If my readers wonder why I should be obsessing about “Happiness”, I admit that some deep thinking and few rounds of discussion over the last week have given me the feeling that most of us are probably glossing over this very important subject in life.
Health freaks will be happy to know that well conducted scientific studies have demonstrated that “happiness” brings with it significant health dividends. For starters: happy people seem to live longer lives, by as much as up to 10 years. Further, the frequency of hypertension, diabetes and heart diseases is less.
There seems to be considerable confusion on what constitutes “Happiness”. It is a longish-term state of mind and attitude, and should NOT to be confused with pleasure. If one is fond of say chocolates, he or she will be pleased and thrilled to have a few. But if the supply is endless and abundant one gets tired of it, and perhaps at some stage even loathes it.
Pleasure therefore gives gratification, say with food, money, comforts, pleasure trips, parties and what have you, but not a sustainable sense of satisfaction or happiness. It is indeed for this reason that “Happiness” and GDP (gross domestic product, the international yardstick to measure a country’s wealth) do not go hand in hand. The richest countries or people are therefore not necessarily the happiest.
What therefore is the “mechanism” that underlies the persistence of this state of a “happy” mind? Biomedical scientists have noticed certain changes in the concentration of some “happy” neurotransmitters in the brain: endorphins, GABA and serotonin levels are robustly high while stress hormones such as noradrenaline and glucocorticoids are down in such people. Stressed, fatigued or “unhappy” people show an opposite pattern.
All this discussion brings to the table the most fundamental of questions: “ Is “Happiness” a hereditary trait, an inherent part of a person’s nature or constitution?” And is it “inducible”, that is to say, it can be learnt or generated if one wishes to?”
The answer to this question could indeed help decide whether policy efforts or training could modify the state of mind, either in an individual person or in an organization, or nation.
There is some encouraging recent news. “Human nature” was considered largely determined by inherited genes (40%) and upbringing (40%), with the remaining little that could be modified by training.
This notion is undergoing significant change. It has become clear that “Happiness” can be taught (as in schools, classes or ashrams), induced (through environment at workplace, offices, businesses, sports fields) or learnt by effort.
The goals of life have therefore begun to shift– from financial and physical security (income, GDP) to health, and now to a larger encompassing one of Happiness, and Meaningfulness. Happiness needs to become our north star, and should provide us the bearing that we need during the journey of life!
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