Success And Happiness

Griffin Brown

Ms. Poetker

ENG3U1.60

2019–5–15

Success And Happiness

“I sometimes feel sorry for the people in speedboats who spend their weekends zinging up and down the river at about a million miles an hour. For all they’re able to see. The riverbanks might as well be green concrete and the river itself flowing with molten plastic.” — The Shack by Margaret Lawrence. The discussion around happiness, what it is and how it can be obtained, is central to philosophy and life in general. Happiness is discussed in many different literary genres, and can be viewed in many ways. Through the review of these genres, the importance of perception can be seen. The ways that people attempt to achieve happiness are flawed, happiness is often seen as the end-goal for many of our actions, but happiness is not a found in our goals. Happiness can be found in simplicity, rather than complex goals and achievements. The way that life is looked at is just as important to our happiness as how it is lived. It is clear that happiness is a state of perceived well being. Although happiness is important, it does not reflect actual success or achievement, but the way that you interpret events around you.

Happiness is not found in our goals and success, although we often focus on these when we strive for happiness. Success is not the path to happiness. In his TED talk on The Surprising Science of Happiness, Dan Gilbert cites a 1978 study on happiness, and it’s surprising results: “Because the fact is that a year after losing the use of their legs and a year after winning the lotto, lottery winners and paraplegics are equally happy with their lives.” (Gilbert, 2:36) Here, Gilbert uses irony to show how the audience’s perception of happiness is flawed, and to show the contrast between the common perception and the reality of happiness. When asked, nearly everyone in the audience believed that lottery winners would be happier. This idea relates to the “hedonic treadmill”, which is a phenomenon where despite any improvements in life, we are at the same level of happiness as before. We only feel rewarded for a brief moment when we achieve our goal, and then things return to normal. The study shows that important life events have a smaller impact on life than we would expect, and that we need to reconsider the way we look at happiness. In Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics”, aristotle discusses the root of our actions, and what motivates us:

“Every art and every investigation, and likewise every practical pursuit or undertaking, seems to aim at some good: hence it has been well said that the Good is That at which all things aim.

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If therefore among the ends at which our actions aim there be one which we will for its own sake, while we will the others only for the sake of this, and if we do not choose everything for the sake of something else （which would obviously result in a process ad infinitum, so that all desire would be futile and vain）, it is clear that this one ultimate End must be the Good, and indeed the Supreme Good.”

Here, the word “good” is translated from the greek “eudaimonia” which can either be translated to “good” or “happiness”. This complicates the interpretation of the chapter, but the fact that “eudaimonia” can translate both into good and happiness shows how good is often conflated with happiness. Here, aristotle explains how every goal, or motivation for an action, must be traced back to a higher motivation, or else your goals will be justified by each other, creating an infinite loop where there is no ultimate goal. He argues that this highest goal is Eudaimonia, or happiness. If our actions are all inspired by a web of motivations, all indirectly leading to happiness, most of them will not have any relevance to our actual mental state. Only the goals with the most direct connection to our end goal, happiness will have significance, and therefore all others are pointless distractions. Our flawed view on the ways to achieve happiness relies on success. Using the TED talk by Dan Gilbert, and Aristotle’s Nicomachean ethics, the irrelevance of our goals and success to our happiness is shown.

The complexity of the modern world improves our lives in many ways, however the simplicity of everyday life and nature is often ignored. Happiness can be found in simplicity, living in the moment and appreciating your surroundings. Margaret Lawrence’s “The Shack” is a description of life at the cottage, the narrator brings up the topic of speedboaters,

“I sometimes feel sorry for the people in speedboats who spend their weekends zinging up and down the river at about a million miles an hour. For all they’re able to see. The riverbanks might as well be green concrete and the river itself flowing with molten plastic.”

Here, Margaret Laurence points out how the cottagers who ride around in speedboats do not take the time to enjoy the landscape, using metaphors. The riverbanks are compared to concrete and molten plastic to communicate the unimportance of the scenery to the speedboaters. This choice of words also highlights the dirtier, industrial side of speedboting. This emphasizes the importance of enjoying the moment, and appreciating the natural beauty around us. This might suggest what Laurence believes is a true path to happiness, and is supported by her fond memories throughout the rest of the essay. Throughout the essay, Lawrence sees her time at the cottage, enjoying the simplicity of day to day mundane tasks as fulfilling. By contrasting this with the lifestyle of the speedboaters, Lawrence shows the importance of simplicity to her happiness. In “My Father is a Simple Man” by Luis Omar, a man praises his father despite his simplicity, “I’d gladly give my life for this man with a sixth grade education … And when he leaves without benefit of fanfare or applause I shall have learned what little there is about greatness.” (Omar, 20–25) Omar uses irony and antithesis to show how his perspective on greatness differs from how it is traditionally viewed. First, he writes “I’d gladly give my life for this man with a sixth grade education,” you would not expect a man with so little education to be seen as having so much value. Omar shows his differing perspective again through the use of antithesis, when he writes, “I shall have learned what little there is about greatness.” The antithesis of calling greatness little shows how little importance greatness has to the son. Instead of seeing the complexity of achievement, and education as valuable, the son values simplicity, and the kindness of his father. “The Shack” and “My Father is a Simple Man” show people finding happiness in simplicity. This simplicity can be seen as an alternative to the complex lives that people try to live. This complexity arises from goals and the need to be better, occupying ourselves with thing that don’t truly matter. The way the people in these stories live their lives subverts the common perception that success leads to happiness.

Perception is much more important to happiness than people believe. The video “An Experiment in Gratitude” by SoulPancake asks what the biggest factor in happiness is, “Psychologists have scientifically proven that one of the greatest contributing factors to overall happiness in your life is how much gratitude you show.” SoulPancake cites the authority of psychologists to prove the importance of gratitude. The people in the video all experience an increase in happiness after displaying gratitude. The effects of gratitude are yet another example of how happiness can be manipulated by how people perceive the world. In Dan Gilbert’s TED talk, “The Surprising Science of Happiness”, he discusses how happiness can be synthesized, “Getting or not getting a promotion, passing or not passing a college test, on and on, have far less impact, less intensity and much less duration than people expect … Why? Because happiness can be synthesized.” Here, Gilbert answers his rhetorical question, why do important events in life have little impact on happiness? He says that happiness can be synthesized. Gilbert goes on to describe the “Psychological Immune System”, which allows humans to change their views of the world. Happiness can be synthesized even when people don’t get what they want, Gilbert gives the example of Newt Gingrich, who was much happier after he resigned due to a scandal. Gilbert’s concept of the synthesis of happiness shows how important perception is to happiness. The effects of perception on happiness can be seen in Dan Gilbert’s TED talk, and Soul Pancake’s experiment in gratitude. These effects show that happiness is not just well-being, but perceived well-being.

Happiness is not found in our goals and success, although focus is often on these when striving for happiness. Success is not the path to happiness. This is proven through many literary genres, arguing that happiness is not found in success, can be found in simplicity rather than complexity, and is highly influenced by perception.