#3: Lists and Luddites
Happiness is a chemical reaction. That much is clear. It's harder to pin down what causes the chemical reaction in the first place. Everybody has a different list. Personally, I'm happiest when my homework is done and my medications are working.
At the same time, I hesitate to call antidepressants a source of happiness. Generally they do nothing but make actual sources more effective. Key word: generally. Sometimes antidepressants work so well that they are the cause, and sometimes they don't work at all.
I'm also unsure of whether to call "lack of stress" a source of happiness. It's certainly satisfying to have nothing to do. I just think that saying "lack of stress" is like saying "lack of depression" or "lack of a gaping wound in one's chest." Of course it's nice to not be stressed or depressed or bleeding to death, but does it make us happy?
Maybe it does. Maybe our default state is happiness, but there is so much stress and depression and severe injury and financial insecurity that we are continually dragged beneath the surface into sadness. In that sense, nothing causes happiness. Many things simply inhibit it.
Some countries (specifically Bhutan) have a different kind of happiness list called a national happiness index, which are like the HDI but look only at happiness, ignoring standards of living, human rights, etc. The main issue with Bhutan's GNH, compared with the UN's HDI, is that the GNH is state-run and therefore subject to state biases, whereas the UN is an international organization and is as impartial as an organization can get. Bhutan is a kingdom; the UN is a representative democratic body (which is not to say a democracy). That said, Bhutan's GNH is unique, interesting, and, if accurate, useful. Other governments may benefit from their own national happiness indices, and if governments have an interest in raising national happiness, their citizens will benefit as well.
All of this depends on metrics. The only way to determine national happiness is to ask people if they are happy. GDP, GNI, HDI, and other economic and developmental indices are economic and developmental indices, not happiness indices. One should always look at where the statistics are coming from before accepting them.
In Kurt Vonnegut's short story "I've Been Called a Luddite," he articulates his own vision of happiness, free of the restrictions of modern technology. He prefers to walk around his city and talk to people and go to the physical post office instead of ordering things online or sending things over email. This works fine if you live in New York City, but I'm from unincorporated Kitsap County, Washington, so there is nowhere to walk. I take no issue with resisting progress, but society does; the old ways will be swept aside no matter what you do. I wonder if, one day, I will desperately cling to my laptops and cell phones while Google and Apple and Microsoft put chips in my children's heads and cameras in their eyes. (I'm not sure whether having Terminator children would be awesome or horrifying or both.)
This interesting New York Times article seems against desperately clinging to anything, the past included. This affluent Californian and her husband find that they are much happier having sold most of their possessions, including their cars and television, and, eventually, their house, opting instead for a studio apartment in Portland. Again, no car doesn't work in rural Washington, but I understand that not everybody needs a constant supply of various luxury consumer goods to be happy. I think that there really is no need to "keep up with the Joneses," so to speak, buying all the new appliances and so forth - but then I view consumer culture as toxic and something that needs to be fought. In my experience, consumerism is usually better at taking away our happiness than providing it.
That doesn't mean consumerism can't provide happiness. The old saying that "money can't buy happiness" is only true if one spends one's money poorly. What can make you happy? Food, music, books, television, HVAC systems, lots of things on the internet. What can money buy? All of the above. Some things money can't buy; most things it can. Many things can only be procured using money. I suppose that's what makes personal connections so special. Some things can't be quantified no matter how hard capitalism tries.
I'll leave you with my entire mental health playlist to show you what happiness is to me. (I couldn't pick a single song.) The videos are ordered by date added, so the playlist is sort of a gradient of trap, rap, memes, and metal, approximately in that order.
There's a price for everything, happiness included.
Larisa
At the same time, I hesitate to call antidepressants a source of happiness. Generally they do nothing but make actual sources more effective. Key word: generally. Sometimes antidepressants work so well that they are the cause, and sometimes they don't work at all.
I'm also unsure of whether to call "lack of stress" a source of happiness. It's certainly satisfying to have nothing to do. I just think that saying "lack of stress" is like saying "lack of depression" or "lack of a gaping wound in one's chest." Of course it's nice to not be stressed or depressed or bleeding to death, but does it make us happy?
Maybe it does. Maybe our default state is happiness, but there is so much stress and depression and severe injury and financial insecurity that we are continually dragged beneath the surface into sadness. In that sense, nothing causes happiness. Many things simply inhibit it.
Some countries (specifically Bhutan) have a different kind of happiness list called a national happiness index, which are like the HDI but look only at happiness, ignoring standards of living, human rights, etc. The main issue with Bhutan's GNH, compared with the UN's HDI, is that the GNH is state-run and therefore subject to state biases, whereas the UN is an international organization and is as impartial as an organization can get. Bhutan is a kingdom; the UN is a representative democratic body (which is not to say a democracy). That said, Bhutan's GNH is unique, interesting, and, if accurate, useful. Other governments may benefit from their own national happiness indices, and if governments have an interest in raising national happiness, their citizens will benefit as well.
All of this depends on metrics. The only way to determine national happiness is to ask people if they are happy. GDP, GNI, HDI, and other economic and developmental indices are economic and developmental indices, not happiness indices. One should always look at where the statistics are coming from before accepting them.
In Kurt Vonnegut's short story "I've Been Called a Luddite," he articulates his own vision of happiness, free of the restrictions of modern technology. He prefers to walk around his city and talk to people and go to the physical post office instead of ordering things online or sending things over email. This works fine if you live in New York City, but I'm from unincorporated Kitsap County, Washington, so there is nowhere to walk. I take no issue with resisting progress, but society does; the old ways will be swept aside no matter what you do. I wonder if, one day, I will desperately cling to my laptops and cell phones while Google and Apple and Microsoft put chips in my children's heads and cameras in their eyes. (I'm not sure whether having Terminator children would be awesome or horrifying or both.)
This interesting New York Times article seems against desperately clinging to anything, the past included. This affluent Californian and her husband find that they are much happier having sold most of their possessions, including their cars and television, and, eventually, their house, opting instead for a studio apartment in Portland. Again, no car doesn't work in rural Washington, but I understand that not everybody needs a constant supply of various luxury consumer goods to be happy. I think that there really is no need to "keep up with the Joneses," so to speak, buying all the new appliances and so forth - but then I view consumer culture as toxic and something that needs to be fought. In my experience, consumerism is usually better at taking away our happiness than providing it.
That doesn't mean consumerism can't provide happiness. The old saying that "money can't buy happiness" is only true if one spends one's money poorly. What can make you happy? Food, music, books, television, HVAC systems, lots of things on the internet. What can money buy? All of the above. Some things money can't buy; most things it can. Many things can only be procured using money. I suppose that's what makes personal connections so special. Some things can't be quantified no matter how hard capitalism tries.
I'll leave you with my entire mental health playlist to show you what happiness is to me. (I couldn't pick a single song.) The videos are ordered by date added, so the playlist is sort of a gradient of trap, rap, memes, and metal, approximately in that order.
There's a price for everything, happiness included.
Larisa
Comments
Post a Comment