Sam sighed, leaning back in their desk chair and staring blankly at the computer screen. Another day ticked by at their office job, filled with monotonous tasks that left them feeling unfulfilled. As Aristotle proclaimed, happiness is the purpose of life, yet Sam felt trapped in a meaningless routine. Life seemed an endless, repetitive cycle without fulfillment, like Sisyphus eternally pushing a boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down again. Life seemed an endless, repetitive cycle without meaning.
Sam dreamed of having a career they were passionate about, one that brought a sense of meaning and purpose. But at 30 years old, they felt stuck. As the philosopher Albert Camus reflected, “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart.” Sam yearned to find purpose in their daily climb, rather than fruitlessly rolling the boulder.
Outside of work, Sam struggled to find lasting happiness. Temporary pleasures like partying with friends or treating themselves to dinner out brought fleeting bursts of enjoyment. But Sam always found themself sinking back into melancholy and dissatisfaction.
“There must be more to life than this,” Sam thought. They longed to understand what true happiness looked like – not just ephemeral feelings but deep, abiding contentment. Sam wanted to learn more about the root causes of happiness and unhappiness in life. If they could just comprehend the nature of happiness on a deeper level, maybe Sam could unlock the key to lasting fulfillment…
What is happiness?
What is happiness? It’s commonly believed that happiness doesn’t last forever, but is it true? While happiness fades over time, some may contend it is more than a passing emotion. One’s level of satisfaction isn’t a fixed characteristic of their character but a dynamic emotional state that can shift.
To have a pleasant emotional state is the essence of being happy. It’s possible to experience happiness at both the internal and the exterior levels.
The word “happiness” traces back to the root meaning of “good fortune.” This origin implies an external component, as if happiness depended on favorable life circumstances. However, today we understand happiness comprises both situational factors and our own outlook and choices. Though the feeling ebbs and flows, we can cultivate inner contentment through purposeful living. Lasting fulfillment requires more than chance.
Happiness vs. pleasure
Happiness and pleasure are distinct human needs. Pleasure involves enjoyable sensations that are fleeting. In contrast, true happiness is self-generated and long-lasting, stemming from purpose, meaning, and service. While pleasure provides temporary delight, happiness gives deep, abiding contentment. The two can coexist but differ – one may indulge in guilty pleasures yet feel unfulfilled, while purpose and virtue yield more lasting satisfaction.
Happiness vs. Meaning
As Albert Camus noted, “Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable.” Sam was beginning to grasp this distinction. In their research, they realized happiness encompassed more than chasing pleasurable feelings. It required cultivating meaning, purpose and virtue. Sam wondered if real happiness meant more than the pursuit of fleeting desires.
Could it involve a deeper form of contentment? The promise sparked a flame of hope within Sam that true fulfillment was not completely out of reach. Like Sisyphus, they had sought joy only in ephemeral moments. But perhaps lasting happiness could be built through purpose, not just temporary highs. Sam felt eager to explore this possibility further.
Types of Happiness
As Albert Camus reflected, “The struggle toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” Sam was determined to seek lasting fulfillment, not just fleeting highs.
In their research, Sam learned philosophers have identified different types of happiness that humans pursue. Greek thinkers put forth two major theories: hedonism and eudaimonia. A third more modern view is the affective state theory.
Hedonism sees happiness as maximizing pleasure and positive emotions. It focuses on satisfying desires and indulging in enjoyment. Eudaimonia revolves around meaning, purpose and self-actualization. It emphasizes responsibility, virtue and realizing one’s potential. The affective state theory looks at the balance of positive and negative emotions.
Sam was eager to better understand these philosophies and how they might provide keys to true, lasting contentment. Could different forms of happiness offer more substance than chasing temporary highs? Sam felt hopeful continued learning could illuminate the path ahead.
