happiness
by John at 5/23/2006 10:04:00 AM
From the latest edition of Edge comes an essay on The Science of Happiness:
It's pretty light on neuroscience, but interesting nonetheless. I thought the best part was the discussion of humans' inability to make good predictions about what will make them happy in the future.
You may think that it would be good to feel happy at all times, but we have a word for animals that never feel distress, anxiety, fear, and pain: That word is dinner.
Negative emotions have important roles to play in our lives because when people think about how terribly wrong things might go and find themselves feeling angry or afraid, they take actions to make sure that things go terribly right instead. Just as we manipulate our children and our employees by threatening them with dire consequences, so too do we manipulate ourselves by imagining dire consequences. People can be so anxious that their anxiety is debilitating, but that's the extreme case. Anxiety and fear are what keep us from touching hot stoves, committing adultery, and sending our children to play on the freeway. If someone offered you a pill that would make you permanently happy, you would be well advised to run fast and run far. Emotion is a compass that tells us what to do, and a compass that is perpetually stuck on north is worthless.
It's pretty light on neuroscience, but interesting nonetheless. I thought the best part was the discussion of humans' inability to make good predictions about what will make them happy in the future.
