WHAT IS HAPPINESS AND WHY DO WE NEED IT?

Happiness is an emotion. So is sadness, love, hate, curiosity, revulsion, excitement, jealousy, contentment, depression, anxiety, fear, guilt and anger. All emotions have causes, causes which can be understood and controlled. Happiness is an emotion in which one experiences feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to bliss and intense joy. Psychophysiologist R.J. Davidson has developed reliable fMRI and EEG tests that correlate to subjective levels of happiness. Stefan Klein in his book "The Science of Happiness" links the dynamics of neurobiological systems (ie. dopaminergic, opiate) to the concepts and findings of Positive Psychology and Social Psychology. Various branches of philosophy, as well as some religious movements, suggest that "true" happiness only exists if it has no long-term detrimental effects. Classical Utilitarianism is a theory of ethics based on quantitative maximization of happiness. Of all the animals only man can sit and contemplate reality and only man can develop social relations to the political level. Thus the contemplative life of a monk or professor, or the political life of a military commander or politician will be the happiest. In his book Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman, one of the founders of Positive psychology, describes happiness as consisting of 'positive emotions' and 'positive activities'.

Gratifications involve full engagement, flow, elimination of self-consciousness, and blocking of felt emotions. But when a gratification comes to an end then positive emotions will be felt. The most profound sense of happiness is experienced through the 'meaningful life', achieved if one exercises one's unique strengths and virtues in a purpose greater than one's own immediate goals. Steven Reiss found that nearly everything we experience as meaningful can be traced to one of 16 basic desires or a combination of these desires. Studies indicate the average income in a nation makes little difference to the average happiness of the people in the nation.

About 50% of one's happiness depends on their genes; 10-15% is a result of various measurable variables, like socioeconomic status, marital status, health, income, and others. There is now extensive research suggesting that religious people are happier and less stressed. Remember the song from the 60’s—“Don’t Worry Be Happy”? It certainly had merit and it has been shown that this dictum brings longer life too.