The notion of happiness is obviously one of the most disputable and subjective. People’s minds are very different, and a number of factors throughout history made different people in the same condition feel contradictory feelings. Therefore, the issue of happiness was questioned by a number of philosophers throughout time. The value of Jonathan Haidt’s book The Happiness Hypothesis is that he considers the definition of happiness from numerous perspectives. Hence, he provides a complex view on the happiness definition and gives one the fullest understanding of the meaning of human virtues, happiness, and other crucial life notions.
In his book, Haidt considered the truths of Jesus, Budda, Plato and other great people of the past to find out the essence of human happiness. In the first chapter, the author refers to several main truths. The two major of them are that the human essence is divided into the mind and body, and that the mind itself is divided into the controlled and automatic parts. According to the first truth, is it obvious that there is the material and ideal parts of the human being. What is important, the mind is much more important and autonomous. In fact, it manages the actions that are done by the material body. Hence, the mind is controlling. This ancient truth can be observed not only from the story about the rider and elephant mentioned by Haidt, but also in all religions and philosophies in the world.
The mind and body have to co-exist harmoniously. Hence, there are the automatic and controlling processes that take place in human minds. In fact, this truth shows that there are more and less essential tasks for a person. Hence, some of them can be performed automatically without the necessity to analyze them consciously each time they are performed. Nevertheless, the perception of tasks as more or less important is closely interconnected with personal human qualities and memory called “hippocampus”. The conflict of the minds’ parts can happen if fears appear of the automatic part is not totally controlled. From my experience, I can point out being nervous or having previous negative experiences that have remained in memory as those that contribute to the conflict between the mind parts and lead to irrational deeds. In the same way, biases and threats can be perceived by both parts of the brain that are defined as a rider and elephant in a different way.This was figuread out with the help of the following guideline https://best-writing-service.net/my-writing-expert.html In fact, the author proves unification of the two parts and importance of choosing the reasonable and controlled approach as one that can leave the unreasonable threats behind. Instead letting the automatic emotional reactions rule is inappropriate.
Society plays a crucial role in human lives. Hence, cooperation and communication cannot be left apart when making rational decisions. Reciprocity puts emphasis on mutual influence of human actions. Consequently, the Golden Rule is defined as the secret of success. In addition, Cialdini's “six weapons of influence” are also useful as the evidence of how people can manipulate one another to tackle different issues. I do not remember I have been taken advantage of or manipulated. However, from my personal experience, I can say that choices and actions towards others are usually followed by the similar response. For instance, if I help my neighbor, he helps me in return. At the same time, if some mate took advantage of a friend, the negative experience will be returned to him.
Another truth is that all people are by nature hypocrites. According to the research, people commonly judge selves quite leniently. The researcher stated that people create the positive self-image to be more motivated an emotionally stable. One cannot easily accept his or her possible immorality due to the fact that biased perception of personal deeds is caused by the evolutionary development and instinctive choices. Such biased perception can have positive and negative consequences. However, to avoid common mistakes, it is necessary to analyze the situation from a different perspective, remain to each person. For instance, in case of the conflict, it is necessary to put self on the place of the interlocutor and assume what personal decisions in such case would be made.
In any case, happiness comes from within. Many people can erroneously belief that some things can make them happy. However, the truth is that their attitude to things makes them happy. A good example is the role of emotions in the human life. If one would be in a good mood, communication with friends will make him/her happy. However, in case, a person is in a bad mood, staying lonely and listening to the nature sounds can become the most desirable thing. The inner state of a person predetermines happiness, but the outer factors contribute to it. For instance, I am the most happy when I travel with good friends to the new and interesting places, get new experiences and communicate.
However, society contributes considerably to defining the things that can alter happiness. The existing norms have made money as an essential mean to get something to make people happy. Be it travelling or spending interesting time with friends or family, learning new things or feeling prestigious or valued due to having bought the last version of smartphone, the society is important to make a person happy. Apart from the means to provide happiness, it offers the beliefs of what happiness means since the earliest childhood. Moreover, love and attachment are the essential contributors to happiness that comes from the outer world. Finally, stresses create the negative outer influences that are obstacles for happiness.
Passionate love and true love are the notions that can make one happy. Haidt (2006) refers to these two notions to understand in what way it happens and whether such types of love are real or a myth. In fact, he concludes that love that is based on the biological passion is not real. However, it can be perceived by human brains as strong due to the dopamine release into brain. Hence, the passionate love to a drug that can be estimated as an unnatural mead to get happiness and satisfaction. Instead, companionate love is a different process. It has little in common with the passionate love and can be never-ending. Hence, only the long-lasting love that is the background for marriages and happy families’ creation can be considered as the true love. In fact, even though the passionate love can seem to provide stronger feelings, they are not long-lasting and cannot provide the inner balance to a person. As for the companionate love, it offers much more possibilities to remain happy and avoid inner conflicts.
However, some people would disagree with this. In many cases, the values differ. For some people, freedom can be the major aim of life, the others strive to leave something valuable on the earth. With regard to Haidt’s ideas, values can differ, culture can differ, hence, not all people manage to apply the ancient truths to their life and analyze selves (Haidt, 2006). To my mind, inability to find the life purpose is caused by numerous outer obstacles and tendency to accept the others’ ideas. In fact, it is necessary to perceive and analyze the ideas and information critically. Each person is aimed to be happy. However, happiness is subjective. This is why the life meaning can be realized as soon as the subjective meaning of happiness is understood.
The book presents a number of interesting ideas. Practically, all of them can be used in life with regard to personal peculiarities. The ideas of the ancient reflect wise lessons that can help people find the inner balance and happiness more quickly. To my mind, understanding of the conflict between the mind parts is essential for application in the real life for the ability to see the world more clearly and without the biased worries. Moreover, focusing on the rational side of the problem is crucial to make the effective decisions. Even though avoiding emotions is practically impossible, it is necessary to try to remain as sensible as possible.
