The Art of Happiness (Part 2)

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André likes to quote playwright Henrik Ibsen: “To crave for happiness in this world is simply to be possessed by a spirit of revolt.” André believes the root of the problem is that happiness dissolves differences between people, and French intellectuals, or the people who claim they are intellectuals, are afraid of being swallowed up in the mass of office clerks. “If a society places great emphasis on happiness being something anyone can achieve,” he says, “then those people who are always searching for a way to be different can do nothing but criticize and reject this striving toward universal happiness.”

- Why has there been such a strong focus on being happy and living a good and conscious life in recent years?

- The interest in happiness emerged at the same time as the interest in health. Now that Westerners don’t have to worry as much about pure survival, they’re much more interested in the quality of life. But there’s also a long-term trend here. Happiness also is part of democratization. Since the 18th century, everyone has a right to happiness. The American Constitution speaks of the pursuit of happiness.

Nowadays, happiness is a topic addressed by the consumer society. Happiness is everywhere, which of course leads to a deeper interest. This is undoubtedly because the need for meaning is more keenly felt since the role of religion has declined.

- What are the indispensable ingredients for happiness?

- Food and shelter are absolute conditions, of course. I distinguish between poverty and misery such as I have seen in Africa. You can still experience moments of happiness in conditions of poverty, but not in misery: it’s a near-constant wasting away. Human beings are social animals, so our ties to other people are important. And we are children of nature. Many happy moments are experienced in the outdoors. It’s no accident that in Christian heaven, we see our loved ones, friends and family again, and that this takes place in a natural setting of bubbling mountain streams and grassy meadows, the Garden of Eden.

- Has there been progress in happiness? Are we happier than we were 100 years ago?

- The social sciences have been working with indicators of happiness for more than 30 years. All the studies find that people are reporting increasing levels of happiness. On average, Americans are happier than Europeans, and Northern Europeans are happier than Southern Europeans. The West is aging, and the majority of older people say they’re happier than they did in the past. They also understand happiness better, because they understand what is and isn’t important.

There are plenty of objective reasons, too: In the Western world, illness, violence and war determine our chances of happiness less than they did in the past.

And then of course we have drugs to fight depression. Prozac doesn’t make you happy, but it does make you less unhappy. It decreases negative feelings so there’s more room for experiencing happiness. I see that my patients suffer less when they’re given good medication. Now, as an individual you have to work hard for -moments of -happiness. I don’t rule out the possibility that in 20 years there will be other serotonin-based drugs that will take over that function.

What I’m saying isn’t politically correct—society will have to debate the matter, like with fluoride in drinking water—but I don’t think it’s impossible that there will be some kind of happiness pill. I see so many people being eaten up, destroyed, by suffering. Alcohol, drug and domestic-violence statistics are much too high in our society. There are so many problems, so much unhappiness. If pills can change that, I won’t reject it out of hand.

- How can optimism play a role here?

- Optimism is an ingredient for happiness. It’s not the same thing as happiness. There are pessimists who are happy and unhappy people who are optimists. Optimism is the human capacity to anticipate, and it’s stored somewhere in the brain. Spontaneously, I’m a pessimist. If you ask me what the future holds for Africa, I’ll start talking about famine, violence and misery. But if I concentrate, I think, What were things like in Europe 100 years ago? War, unemployment, illness, poverty. Things have changed here now, so why not there?

Optimism gives you the power to try for happiness, and then when you get a little, you understand that trying to be optimistic was worth the trouble. In the end, it’s about making an investment in yourself. The Italian writer Primo Levi survived a concentration camp in spite of his despair, because he believed in life, saw something positive in it, and he held onto that.

- What is the purpose of happiness?

- It has no purpose—only that you’re happy. It gives you a more interesting life. We don’t live for happiness, but life is possible, beautiful and rich because it exists. When we’re happy, we don’t think about tomorrow; we enjoy it here and now. And we’re only able to do that because we know that there could be more suffering tomorrow. Happiness is only possible against the background of death; only we human beings know that we’re going to die, and that in itself is a good reason to strive for happiness.

You could also say, “What is the purpose of life?” Everyone gets to decide that for themselves. But, again, meaning and happiness are not the same thing. A big hero of the Nazi resistance has given a lot of meaning to his life, but that doesn’t mean he’s a happy person. To paraphrase Diderot: Happiness is a state of well being you wish would last forever.”

Be Happy!

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Source: Ode Magazine, Peter Van Dijk, March 2008 issue
http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/51/professor-of-happiness/all
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