see how you're doing.
11:34Up or down
11:35as you probe me through the day.
11:37Yes, exactly right.
11:40Cortisol prepares your body
11:42to deal with threats and struggles of life.
11:46The problem is when it's chronically high.
11:49We tend to suffer in terms
11:51of our mental and physical health.
11:53Hello!
11:54Hello, everybody!
11:55Hey, hey, hey!
11:56Hey!
11:57Hooray!
11:58People call me the happy farmer.
12:00Hello, Mr. Will.
12:02Hey!
12:03People think I'm a very positive person.
12:05So I heard you're exploring happiness here.
12:07Yes, and I can feel your energy already,
12:10so I want some of that.
12:12I want some of that.
12:13I want some of that from you, too.
12:16Happiness for me is having
12:17right relationship with nature.
12:21Nature has a profound effect on our mind,
12:24which helps us to overcome any stress
12:26that we may be carrying in our body.
12:28Can I invite you for nature bathing?
12:30Nature bathing?
12:31Okay.
12:32Yeah, let's do that.
12:33I don't know what that is,
12:34but I'm with you.
12:40You can join me.
12:41I want to remove my shoes
12:43and I want to feel the ground.
12:44Remove your shoes and feel the ground.
12:47Would you love to do that?
12:48I wouldn't, but I will.
12:52I'm a city boy,
12:53so I was resistant to the nature bathing.
12:59I'm in nature,
13:00sometime without any clothes.
13:03I was like,
13:06old boy better keep his robe on.
13:11Salander.
13:14Okay.
13:17Ow!
13:19Stand this side.
13:23You can join me.
13:30Really?
13:32Maybe we can light here?
13:35It's a real test to just stop.
13:41You should relax.
13:44It's almost like my mind's a thousand miles per hour.
13:50You can't just sit there.
13:51You've got to take a walk.
13:53Your back hurts, Will.
13:53Get them, stand up, stretch.
13:56The energies of my mind almost attack.
13:59Ah!
14:05Like Mr. Will.
14:07Many years ago,
14:08I live in the city.
14:10I had nine to five job.
14:13So my mind was full of negative emotions.
14:16But I was looking for peace.
14:21So, what happened?
14:23In 2009, I had an auto car accident.
14:27Wow.
14:28I was disabled.
14:29I could not move.
14:30My whole body was casted.
14:32From there, how did you discover here?
14:38I was bedridden for around nine months.
14:41Nature is a place where I go find myself.
14:46When I was in physiotherapy,
14:48I went to many natural spring waters.
14:50I was there for months soaking in nature.
14:54It was a very profound experience for me.
14:58I was able to let go of the stress in my life.
15:03I'm going to get well.
15:04To live a life in harmony with nature.
15:14The sound of river down the valley.
15:19Research was finding that any relationship to nature
15:23can calm the body down.
15:26Bird song and the wonderful sounds of running water
15:31have positive effects on mood.
15:36The sense of smell.
15:38The flowers and trees.
15:41Makes you better able to focus.
15:44Open your eyes.
15:47You don't need to radically transform your life.
15:51Just 20 minutes a week can deactivate stress.
15:56But with a butterfly.
15:59And you're going to be happier.
16:06I think we heard you howling out there.
16:08I know, yeah, yeah.
16:11How did it go in there?
16:12It was interesting.
16:13I realized when my mind is going,
16:16it's like my eyes and ears are off.
16:18Right.
16:19And then I relaxed into it.
16:21I could see and feel why it was beautiful.
16:24Let's take a quick look at these data.
16:26Stuff we gathered from the cheek swab.
16:28What you see is as you hike up the hill
16:31to get ready for your forest bathing,
16:34you see a rise in cortisol.
16:35That's exactly what you would expect.
16:37And then remarkably, after being in nature,
16:40you drop precipitously in cortisol.
16:43Yeah, I certainly felt that.
16:45Like when you look around here,
16:48it's a whole lot easier to manage your cortisol
16:52than in traffic on the 405 in L.A.
16:55You know.
16:58My friends used to say that I only had one gear,
17:02and it was go all the time.
17:06It's now pretty clear to me that for most of my life,
17:11I didn't have a release valve.
17:16I was a cortisol bomb just ready to explode.
17:21I just wish I could have known that long ago.
17:33This is the last stop before I trek to Laya.
17:42So here you are.
18:00It's like from a different era.
