In Search of Happiness

Happiness is such a subjective thing. I would suggest it means something different to just about anyone you care to ask. It’s also a very relative thing. One person might say that chocolate makes them happy while another may relate happiness to personal relationships. What about how happy we think we will feel at some future point in time? The problem with this is how we feel at any given moment has an influence over how we think we might feel in the future. Our brains work in the here and now and that is our only reference point. This makes it difficult when trying to think outside the box of possibilities.

The eminent psychologist Daniel Gilbert has a favourite comic strip of a fish asking a sponge if it could be anything in the world what it would choose. The sponge thinks for a bit and says “I guess I’d have to go with a barnacle.” We are all trapped in our own barnacle world and make choices based on our own experiences.

Let’s assume we have a “happiness meter”. If something makes you feel good would it be better to enjoy it in small doses or experience as much as you can at any given time? Studies have shown that if we take our feel good experiences in small doses, spread over time, we can increase the number on the happiness meter. The longer we experience pleasures (or pain) in our daily lives the more we become numb to these events. It’s called hedonic adaptation.

One area of our brain that plays a part in the formation of new memory is the ACC (anterior cingulate cortex) or “Oh shit” center. When information is received by the brain that is unusual (pleasurable or painful) the ACC kicks in to put your brain in “alert” mode. The pleasure registers as good, let’s remember to do this again, the pain registers as bad, remember to avoid this next time.

So how can we take this information to increase the happiness in our lives? Well when you enjoy chocolate, rather than eating the entire box in one sitting, savour one piece and spread the pleasure over time. To keep the pleasures of relationships at their peak avoid predictable, repetitive behaviour. Be spontaneous and unpredictable. Escape the cycle that results in hedonic adaptation. It should help you find more happiness in the future.