The History of Happiness
I say you should never take happiness for granted. However, there are countless fascinating perspectives to be found in its long and thought-provoking history.
Granted, the emotions of fear, love, hate and, of course, happiness are the most basic human emotions. They are doubtlessly central to what it means to be human.
It’s interesting that we didn’t always regard happiness as something natural or even human! Long ago, happiness was seen as something from the gods, and it was definitely better not to be messed around with.
We are in debt to the great minds of history. They developed our modern conception of happiness, transforming it from something mysterious and arbitrary into something to be pursued!
It wasn’t until the city of Athens was democratized in the fifth century BCE that people began dreaming of a happy life that they could influence. Prior to the downfall of the Persian Empire, people thought happiness was out of their power. With all the misery at the time — poverty, inferior medical technology, political suppression and so on — happiness seemed better left to the gods.
After the empire’s defeat, Athens began to blossom. Now a democracy, people began experiencing a new freedom — inspiring them to believe they may have some influence over their happiness.
