The purpose of this note is to lay out simple reasons why we feel unhappiness and what we need to do to mitigate it. I do not claim to be any expert on this subject. I have just tried to summarize some ideas which I have gathered through experience and by reading experts who have written extensively on this topic.
Why do we do what we do?
- To conserve energy — Tasks requiring effort are painful, as the brain tries to conserve energy in all possible ways — the key reason for laziness.
- To Seek pleasure — Some actions like eating, drinking, drugs etc triggers the pleasure sensors in our brains, resulting in a feeling of joy (satisfaction).
- To prevent threats — These actions are automatic mostly undertaken unconsciously (triggered by the brain) to prevent dangerous situations or to prevent loss.
Why do we feel unhappy?
The absence of pleasure leads to unhappiness. The fundamental problem is that pleasure derived from consumption (in any form) is unsustainable, as the mind becomes bored very soon and stops activating the mechanism which leads to it (pleasure). This is the reason why there is a long period of “lull” (absence of pleasure) after the process of consumption is over — leading to unhappiness. Also, the next time the mind will seek consumption to a much higher degree to trigger the same level of pleasure. Hence, consumption alone cannot lead to sustainable happiness.
How to prevent unhappiness?
Unhappiness can be prevented by triggering the pleasure mechanism of mind such that it perpetuates for a much longer period of time. As stated above, it cannot be achieved through consumption alone. Fortunately, but counter-intuitively, there are ways of achieving some degree of success (if not fully) in this directions.
- To cultivate habits — Consciously doing something routinely over a longer period of time leads to a habit. This trains the mind to do these tasks automatically and thereby conserving energy — leading to a much lesser degree of pain while doing these routine tasks.
- To add value — Merely consuming without adding value does not lead to a “sense of accomplishment” and hence any pleasure derived from it quickly fades away. The reason is that one can be successful in fooling the whole world but it is impossible to fool oneself. Therefore, adding value and working to “expand the pie” is extremely important.
- To sharpen one’s consciousness — This means cultivating “positive emotions” within oneself, like gratefulness, altruism etc. “Negative emotions” never gives happiness, and results in perpetual pain. Though it might give a false sense of pleasure (not happiness), which quickly fades away.
Hope this makes sense. Many thanks for reading.
