Bedolla Infante 1

Christian Bedolla Infante

Professor Jon Beadle

ESW 113A

17 June 2019

Interpretations of Happiness

Everybody has their own interpretations on how to maximize happiness, but the majority

would agree on one thing​;​ ​when​ it comes down to making decisions, a large number of people

choose the option that results in the most amount of pleasure. When trying to approach the idea

of happiness​,​ it is essential to view multiple perspectives due to the subjectivity of the construct.

Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky’s perspective as a doctor in social psychology from Stanford believes

that genes play a role in happiness. ​A section of the article,“How Happy Are You and Why?”

further develops the idea that people have predetermined set amount of happiness​. This is unlike

David Brook’s perspective as a journalist who works with a number of very credible publishers,

such as the New York Times, ​who believes that suffering​ and happiness are correlated. ​David

Brooks further develops this idea in his article, “What Suffering Does”.​ ​This also​ differs from

Graham Hill’s perspective ​from having​ remarkable success in the 2000s as an entrepreneur, who

runs a website called treehuggers.com.​ In his article, “Living with Less A Lot Less Hill discuss

sustainable living and how he believes simplicity and happiness are correlated​. Each author

believes that happiness is the fundamental pursuit of all people​;​ however, they have very

different interpretations on how to achieve this goal.

Each author alludes to the fundamental desire that all people are essentially motivated by

happiness. This idea of constantly pursuing happiness acts as the foundation for all the author's
 Bedolla Infante 2

arguments in regards to happiness. David Brooks speaks about this unspoken assumption when

he states, “...the main goal of life is to maximize happiness”(Brooks 264). Brooks’ argument is

grounded in the idea that the ​fundamental​ goal in life is to maximize pleasure on a daily basis.

This is also visible when author Graham Hill speaks about his encounter with a woman he loved.

Hill explains how he, “followed her to Barcelona ​[and]​ lived in a tiny flat, totally content…”(Hill

311). Hill is pursuing his love interest which can be interpreted as him pursuing his happiness.

This is much ​like Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky grounding her argument in this idea of pursuing

happiness. This​ is ​noted when she reiterates “a cartoon in which a little boy on a tricycle says to

a playmate holding a kite, ‘I can’t wait to grow up and be happy”(Lyubomirsky 185). Even as

young children human beings are programmed with the desire to be happy. The constant pursuit

of happiness makes it seem as if happiness is an eventuality of life. While the author’s arguments

are all grounded in their origins they are all have very different interpretations of happiness.

Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky refutes the idea of happiness as an eventuality rather she argues

that happiness is partially based on one's genes. Dr. Lyubomirsky in her article, ​“How Happy

Are You and Why?”​,discusses a set point that exists on a continuum that can be measured. She

states how, “...your genetically determined predisposition for happiness (or unhappiness)

accounts for 50 percent of the difference between you and everyone else” (Lyubomirsky 186).

Genetically we are born with a predetermined set of happiness that accounts for half of our entire

happiness. However, this does not say someone with genes that promote unhappiness is doomed

to be unhappy. The best way to explain this construct is some people are born with a long or

short allele of 5-HTTLPR (the gene that combats depression). The people who have the short
 Bedolla Infante 3

allele express less of 5-HTTLPR therefore, they are more susceptible to succumb to depression.

Dr. Lyubomirsky, unlike the other authors, takes a scientific approach to the idea of happiness.

On the contrary, David Brooks argues that happiness is given new meaning after

suffering a feeling he describes as out of the individual’s control. Brooks, in the article, ​“What

Suffering Does” ​depicts the idea of happiness beyond the superficial level. He describes how

suffering creates this holy commitment that places “...the hard experiences in a moral context

and [tries] to redeem something bad by turning it into something sacred”(Brooks 286). Someone

who is attempting to get over the loss of a loved one typically feels a moral responsibility to do

right by the people they lost. He also explains in the article how the direct response to suffering

is not happiness rather it is a commitment that promotes individual growth. The commitment

created by suffering redefines the purpose of life by changing what people's morals and values

are. Happiness in this interpretation is about the fulfillment because by establishing a sacred

commitment to something, people feel a moral responsibility to it create true happiness. Unlike

other authors David Brooks shows how suffering creates a form of happiness that is not on a

superficial level. ​In direct contrast to Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, Brooks discuss this holy expireces,

while not biblical, it is an undescrabile force that acts upon an individual's psyche. This allows

people to redeem some scenes of direction when they seem to have fallen between the cracks.

This is unlike Lyubomirsky who had a very scientific approach to the argument of happiness.

On the other hand, Graham Hill argues that happiness is obtained when one relinquishes

their consumer ideology in favor of simplicity. Graham Hill in the article,​ “Living with Less A

Lot Less”​, describes his personal experiences and how he has found happiness in giving up

materialism. Before he was conservationist Graham Hill was a successful entrepreneur who
 Bedolla Infante 4

owned many materialistic items. In the article Hill states“...my theoretically upgraded life didn’t

feel any better… I felt more anxious than before” (Hill 309). Hill’s economic success did not

translate into happiness but anxiousness. This is in contrast to the idea that many people believe

that money is the key to happiness but, Hill refutes this claim entirely. Instead he believes

happiness and simplicity are correlated because owing less removes unneeded stress. Hill

explains how, “...material objects take up mental as well as physical space” (Hill 312). Hills

argument is interesting because his economic success gives his a sort of credibility that is not

based on his academic achievements. Unlike other authors Hill has a first hand experience on

how economic success impacts individual happiness. What is also unique about the argument

presented by Hill is the applicability of it. This is antithetic of the other articles previously stated

because they required things out of the individuals control. ​Specifically Brooks depicts how

recovering from suffering is this redefining factor that is unexplainable. How the people feel a

sort of redemption is unlike Hills argument entirely that focuses on the simplicities of life. Hill’s

argument shows how one could immediately become more happy if they changed their

surroundings while, Brooks feels as though it is really a process that brings someone closer to

themselves. It interesting when introducing the actual science to such an abstract construct. The

way Lyubomirsky states how 50 percent of happiness is already predetermined apples and

interesting filter to these arguments.

Each author has a different perspective on how to maximize happiness however, they all

believe that the driving forces of all people is being happy. Happiness is subjective and while

one correct argument is untenable it is interesting to see how someone's personal experiences

change the way they interpret happiness. Having multiple perspectives from different walks of
 Bedolla Infante 5

life allows an individual to create their own interpretations. While some authors arguments share

similarities they are all incredibly different perspectives on the same idea. They all share the idea

that working towards a common goal or pursuing happiness is the driving force for all

individuals. Whether someone believes in it is your genes, suffering, simplicity or none of the

above, we all want to be happy.

 Bedolla Infante 6

Works Cited

Brooks, David.”What Suffering Does.” ​Pursuing Happiness,​ edited by Matthew Parfitt and

Dawn

Skorczewski, Bedford St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 284-287.

Hill, Graham. “Living with Less. A Lot Less.” ​Pursuing Happiness​, edited by Matthew Parfitt

and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 308-313.

Lyubomirsky, Sonja. “How Happy Are You and Why?”​ Pursuing Happiness​, edited by Matthew

Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 179- 197