18:06So we'll, on our search for happiness,
18:08we've kind of covered pleasure.
18:09Yep.
18:10And then stress.
18:11But there's a lot more to happiness than that.
18:13than the individual body.
18:15Mm-hmm.
18:16It's about meaning, you know, how we find purpose in life.
18:19Mm-hmm.
18:19And so what we thought is, you know,
18:21we would bring you to a place where they've been thinking
18:23about this for hundreds of years.
18:26So here you are.
18:28The monastery.
18:35For most of my life, I've had absolute purpose.
18:41You know, I was striving to be the biggest movie star in the world.
18:48I set very high standards for myself.
18:52Signing every autograph and shaking every hand and kissing every baby.
18:56And this is our dawn.
18:58I had a relentless focus on outward perfection.
19:06But it certainly didn't turn out as I had planned.
19:17First of all, sitting like a monk is very difficult.
19:26It's very difficult.
19:28That's why I couldn't be a monk.
19:32So, for you, what is happiness?
19:36How we find happiness is by realizing, like,
19:39everything that happens outside is impermanent.
19:42Everything is changing.
19:44And we use many examples.
19:47We can be rich and poor.
19:48Sometimes we can be very popular and sometimes not.
19:52I know about that personally.
19:55I tasted the top of my success, fame, money,
20:02and then watched it fall apart.
20:06I'm trying to find ways to stop worrying about that.
20:13All the attachment you have is never going to lead you to happiness.
20:19So, by trying to hold on to those things so hard becomes the actual source of my unhappiness.
20:33That's pretty accurate.
20:43I can see the emotion in you, in your face.
20:47Yeah.
20:48And that is actually the starting of our wisdom.
20:50When we encounter a very bad moment or incident in our life,
20:55there is no other way to find happiness than within yourself.
21:00Within me where?
21:05When we encounter a very bad moment,
21:08there is no other way to find happiness.
21:12There is no other way to find happiness.
21:17Death.
21:20I've never really thought about death or dying.
21:28What is the theory behind death?
21:43So, turn your full attention to the idea of your death.
21:50To contemplate what's important and what's unimportant.
22:02We would like to offer you the monk's robe.
22:10It's funny talking about death.
22:13I just don't think about it.
22:15I feel like maybe I'm hiding from it a little bit.
22:22My death, that's a heavy thought for me.
22:33Unlike Bhutan, one of the real shortcomings in our Western view of happiness
22:41is we ignore death.
22:44And I am like a classic example.
22:49Rolf was my younger brother.
22:53We really did almost everything together.
22:58Five years ago,
23:02he, uh...
23:06So, Rolf got colon cancer.
23:12So, I get a call.
23:14Drive two and a half hours to his house.
23:19He was in an unconscious state.
23:24And then passed away at 6am, I think.
23:30And I was blown off the map.
23:35I was at my low point in life.
23:39Nothing made much sense.
23:42And so, I went to the mountains.
23:49And I talked deeply to the brotherhood of monks.
23:54Reflecting upon death changed my life.
23:59And I sharpened my sense of what really matters.
24:03And for me, that's helping people find happiness.
24:09And I wanted Will to find his own sense of understanding.
24:14So, we had to put him to the test.
24:32We believe that when we die,
24:34we see everything in our lives.
24:35we see everything in our lives.
24:41The Mark Stance is a presentation of death.
24:44Where you face the demons in your life.
24:54You see your true self.
25:05I have a very active imagination.
25:10When the mask dance started, I was like,
25:13Oh no.
25:14This is it.
25:21The music.
25:22The fire.
25:25Those frightening masks and darker energies.
25:31I know that it's set up and it's a ritual.
25:35But it forces you to look deep down inside.
25:47Will Smith!
25:48The Grammy-winning rapper.
25:49One of the biggest movie stars in the world right now.
25:51I make this look good.
25:52Let's welcome Will Smith!
25:54I was always attractive when I was back.
25:57Like in the studio, it's almost triple platinum now.
25:59While the other guy's sleeping.
26:02I'm working.
26:04You have this phenomenal career.
26:06As long as they scream at Will, I'm cool with that.
26:09The infamous slap at the scene around the world.
26:12At your highest moment.
26:14Unacceptable.
26:15Stunt.
26:16You blame it forever.
26:17That's when the devil comes for you.
26:29That's when the devil comes for you.
26:35So last time we saw you, you were going into the monastery, man.
