The Happiness Hypothesis

An anatomy for happiness, The Happiness Hypothesis will have us believe that joy isn't a destination or something that one can acquire, find or achieve directly. Instead psychologist, researcher and author Jonathan Haidt believes that happiness is dependent on getting the conditions for joy right and then simply waiting. “Some of those conditions are within you, such as coherence among the parts and levels of your personality.”

Haidt says the mind is composed of different, sometimes conflicting, parts. That reason is just one part, but that people pay the most attention to it, because it's easiest to understand. He believes it's a fallacy to believe that reason is in charge of all your decisions. Haidt says people may have a genetic "set-point" for their level of happiness. The good news is that one can change this set-point through meditation, cognitive psychology or medication.

“Life is what we deem it, and our lives are the creations of our minds.” - Jonathan Haidt

In The Happiness Hypthesis, Haidt provides a remedy to modern habits of superficial thinking with his accessible update on 10 great ancient philosophical themes, examined within the scientific framework of positive psychology. He demonstrates that questions asked by ancient philosophers are still real and relevant to our experience of life today. Besides giving readers plenty to think about, the book teaches how humans make decisions; why change is so hard; what elements shape human happiness; and what techniques can be used to increase happiness.

“Once you know why change is so hard, you can... take a more psychologically sophisticated approach to self-improvement.” - Jonathan Haidt

1. “The divided self:” Small rider, large elephant

Before Freud, both Plato and Buddha described the divided self. To Plato, the psyche was a charioteer, our reason, guiding the wild horses of our passions. Freud's update depicted ego as a carriage driver, id as the wild beasts pulling the carriage and the superego as the driver's father who tells him what he's doing wrong. Perhaps Buddha's simple metaphor of the split mind - as a rational rider atop an irrational elephant - is the most useful.

The brain has two hemispheres with different strengths. Split-brain research says the left brain will conceive a likely story to explain behaviour, though it isn't privy to accurate data. It does this in a matter-of-fact way, with no idea that it is concocting a tale. This brain module maintains a running, convincing dialogue as part of the “makes sense” function of thought and reason. We rarely feel a need to go beyond a plausible explanation.

The human brain evolved slowly from a merely reactive organ into a useful tool for reasoning and planning. With the brain's expansion to house the intellect, we gained a greater range and deeper capacity for emotions, located, scientists say, in the orbitofrontal cortex. Patients who sustained damage to this part of the brain could still reason and remember things, but they could no longer make decisions, so their lives unravelled. They lost the emotional reaction that gives choices their different weights.

Reason, the rider, is a “controlled process”. “Automatic processes”, or the elephant, are responsible for most physical, emotional and mental functions. Mental intrusions are a by-product of automatic processes. So much of what pops into our heads at inopportune moments is sexual or aggressive, so Freud concluded that our unconscious is dark and menacing. Recent research has a more innocent explanation: automatic processes issue these mental intrusions all the time, but the ones that stick in our minds and threaten to become obsessive are the ones we find most shocking. Some of these thoughts may indicate unconscious truths, but they do not necessarily do so.

Reasoning does not cause behaviour. Moral arguments, like aesthetic preferences, are rooted in strong feelings. Skilful refutation rarely changes someone's mind, because in these matters, the elephant rules. The rider who offers advice or alternatives, or argues against desire, can influence behaviour, but progress is made by the elephant.

Mind-boggling

Mandy de Waal, ITWeb contributor

Genes play a large role in determining if your disposition is happy or prone to depression. This is your basic, habitual “affective style”. Adjusting it can be a good start to elevating your level of happiness. You cannot win against the elephant, but you can reshape your behaviour gradually with meditation, cognitive therapy or some antidepressants. If the thought of losing brings more unhappiness than the thought of winning brings happiness, then the remedy is to let go of those thoughts and desires. Meditation helps tame the elephant and train the mind to focus. It particularly helps quell persistent anger, fear and depression.

2. “Changing your mind”
Aaron Beck developed cognitive therapy to counter Freud's view that adult conflicts are rooted in childhood. His approach is effective in combating depression, anxiety and negative mental habits. We always tell ourselves stories. Beck says depressed people's stories magnify and personalise setbacks in a way that perpetuates depression. Cognitive therapy emphasises awareness and modification of internal dialogues to be more positive. With it, you literally change your mind to reap the benefits of a more positive outlook. For some, medication is a necessary shortcut to reframing the world in a positive light.

3. “Reciprocity with a vengeance”
Language may have evolved to enable gossip, the sharing of social information, because success in social hierarchies depends on social skills. Gossip sparks a “tit-for-tat” reflex. If someone passes on good gossip, you feel a slight pressure to reciprocate. Actually, the Golden Rule is embedded deep in our behavioural makeup, extending family loyalty to a larger social group. We are social creatures, and reciprocity is a part of the glue that binds us, the basis for gossip as well as some sales techniques. “Tit for tat” is a strategy for co-operating. Yet, several studies show that when there is no consequence, people will act selfishly and greedily. For most, the appearance of fairness suffices, true or not. It is all too human to be aware of others' shortcomings and fail to see your own. Extend that tendency to a group and it's easy to see why social harmony is so elusive. Just as threatening an individual's self-esteem leads to violence and cruelty, group idealism that promotes moral superiority breeds many of the world's atrocities. This happens when people buy into the myth that pure evil exists.

4. “The faults of others”
Judgmentalism leads to conflict, anger and pain, yet it is the mind's prevailing characteristic, with the elephant constantly evaluating likes and dislikes. You cannot resolve to be less judgmental, but with meditation or cognitive therapy, you can gradually tame your elephant to be less so. Cognitive therapy helps people recognise and modify distorted thoughts. We all have ideas of how the world “should” be; cognitive therapy posits that these “should” statements offer a wealth of insight into our personal biases and judgments.

About the author: Jonathan Haidt is an associate professor at the University of Virginia, and a social psychologist who focuses particularly on human morality. He co-edited Flourishing: Positive Psychology and the Life Well-Lived.

Get the full abstract from Learn2Think. Simply go to this link, fill in the form and Learn2Think will e-mail you the full abstract of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom for free.

The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom
Author: Jonathan Haidt
Format: Softcover
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 9780465028023