We've all heard the phrase "Money can't buy happiness." Yet this world (especially this country) is obsessed with increasing GDP per capita and continuing to give us more and more expensive things that we buy because we think they will make us happier (laptops, mp3 players, swimming pools, jewelry...) It seems as though we never achieve happiness but continue to want more. This raises the question: Is happiness something that can ever even be achieved?
To begin addressing this multifaceted question, I consulted a list entitled "Why I have been the happiest" that I wrote a while ago and stumbled upon just yesterday:
I was on a regular sleep schedule.
I just finished exercising.
I didn't have to do things that I didn't want to do.
I felt valued.
I was with friends that care about me.
I had time to follow through with my creative ideas.
I was busy enough to not waste time on facebook.
I was working towards something I cared about.
I felt like I had accomplished something important.
I felt like I was becoming a better person.
I felt like I was making other people feel happy.
Note that "I just got a new ipod/laptop" didn't make the cut when I wrote this list, even though I think it was shortly after I got my laptop. Reflecting upon this list, I see that I don't get as much happiness from things as from feelings. In fact, my list actually shows that too much facebook wastes my time and makes me feel like I am unhappy. I should concede though that if I didn't have enough money to buy food, clothing on my back, and shelter, then I'm sure more money would make me a lot happier. Also that living in this world I do buy things sometimes. But if I lived in the early 1900's and didn't know that any of these things existed, I think I would be just as happy without them. So maybe happiness for me isn't having what I want.
I also find that many of my reasons start with "I felt" or describe something that I can control (I can decide whether or not I want to exercise, I can decide what I want to work towards, I can decide whether I care about what I am working towards). This implies that happiness comes from within. It has less to do with what is happening around me but rather what I do about it and how I feel about it. So, maybe the best way to become extremely happy would be to convince myself that I am extremely happy. But does this work?
To acquire recommended methods of achieving happiness, I consulted WikiHow's "How to be happy." Although I didn't find it particularly helpful, it was interesting. The first step listed to be happy is to "Win a Nobel prize" because it "has a major impact on your self worth." So in order to make the world a happier place, we all have to win Nobel prizes. Thanks WikiHow. But also notice that WikiHow considers having a high self worth as being happy. It again points to the idea that happiness comes from within. Even if other people don't find us worthy at all, if we feel worthy we will be happy.
"Be optimistic" is the next step. It says that "improving your attitude towards life will increase your happiness permanently." But I thought that happiness is your attitude towards life. By saying "I'm happy," I'm also saying "I like my life," and isn't optimism liking your life?
WikiHow, along with many other sources, agree with me that exercising will increase happiness. If this is the one method of increasing happiness that we can all agree on, maybe the world should try it. Instead of our country working toward economic growth that increases our GDP per capita, or devising complex happiness-increasing plans, maybe we should just force people to go to a Zumba class or get on a treadmill.
all very true, you are so wise and insightful lyss!
ReplyDeleteBelow is a highly condensed version of economic and philosophical theory regarding your post (beware: I’m going beyond good and evil):
ReplyDeleteFirst, your argument is very similar to John Kenneth Galbraith’s “The Affluent Society”. In an affluent society production is no longer the main concern. Only after basic needs are met can additional wants even be considered. Other factors, like employment in a fulfilling career and more time to spent enjoying life, should be the primary focus of economics. The problem is that the conventional wisdom, that we should inherently focus on economic growth as a determinate of a society’s success, is viciously guarded by vested interests. Furthermore, the industrial state controls both supply and demand. To control demand they use method of control over consumers to desire additional wants (ex: marketing). Consumer theory (what we were taught in ECON200) is no longer true regarding a modern capitalist society. He wrote this in 1957 but it is still true today.
Second, you’re making far too many assumptions to attempt a philosophical discussion. First, your assuming existence and essence. Descartes makes the same mistake in his “Rules” and “Methods” by assuming, a priori, that he has essence. While I would argue it is possible to prove existence (by at least claiming to have essence) it is impossible to prove essence. The best example I can give you of this is ‘ego death’. Even if you assume essence then you still have to prove that the individual is the purpose of existence. This seems easy from the micro perspective but quickly becomes absurd from a macro perspective (particularly when considering evolution).
Third, let’s take a look at several different philosophical positions regarding happiness. Utilitarianism would posit the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people. It sounds good because total net happiness for a society is maximized. However, the individual would still be tied to the chains of the society. They could not maximize their own utility because that may result in a net decrease in society’s utility. Nihilism would allow the maximization of individual happiness but at the cost of societal happiness. Society would fall apart (but is that a bad thing?).
But, to get back to the practical… Why does working out make you feel better? It is absolutely true that biological elements are involved in working out. The literature is full of controlled case studies that show changes in endorphin levels. But let’s look at it from a social/psychological perspective. Working out makes you feel better because it improves your self-imagine. Why is that important? Because, in our materialist society self-worth is valued according to other people’s appraisals. We think we will be happier if we are physically attractive. The fact that physical attractiveness has no bearing on the individual’s essence (i.e. our brain) is not taken into consideration. Instead we fall right back into the quagmire that subjective opinions of others determines our well being. And this in turn is perpetuated by our economic system.
The most effective way to control people is when they do not know they are being controlled. But, on a bright note, if everything is predetermined then nothing matters anyway…
P.S. Sorry for the grammatical errors. I write in a conversational tone :)
I like your thoughts. There would be many topics we could never even begin to discuss let alone prove if we didn't make basic assumptions.
ReplyDeleteI'd also like to point out that there are other reasons that working out makes us feel "better" besides physical attractiveness. Evolutionarily, it would be beneficial to like exercise too because of the health benefits it brings.