How to be happy? A very interesting question, whose answer can be used to manipulate and idiotize the individual and society. Can society and others sabotage our happiness? Does ignorance make us happier?
Thinking about the idea of happiness makes us come up against different conceptions of happiness. Some people believe that pleasure is happiness, others that our genes are directly related to being happy, some others think that happiness is the product of a brain stimulation count, however, it is not like that, it is something more complex. There are keys to be happy and with them obstacles that we must face.
If you choose to take the fast and simple way, which is to obtain "happiness" in the pursuit of pleasures, then you would be dropping the main error of our current society. Do you think that a happy person is a person who would impulsively buy any article that elevates their status in front of society? Do you think that someone happy would consume any substance or food that gives him momentary satisfaction even though his body is in danger ? Do you think that large sums of money are capable of giving happiness to those who own it? It has been shown that the increase in purchasing power is not related to the happiness of the individual, there being a point at which money ceases to be a reason for "happiness". A person who earns 50 times more money than others, is not automatically 50 times happier than the rest.
Governments give illusion to societies of unlimited efficiency, making society believe that the more it is produced and consumed the happier it is.
What does science say about it?
Our genes are important, however, the well-known quality called "Brain plasticity" allows us to make physiological changes in our brain, according to the way in which it is used. That is why it becomes so important to know the obstacles of our society, since the environment in which we grow has a very important role in our physical and mental development. Psychology and neurology tell us that happy individuals are usually those who have had a healthy family relationship, who have had friendly and romantic relationships in their lives, apparently interacting with other humans is essential to our happiness. In addition, studies indicate that people who feel that they are part of a group, be it a football team, a family, or a religious congregation, tend to be happier.
But as it usually is, not everything is so simple, society is made up of complex tangles of situations that we have to face.
What is the secret of unhappiness?
We live in a society in which the individual has been convinced that the more pleasure you get and the faster you can do it, the easier it will be to achieve success and the much desired happiness. We live in what the Polish sociologist, philosopher and essayist, Zygmunt Bauman called "Liquid Modernity". An unstable society, in which human relationships are seen in terms of production and efficiency, and our education is also influenced in educational institutions. Throughout the world there has been the emergence of groups of the left and the right, with discourses of peace and hatred, groups that fear being questioned, and that prefer to flee or censure those who think differently.
This environment of uncertainty gives strength to Postmodernist thoughts, where there is no truth, but truths that you can take or leave. How happy can we be if we are not able to defend our ideas, if we are not able to develop and defend ourselves as individuals? These postmodernist thoughts lead the individual to think that it has no value, that it is not important in anyone's life.
The philosophers Lucius Annaeus Seneca, and Arthur Schopenhauer are very different, their ideas about happiness do not reside in euphoria, and the pursuit of pleasure. Happiness is about managing, not running toward pleasures, fantasies, being aware of yourself and not leaving aside the responsibility that you have regarding the environment you are part of. There is also a call to cultivate the riches that only depend on our humanity, relationships, arts and enjoy everything we do.
Happiness is not an eternal joy, it is not to have an unforgettable smile, happiness is to face with serenity any obstacle that we encounter in our lives, to value the people who support us and the ideas that make us as individuals, because nothing destroys a person more than feeling that he does not belong to anything, that he is not an individual, that he does not care.
Does ignorance make us happy?
Those who ignore, are not happier, they are only indifferent, who have the hope that they will never be affected the problems, because knowledge has a weight, the weight of choosing to be responsible in society or letting it fall despite being able to do something to prevent it. It is complex to say that one is happy, when today there are few who are able to say that they are individuals, who are willing to defend their ideas, being more attractive the idea of not being anyone, of not defining oneself, in that way it is justified the vacuum. To believe that nothing has value or meaning is to ignore that the ideological creations of humanity represent good and evil in us. Without doubt we are in a delicate moment of society, one in which we must define ourselves as individuals, we must be very self-centered to think that your environment will not affect your happiness.
Many people take advantage of the longing for happiness to sell the idea that "The universe revolves around us and benefits us", when it is not, the happiness of the individual is only achieved by understanding that philosophical reflection on society is capable of give us intellectual, ethical and moral bases resistant and genuine to face the problems of the future, understand how indifferent the universe is to us and how much we should value humanity. So we must remember that ignorance does not make us happy, makes us indifferent, and leads us to believe that everything is fine, and will be fine.