Do not worry, I'm not trying to anthropomorphize an ant, this is not an attempt to do such thing, I'm simply wondering at what level of life-form does the concept of happiness begin to sprout. Now, that is something worth thinking about, right? No doubt there has to be something on the brain that allows for such emotions to even take part, but as with many things regarding consciousness, the waters are murky.
There are examples of animals acting happy, plenty of them actually. As someone who loves animals, I do tend to project onto them, but there are times when it's not really up to debate. A dog for example, running around, wagging it's tail and barking in excitement is for all tends and purposes, externalizing its happiness. But again, when does the ability to externalize stop? Or at what life-form level does it decay into nothing? Does it even decay?
Can a chicken express how happy it is? Can a lizard? Can an ant? And then, let's say that you were to make an argument that yes, that they can. How could we measure it? How can we make sure it's not us projecting onto them?
There has been numerous of situations were I've said out loud things along the lines of "Don't worry, the bee is happy in it's flower, you don't disturb it, it will stay happy" The observation although pragmatic, if we leave it alone it wont sting us, is completely not true.
It is a lot more likely that the bee feels no such thing as anger or joy, and that it's even unaware of my very existence. This actually means that the idea that the bee is appreciative of the respect I'm showing her is comical to say the least, but the mental mechanism that allows me to imagine that she is, actually is keeping me safe from her sting.
For the sake of this mental exploration I've been trying to brake down the most basic elements of happiness, very much in the way you would break down a house into bricks. The task, mind you, is very difficult and I'm sure to make mistakes, but here is the conclusion I'm holding onto for now.
Maybe happiness doesn't really exist, not in a permanent state of mind, not as if something was built inside our minds that allows us to grip to it and face life using that platform of positivism. Maybe, happiness is an illusion of contentment, a choice we make when we need the mechanism to be able to face the day, and nothing more.
Silly thing to think about, right? But there is some depth to it, if you allow yourself to explore. No such thing as happiness, just a sequence of little choices, and little acknowledgments of the good things. Seems like not a positive note to end on, but ironically, it makes me happy.