Will Happiness Be The Death Of Us?
According to the Declaration of Independence, happiness is an inalienable right — something that can neither be taken away from nor given away by the possessor. In the future, will we need to dissolve our ties with this entitlement?
Let’s fast-forward into our children’s future reality. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts by 2030, 1 billion workers will join the global workforce and by 2023 only 33% of workers in the US will be full-time employees. Today’s 26-year-old has already held 6.3 jobs, often simultaneously; perhaps in part due to the average student loan debt hitting $29,400 and the growing ‘UBER-ization’ of the economy, creating a generation of unprotected, on-demand workers.
In this hyper-competitive, self-reliant future, should we be preparing our kids to strive for happiness? Most likely not.
Happiness lacks a future
As Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist and best-selling author of Man’s Search for Meaning wrote “Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason to ‘be happy.’” Our obsession with happiness has blinded us to what is truly valuable; having purpose.
Having a clear sense of purpose won’t necessarily make you happy. But as Emily Esfahani Smith reported in her Atlantic article, “There’s More to Life than Being Happy”, research shows it will increase life satisfaction, improve mental and physical health and enhance resiliency. When negative events happen, they decrease happiness but increase the amount of meaning you have in life. People who have a clearly defined purpose rate their satisfaction with life higher even when they are feeling bad.
Happiness is an emotion. It lives and dies in the present. Purpose is durable. Resilient. It allows you to imagine and create a future, the research shows, whereas happiness keeps you stuck in the now.
Why would we anchor our children’s aspirations (and collective success) to a fleeting emotion that disables them from confronting the future, however uncomfortable it may be? The happiness movement has expounded the virtues of living in the moment. The corporate world appears to have embraced it too, incentivizing its employees to prioritize the next quarter’s goals. But the great, enduring changes to our world and lives have come from those brave enough to imagine a different future. And inspire, and sacrifice, and persist, and adapt to create it.
If the world is going to become even more unpredictable and unsettling, as appears will be the case, to thrive in life and business we must find purpose and prioritize the future. And put the comfort of happiness aside for a moment.
Happiness can erase the ups and downs of life
The seminal 2013 study in the Journal of Positive Psychology found that Americans defined a happy life as one in which “things go well, needs and desires are easily satisfied, and difficult or taxing entanglements are avoided.” As Esfahani Smith uncovers, evolutionarily happiness is about drive reduction and sating our needs.
In the future, there will be no avoiding the lumps in life. For the economy, and the individual to thrive, we will need to increase our drives, not erase them. It will take ingenuity and resilience to find brilliant solutions for an unpredictable, rapidly changing marketplace.
Happy, balanced people will not be a sought-after commodity. “Neuro-typicals” may lose standing. Tyler Cowen, an economist and author, has noted that as the economy becomes increasingly specialized, a worker’s “greatest skill, not average skill” will be valued. Those on the spectrum with immense talents will become sought-after, despite the social challenges they bring. We will need to deal with the highs and lows in life, and our fellow humans, in order to thrive.
…But it can also make you sick
We’re all aware of the myriad studies showing that happiness makes you healthy. But a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that people who are happy but have little meaning in their lives have the same gene expression as people who are responding to chronic adversity. Their bodies are activating a pro-inflammatory response. Chronic inflammation is linked to our top killers — heart disease and various cancers. 75% of participants scored high on happiness and low on meaning, and showed this harmful gene expression. Whereas those scoring high on meaning, and high or low on happiness showed a healthy gene expression that prepares the body for viral infections.
Of course, this is not an argument for living a miserable life. But rather for individuals, brands and businesses to succeed in the future, we must prioritize purpose; embrace the tomorrow over the now; and not try to normalize the highs and lows — in life or our fellow humans. We’ll be healthier for it. And if we’re lucky, happiness will follow.
