Happiness

Sunset at Santa Cruz CA (click to embiggen)

The pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right according to that famous document signed on July 4th of 1776. Preamble to the Declaration of Independence reads —

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The right to the pursuit of happiness follows after the rights to life and liberty in the document, as it should be. You have to be, and be free, to have a shot at happiness. But that right to the pursuit of happiness is like buying a parking permit for parking on the UC Berkeley campus. You are not guaranteed a parking spot. You pays your money and you takes your chances. If you drive around for a while and are lucky enough to find an empty spot, you may park.

You have the right to pursue happiness but happiness is not guaranteed.

There are things that you can do to increase the chances of being happy. Being born to rich, caring, wise parents in an affluent society which allows you great personal freedoms helps in your chances of being happy but you really don’t have much say in which cards you are dealt in the random draw that is your birth. What one can do is make the best of it and learn how to be happy.

The ancient sages of India figured it out many centuries ago. Now you can learn all about it in US universities. The most popular course at Harvard University is a course on “Positive Psychology” according to this Boston Globe report (pdf). Intro to economics, Econ 101, used to be the most popular but Psych 1504 has beaten it with over 850 enrolled for the course.

Among other things, the course teaches that you have to let go. Meditate. Just be present, observe your breathing, and just be. The Buddha taught that 2,500 years ago.

I find it interesting that the Psych course beats the Econ course in terms of enrollment. You have to have reached a certain level of economic prosperity before you ask those questions whose answers are tied to happiness. When you are materially well off and are physically secure, you reach for higher level goals. The affluent societies are ready for positive psychology courses; the developing ones need to get more econ 101 courses for now.

“Learn to fail or fail to learn” or “not that ‘it happened for the best’ but rather ‘how can I make the best of what happened?’ ” The sort of phrases that the psych course uses. Here are “Six Tips for Happiness” from the report mentioned above (also check out the “All Things Considered” from NPR link at the end of the document):

1. Give yourself permission to be human.
2. Happiness lies at the intersection of pleasure and meaning.
3. Happiness is mostly dependent on the state of mind, not on our status or on the state of our bank account.
4. Simplify.
5. Remember the mind-body connection.
6. Express gratitude whenever possible.

All the above are what the Buddhists have been saying for thousands of years. For a good accessible account of the Buddhist position, see “The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living”. An old book from a western perspective is “The Pursuit Conquest of Happiness” by Bertrand Russell.

Thank you for reading my blog. Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

Author: Atanu Dey

Economist.

5 thoughts on “Happiness”

  1. I totally agree with these! Each person is responsible for one self happiness. There is no need to blame others or to expect to receive Happiness from others.
    I discovered recently that Buddhism is not a religion but a philosophy that explains a wise way of thinking and living.

    Like

  2. I am not so sure being rich = being happy. Even Adam Smith knew that (Theory of Moral Sentiments, Liberty Fund edition, page.181). It used to madden me that lots of things that are part of Indian culture are touted as being newly discovered by Western Scientists. Now I bow to them for marketing it. 🙂 Love your blog!!

    Like

  3. Triya, you misunderstood Atanu’s comment; you should re-read it. He did not in anyway imply that being rich in and of itself leads to happiness.

    Atanu, a non sequitor: I’ve seen you reference quite a bit of Bertrand Russell. I am curious about your thoughts on religion and/or God, and whether they jibe with Russell’s anti-religious polemics.

    Like

  5. I could not find “The Pursuit of Happiness” by Bertrand Russell, but instead found The Conquest of Happiness by the same author. Did you mean this?

    Like

Comments are closed.