[Lee Yongbeom's Psychology of Happiness] Either Side Is a 'Bait' Thrown by Survival

<32>Uncomfortable Truths About Happiness
Happiness Standards Vary, but Ultimately Result in Survival and Reproduction
Half of Happiness Is Genetic; Change Personality and Attitude Instead of Environment

Iyongbeom novelist

There are two people. One is a dictator who has massacred thousands. After illegally transferring his wealth abroad, he is spending a prosperous old age with his family in a pristine resort. The other is a person who has lived a life of poverty and asceticism, earning the nickname "the saint of non-possession." He stays in the sewers of a big city and every morning drags his ailing body onto the streets to preach love for humanity. Between the dictator and the saint of non-possession, who appears happier?

Two Perspectives on Happiness

Humans are the only animals who question the meaning of life. Philosophers have long proclaimed that the purpose of life is happiness. However, perspectives on happiness are distinctly divided between asceticism and hedonism. Ascetics view happiness as the completion of life. In this view, happiness is supported by reason, morality, and enlightenment. Since happiness is not only an objective state but also a reward for moral behavior, one can achieve perfect happiness through training of the body and mind. On the other hand, hedonists see happiness as a subjective experience and a fiction created by it, believing that humans are programmed to pursue pleasure and avoid pain regardless of moral behavior. Therefore, happiness is attained through the fulfillment of desires.

The first perspective has a long philosophical tradition. For ascetics, happiness is a state of having no desires or not desiring. According to this logic, desire is a reservoir of unhappiness. A desiring being can never reach happiness. To attain true happiness, one must abandon material desires and pursue inner, spiritual happiness.

Is the ascetic claim to pursue spiritual satisfaction correct? Most modern scientists support the hedonistic view. According to hedonists, happiness is merely a biochemical reward the brain gives when engaging in behaviors that aid survival and reproduction. The brain is the true erogenous zone. Stimulating certain areas of the brain can make anyone feel happiness and even experience the spiritual transcendence sought by practitioners. The difference is that practitioners mistakenly interpret the pleasure felt by the brain as an ecstatic state caused by spiritual transcendence.

Happiness Is Bait

Now it is time to reveal an uncomfortable truth about happiness. The reason we work hard, love, strive for success, or seek honor is ultimately to become happy. However, the final outcome of pursuing happiness is survival and reproduction. For example, the feeling of love is beautiful and sublime, but its ultimate result is bringing a child into the world who carries 50% of your genes.

Psychologist Professor Seo Eun-guk compared humans chasing happiness to honeybees in his book . Honeybees do not aim for flowers, nor do flowers exist to provide honey to honeybees. Both honeybees and flowers share the same purpose of survival and reproduction. Just as honeybees seek flowers for survival and reproduction, humans pursue happiness. Happiness is not the ultimate purpose of life but merely a means for survival and reproduction.

Happiness is like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey. As the donkey chases the carrot, it naturally follows the path intended by its owner. Similarly, as we pursue happiness, we naturally achieve the purpose intended by our genes. By chasing happiness, we are unwittingly fulfilling nature's command. Ultimately, humans are not designed to live to be happy but to feel happiness in order to live.

Animals have evolved to pursue pleasure and avoid pain because pursuing happiness rather than unhappiness is advantageous for survival and reproduction. Happiness and unhappiness act as traffic signals indicating favorable and unfavorable paths for survival and reproduction. Therefore, the purpose of happiness and unhappiness is the same. Those who pursue happiness survive, while those who pursue unhappiness cannot leave genes behind. Nature has no interest in human happiness, nor is happiness the goal of evolution. The message nature left us is to survive and thrive to the very end.

Jeremy Bentham's insight that human life is ruled by two sovereigns, pleasure and pain, is correct. Schopenhauer also recognized this early on. He said, "Nature must deceive individuals by implanting illusions to achieve its purpose. Individuals are deluded by these illusions, mistaking their true purpose of species preservation for their own happiness... and become slaves of nature." Because nature cannot tell us what to do every moment, it gave us a very simple guideline: to leave your genes behind, pursue happiness. We did not evolve to be happy but to pursue happiness. For this reason, even without conscious awareness, we act according to biological destiny.

Half of Happiness Depends on Genes

Happiness is neither fair nor just. Some enjoy happiness without much effort, while others are unhappy despite possessing genius talents. So, is happiness predetermined like fate? Psychologist David Lykken conducted decades-long research tracking thousands of twins born in Minnesota, USA, concluding that about 50% of happiness is genetically determined. He famously said, "Trying to be happy is as futile as trying to grow taller." Similar studies have since emerged. Factors influencing happiness are approximately 50% genetic, 10% environmental conditions, and 40% intentional activities or efforts.

Many genes influence happiness. In 2017, a multinational research team of about 200 people from 17 countries analyzed DNA from hundreds of thousands of individuals and identified three gene variants affecting life satisfaction. They also found two and eleven gene variants influencing depression and neuroticism, respectively. These genes affect neurotransmitter and hormone secretion. Among them, the most well-known are the 5-HTT (5-hydroxytryptamine transporter) gene variant and the FAAH (Fatty acid amide hydrolase) gene variant. The 5-HTT gene is closely related to serotonin secretion, which affects depression, and the FAAH gene is related to the secretion of anandamide, known as the "brain's marijuana." Happiness genes are most common among Africans and Native Americans and least common among Asians. This is why Africans and South Americans appear more lively and leisurely enjoy life.

A 2018 study reported that 30-64% of sensory pleasure and spiritual happiness are influenced by genes. Also, while men and women have similar levels of spiritual happiness, men place more importance on sensory pleasure. The claim that only spiritual happiness is true happiness is intellectual pretension. There are two paths to happiness: one is fulfilling desires, and the other is minimizing desires. Both paths are difficult. Desires can never be fully satisfied, and reducing desires requires enduring pain. Nietzsche once said, "The reason humans cannot easily claim to be gods is because they have a belly." We are beings with animal instincts. Spiritual satisfaction is only one side of happiness. The other side is obtained through desires.

If half of happiness is determined by genes, efforts to gain happiness may seem ineffective. What influences happiness is not the genes themselves but the personality and attitude shaped by those genes. Trying to change environmental conditions such as status, income, or education, which affect 10% of happiness, is also foolish. Parents cannot be changed, nor is it easy to change one's country of origin or school. Even if changed, the impact on happiness is minimal. Changing oneself is much easier than changing the environment. As many sages have taught, happiness lies within.