Hedonia
Hedonism sees the pursuit of pleasure as central to happiness. Hedonists aim to maximize enjoyment through indulging desires, as captured by “carpe diem” (“seize the day”). But hedonism has downsides – its decadent extremes led to sayings like “the end justifies the means” and when unchecked it creates cycles of decline: “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”
Sam recognized in themself a tendency to chase hedonic highs. Like Sisyphus endlessly pushing the boulder upward, Sam’s pursuit of thrilling indulgences brought only fleeting euphoria before leaving them unsatisfied. While hedonism promises happiness, its pleasures often prove shallow and temporary.
Eudaimonia
Eudaimonia sees happiness as stemming from meaning and self-actualization. Aristotle stated that “…the function of man is to live a certain kind of life, and this activity implies a rational principle…” Eudaimonia focuses on actualizing one’s full potential or “daimon” – our spirit and resilience.
This happiness comes from pursuing excellence and significance through responsibility, growth, and devotion to ideals larger than oneself. It contrasts fleeting pleasures by providing deep contentment through long-term meaning and purpose.
The concept resonated with Sam. Rather than chasing temporary highs, living virtuously could offer lasting satisfaction. Sam hoped to transcend repetitive hedonism and instead find fulfillment through purpose and excellence.
Affective State Theory
According to the affect state theory, happiness depends on a balance of positive and negative emotions. These are distinct factors – the absence of negativity doesn’t equal the presence of positivity. To measure happiness, you subtract negative experiences from positive ones. If the sum is positive, it shows contentment. But too much of either throws off the delicate equilibrium.
Positive affectivity involves pleasant emotions like joy, excitement, and tranquility. Negative affectivity comprises unpleasant states like sadness, anxiety, and anger. Our daily experience comprises both, influencing thoughts and actions. By nurturing positive emotions and not letting negative ones linger, we can sustain greater happiness over time. The key is balance.
Why happiness is fleeting
Like Sisyphus perpetually pushing the boulder up the hill, only for it to roll back down again, Sam recognized the fruitlessness of pursuing happiness as an end goal – it always seemed to slip out of grasp. As Albert Camus noted, “Happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth.”
Our society often assumes happiness should be constant. But as the quote from James Rhodes states, “We are not meant to be happy all the time.” Expecting elation around the clock is unrealistic. Negative emotions serve important purposes, providing contrast and motivation for change. Discomfort and sadness forge wisdom and strength.
As Carl Jung stated, “The word ‘happy’ would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.” Life’s emotional spectrum keeps us grounded and alert. While we naturally seek contentment, perpetual bliss would dull our senses and skew reality. Fulfillment arises not from avoiding pain, but progressing through all of life’s diverse seasons.
Survival of the fittest
For 99% of our existence, humans lived brief, difficult lives. As Nietzsche stated, “Evolution does not make happiness its goal; it aims simply at evolution and nothing else.” Our average lifespan was just 30 years, with intense competition for limited resources. Happiness was a liability, weakening the vigilance needed to survive threats. Our minds evolved for this cutthroat environment.
This shaped psychology prone to negativity and dissatisfaction. Having enough never felt like enough, with the next crisis always looming. Ancient humans could never feel content for long. This scarcity mindset persists today, though life is safer. Our brains retain remnants of primal programming, making lasting fulfillment elusive.
Studying the evolutionary roots of humanity’s perpetual discontent opened Sam’s eyes. The early drive to seek more resources and advancement continuously made sense for survival – but it robbed humans of lasting happiness. Sam saw how this tendency manifested in their own constant striving for the next thing, never feeling they had enough. Understanding this primal wiring brought compassion for their anxious striving.
Negativity bias
Sam also observed their tendency to strive constantly for the next goal or accomplishment without enjoying the present moment, similar to Sisyphus, who strained upward and focused solely on reaching the summit. Albert Camus’ quote “It is during that return, that pause, that Sisyphus interests me,” resonated with Sam’s focus on the negative parts of life rather than fleeting positive moments.
Negative experiences pack a stronger neurological punch. Brain scans reveal our electrical activity is much greater in response to bad news compared to good. This negativity bias evolved to ensure we’d avoid threats, which was key to survival over thousands of years.