26:38Yeah.
26:40And the dance.
26:41What was that like?
26:42I was like, yo, this is scary for real.
26:47And at the same time, it's your own mind.
26:50It's like what you're scared of is you.
26:53And I know this is so weird.
26:56Right.
26:59After the Oscars, I mean, that night was brutal for everybody.
27:06But for me, I had a bizarre sense of relief.
27:12Right.
27:12That the image of Will Smith was dead.
27:17And it was like, I can be me.
27:22Right.
27:22Somebody who's actually flawed and scared.
27:27Right.
27:28And embarrassed.
27:31Yeah.
27:32And staring down your fears of death introduces you to that space of freedom.
27:43After my time at the monastery, now when something presents itself to me, I'm like,
27:51am I going to care about that on my deathbed?
27:57And if the answer's no, then I'm not going to let myself care about it now.
28:04We're good to go?
28:05I think we got two miles ahead of us.
28:07This is going to be a real walk.
28:14Hey, watch it.
28:17I was very eager to take Will to Laya.
28:21Because I wanted him to discover what happiness looks like high up in the Himalayas.
28:28In one of the most remote communities.
28:33We've begun our ascent into Laya.
28:38It's the highest settlement in Bhutan.
28:41Yes.
28:42I'm the happiest.
28:43So it's high in multiple ways.
28:47As we were walking up the mountain towards Laya, it just felt mythological.
28:55This hard road climbing to the highest altitude I've ever been.
29:05It feels very hard to breathe.
29:09This is the road to these people's town.
29:12I don't know if you can see how little that road is.
29:15Is it going to get colder or warmer as we go up?
29:18Super cold.
29:19It's going to be super cold.
29:21We're heading into trouble, man.
29:30We are here at mid-camp.
29:39It is 29.9 degrees.
29:47That's not enough degrees.
29:51We're at 12,000 right now.
29:55Can't even tie my damn shoes without getting winded.
29:59But tomorrow we're going to 13,000 feet.
30:03What makes people live up here?
30:08And they the happiest people in the country.
30:13They're going to have to show me.
30:31There you go, sir.
30:35Wow.
30:37Every five years, there's a nationwide happiness survey.
30:42And the happiest people have been in Laya.
30:48Today, we regard them as the guardians of the mountains.
30:53Finally, we're here in Laya.
30:55Hello.
30:57Thank you for your beautiful song.
31:07She's like, you're handsome.
31:11She's like, you're handsome.
31:15.
31:18.
31:21Oh, absolutely.
31:25.
31:29.
31:31That's beautiful.
31:34Wash your hands.
31:35Wash your hands?
31:36Okay.
31:45I don't cook much.
31:47And by much, I mean like, not at all.
31:51We went quickly from, hey, how you doing?
31:55Nice to meet you.
31:56To come in my kitchen and cook with me.
31:59La is yes?
32:00Yeah, yeah.
32:01La, la.
32:02It doesn't happen in Philly like that.
32:06Okay.
32:10All right, let me try it, let me try it.
32:11And I'm scared, because I don't want to chop my finger off.
32:15How am I doing?
32:16We need more?
32:18La.
32:19How many people are we cooking for?
32:25A hundred people.
32:27We should hurry up.
32:41I feel like I'm good at this.
32:43Good, good.
32:44Very good.
32:45Good, good.
32:46You can say, that's hot.
32:48That's hot.
32:49That's hot.
32:50You're hot.
32:52You're hot.
32:53You're hot.
32:53You're hot.
32:54You're hot.
32:56I can tell she thought I was cute.
32:58She was happy I was there.
33:07I am so intrigued by Laia and the joy that you exude.
33:16How did you learn this way growing up?
33:21How did you learn this way growing up?
33:28How did you learn this way to get to the baby?
33:33How did you learn this way?
33:35What do you learn this way?
33:38How did you learn?
33:41I was able to get out of the daughters,
33:48and when you walk away from the NSE to come back,
33:49for example, you can do them,
33:49and you can do them,
33:52and you can do them with a lot of things.
34:07So, you're here, um, alone.
34:30Mpah Sang has suffered excruciating circumstances.
34:38I don't think that it's a coincidence that life in Laia is difficult, yet they are some
34:49of the happiest people on Earth.
34:53I don't totally see it yet, but I can definitely feel that there's a correlation.
35:15Life in Laia, it's cold, and it's remote.
