Chemical Happiness and Meaning of Life Summary- Harari.
- He was born in 1976.
- He is an Israeli public intellectual, historian, and assistant professor at the department of history, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
His interested areas:
- Relation between history and biology.
- The difference between homosapiens and other animals.
- The meaning of human happiness and rights.
Major works:
1. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2014).
2. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (2016).
3. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century (2018).
Summary of Chemical Happiness and Meaning of Life.
Social scientists believe that the mental and emotional state of the human being is not determined by socioeconomic factors such as wealth, power, political freedom, etc. On the contrary, biologists believe that the emotional world is determined by a biochemical mechanism of nerves, neurons, synapses, and various biochemical substances like serotonin, dopamine, and Oxytocin. Socioeconomic factor never brings happiness to human life. Pleasant sensations, created by chemical mechanisms, bring happiness to human life. It is not possible to acquire happiness by winning a lottery, buying a house, and getting a promotion.
Many people try to create heaven on the earth but their happiness lasts for a short period as it is controlled by the biochemical mechanism. The biochemical mechanism always keeps happiness constant at a particular level if there is any variation because of socio-economic factors. Socio-economic factors cannot make any change in the level of hormones and bring happiness.
Scholars compare biochemistry to air conditioning systems. When there is a variation in the room temperature air condition system helps us to keep the temperature at a particular point. Same way biochemistry keeps the level of happiness at a particular point whenever there is a variation in it. Usually, some air conditioning systems are set at 25 degrees Celsius, and some others are set at 20 degrees. Same way a human happiness conditioning system also varies from person to person. He introduces a scale of happiness from one to ten. Based on the happiness scale human beings can be categorized into two groups. The first one who born with a cheerful biochemical system and another one those who born with gloomy biochemistry. For those who are born with cheerful biochemistry, their level of happiness moves between six and ten and stabilizes at eight. Such people always lead a cheerful and happy life. Those who belong to a gloomy biochemistry move between three to seven and stabilize at five. Such people always remain depressed whatever fortunate thing happened in their life.
In each family, there will be some people who always remain joyful irrespective of their situation. At the same time, there will be some people who remain gloomy whatever fortunate things happen in their life. Fortunate things like buying a new car, getting married, getting a better job, never made any changes in our biochemistry and happiness.
According to the biochemical approach of happiness, history has minor importance in creating an impact on the biochemical system. History can produce serotonin, but cannot change its level.
Harari compares a medieval peasant with a modern Parisian banker. Peasant lived in a mud house with basic facilities but the banker lived in a house where he has all modern amenities. The happiness comes out of their facilities are equal for both banker and peasant. Their happiness is not determined by house and facilities, but by the hormones produced by neurons. When they completed their construction of the home, the neuron secreted hormones are equal for the banker and the peasant. Hence the happiness of both the peasant and the banker remains the same
Revolution never brings happiness. During the time of the French Revolution, revolutionaries executed the king, land distributed to peasants, and declare freedom for everyone by abolishing the privileges of the noble. The revolution did not bring happiness to the French people. Only the people with cheerful biochemistry could experience happiness but people with gloomy biochemistry continued to complain about the administration of Napoleon and Robespierre.
Harari says that if you want to acquire happiness stop wasting time on social and political reformation just manipulate your biochemistry and increase the level of hormones in the blood. Happiness begins within yourself, not from the socio-economic factors like social status, beautiful house, none of them brings happiness.
The important thing described by the Harari is that happiness is not a surplus of pleasant over unpleasant moments. It is a situation where we feel our life is mentally meaningful and worthwhile. Those who have a meaningful life will have a pleasant life amidst all his miseries and hardships. At the same time, life will be terrible no matter how comfortable it is.
People from different cultures have the same pain and pleasure but the meaning out of their life is different. Medieval people had a hard life in those days but they lead more meaningful life than modern secular people as they had seen meaning in Afterlife. The medieval people found more meaning in their life than modern nationalists, humanists, capitalists, and modern people.
Harari says that according to a scientific point of view human life has absolutely no meaning. Human beings are living in the world of delusion.
According to Harari, different people demand their life is meaningful ones. A scientist says she has a meaningful life as he contributed to the storage of knowledge, a soldier says I have a meaningful life as I served my nation, an entrepreneur may say I have started a new company therefore, my life is also meaningful. Just like the delusion of the medieval people, these people also belong to the world of delusion. As long as we convince our self that my life is meaningful we can find happiness in our life. Whenever it is punctured by the collective delusion again we have to search for meaning. Harari ends with a question, Does happiness really depends on self-delusion?.
Noah Harari says that human happiness is determined by the biochemical mechanism of nerves, neurons, synapses, and various biochemical substances like serotonin, dopamine, and Oxytocin. If you want to acquire happiness, just manipulate your biochemistry and increase the level of hormones in the blood. Socioeconomic factors may change the level of hormones for short period, not for a long period. Therefore happiness is not determined by socioeconomic and historical factors.
Post a Comment