The brain prioritizes any potential danger, making sure we sit up and take notice. But today it means we give more mental real estate to worrying than appreciating life’s joys. With conscious effort, we can counter this default by truly savoring positive moments. Neural pathways don’t have to be set in stone – they can change through neuroplasticity. We have the power to reshape even our most primal programming and hard-wiring.
Learning about the brain’s heightened sensitivity to negative experiences resonated with Sam. It explained why they had such a hard time shaking free of unhappy emotions. Sam practiced self-compassion, acknowledging that their negativity bias was part of being human. They resolved to counter it consciously by savoring positive moments and emotions when they arose.
Hedonic adaptation
No matter how close Sisyphus gets the boulder to the top, it inevitably rolls back down again, representing the fading of pleasure that Sam experienced because of hedonic adaptation.
This psychological phenomenon explains why the excitement of a new experience diminishes over time as we adjust to it. Like Sisyphus straining upward, we focus on the pleasurable peak. But the thrill fades once attained, leaving emptiness.
Passionate love provides an example. The intoxication of new romance makes it hard to focus on anything else. But obsessive infatuation isn’t sustainable. In time, fiery beginnings transition to steadier companionate love.
Our brains evolved this way. Hedonic adaptation likely motivated our ancestors to continually seek new resources and threats rather than becoming complacent. It served a purpose then, but today it leads to dissatisfaction. With wisdom, we can temper unrealistic expectations and savor fleeting joys for what they are.
With that said, our life in the 21st century should make us much happier compared to the time our ancestors lived thousands of years ago. Yet, even today’s conditions play on our evolutionary system, and modern life seems to make many unhappy.
The fleeting nature of pleasure and how it fades struck a chord with Sam. They reflected on so many times a new purchase or experience uplifted them temporarily, only to have the feeling vanish as they habituated to it. Sam initially felt discouraged. But remembering eudaimonia’s promise of lasting fulfillment through meaning, they wondered if that could be the antidote to hedonic adaptation.
The Biology of Happiness
Happiness also has biological underpinnings related to neurotransmitters and brain structure. Levels of serotonin, dopamine, and other chemicals modulate our mood and emotions. Imbalances in these neurotransmitters are linked to depression and anxiety. Studies show certain areas of the brain, like the prefrontal cortex, are associated with positive emotional states. Brain scans reveal increased activity in these regions when people report feeling happiness.
The biological basis of emotions highlights that while outlook and habits play a role, genetics influence our happiness set point. However, research shows we can overcome our programming by making choices to change thought patterns and behaviors. Though influenced by biology, the mind still holds power to shape our state of being. This was a truth Sam took comfort in – while their natural disposition may make happiness more difficult, conscious effort could still pave the way.
The Gist
After examining the complex nature of happiness, Sam felt both more hopeful and more challenged. Like Sisyphus, Sam resolved not to become trapped in the pursuit of fleeting thrills that constantly eluded him, condemned to endlessly push the boulder up the hill only for it to roll back down again. There must be more to lasting fulfillment than a futile, absurd pursuit of fleeting pleasures.
As Albert Camus stated, “The absurd man says yes and his efforts will henceforth be unceasing.” Sam was ready to embrace the challenge of finding a deeper happiness, one not so easily lost. They saw that true, lasting happiness would take much more than chasing temporary highs. But for the first time, Sam believed inner contentment could be possible for them. They would need to walk a winding path of knowledge, self-awareness, and purpose. Sam stepped forward with cautious optimism, eager to continue learning how they could achieve happiness that would last.
The insights on the evolutionary basis for humans’ perpetual discontentment, along with the difference between hedonic and eudaimonic happiness, had lifted a veil from Sam’s eyes. They now understood why joy so often faded just as their grasping fingers closed around it. But this knowledge also gave them hope. Perhaps, through purpose and meaning, Sam could capture more than a fleeting feeling.
With a new perspective on the nature of happiness, Sam felt motivated to pursue it actively. They now grasped that lasting fulfillment would take more than ephemeral pleasures – it required living a purposeful life, full of meaning. Like an explorer embarking on an uncharted journey, Sam felt ready to dive deeper into how to cultivate this lasting contentment. They looked forward to discovering more insights that could light the way.