35:23Electricity only recently arrived, there's no running water.
35:28It is hard.
35:32But it's the way this community faces these challenges that I think is essential to their
35:40happiness.
35:47Festivals are very important here, and central to festivals here is archery.
35:56In fact, it's the national sport.
35:58It brings people from all walks of life to witness the match.
36:03You have your team set there waiting for you.
36:06Oh, my team?
36:07This is our team.
36:08Our team.
36:08And this is our worthy opponent.
36:10Okay.
36:10The game of archery in Bhutan is very different compared to the rest of the world.
36:17Instead of shooting at one direction, the archers actually shoot across each other.
36:25Wait, we shooting at each other?
36:28Is this tournament to the death?
36:30No.
36:32Tell me the truth.
36:33When was the last time somebody accidentally got hit with an arrow?
36:36Tell me the truth.
36:37Be honest.
36:38Maybe a month ago.
36:40Oh.
36:40In another part of the village.
36:42I was okay.
36:43I was making a joke.
36:49Let's have some fun.
36:51I am a very competitive person.
36:59Good shot.
37:01People say it's not whether you win or lose.
37:05It's how you play the game.
37:07It's your turn.
37:11Growing up in America, you would only say that because you lost.
37:23Oh.
37:25But I did love that hit for Miss We All Dance.
37:37Oh.
37:45Oh.
37:47Oh.
37:49Come on, man.
37:52Come on, man.
37:53Come on, man.
37:54Come on.
37:54Come on.
37:56Come on.
37:58Come on, man.
37:58OK, man.
38:00Come on.
38:00This is crazy, you know, sir?
38:02This is wild.
38:04The event is being called because of the wind.
38:09Does that mean we win?
38:11No, it's not fair to say that we won the matches.
38:14Damn it.
38:17oh that was fantastic you know the wind shut us down it was one to zero and so somehow in
38:24Bhutan that's a draw I saw you bust out some moves in the dance after that archery it's so
38:29funny I wasn't even thinking about that but it's like all of a sudden I felt accepted right right
38:36I'm a part of the group if they're letting me do the dance and learning the words but it's like
38:44wow okay so something just dawned on me
38:50it's collective harmony yeah yeah it's about togetherness yes it is what do you make of that
38:57of course I want that I want you know everybody wants a tight-knit family but you certainly can't
39:04do that if your priority is something else yeah agreed you know as a scientist I really take
39:11hard in what Charles Darwin wrote a lot of people think he was all about dog eat dog survival of
39:17the
39:17fittest and he wasn't right Darwin was really about survival of the kindest or friendliest yes it's a
39:24mentality yeah I had a goal I had a mission I wanted to be the biggest movie star on earth
39:31right but I'm
39:33not one of the best friends on earth I'm not one of the best fathers on earth it was my
39:39kids that
39:40started making me aware that my heart wasn't as available yeah it's a big part of why I'm here
39:47yeah I got work to do or you look up and your kids are 28 and they don't come home
39:52for Christmas
39:57the lives people are so happy because they spend enormous amounts of time together
40:09they share food
40:14they revel with dance they are kind and warm to each other so they're doing all the things that we
40:30are
40:30hungering for we have a need to belong when you're deprived of that it's like being deprived of food
40:45or water or sleep I guess we're going in one two three right left right
41:03it dawned on me we might be asking the wrong question how can I be happy
41:10but it seems like the question might be how can we be happy that's the question they ask in life
41:39I just got a chill today is my father's birthday he would have been 81 today 81 he would have
41:46been 81
41:47one that's great all right I'm ready let's go
41:52I want to touch challenge the day catch him searching for not how to search out of the catch
42:16we are all dropped into this existential confusion and given the job to figure it out
42:30now I'm kind of realizing you know if you let life lead it'll take you really interesting places
42:41walking up to the highest point to have the flag reach for the heavens as an honor to those who
42:52have passed on
42:53it's a beautiful ceremony
43:17in that moment of suffering and loss
43:24we were connected by letting go
43:44I never really thought of letting go
43:50as being a part of happiness
43:56my mindset was always about gaining and keeping but there's something in surrendering that is ecstatic
44:17we are renowned for being cannibals
44:20me especially
44:22all right
44:24let's go
44:27pinitas is a whole new world
44:31I'm not a great swimmer
44:33I don't care I want you to get underwater right now
44:36let's go
44:40let's go
44:42so
45:05and
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