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Pursue meaning or happiness?

Confusing evolutionary tools with life goals

Many people seek happiness, and many of us also seek meaning. There has been a movement in psychology to merge meaningfulness with happiness. However, in his paper “Difference between Happy Life vs Meaningful Life,” R.F. Baumeister differentiates between the two. The paper is a good read as it encourages you to think about this topic. But I am sharing a quick summary here so that I can then lay out my point of view and my dissent.

The paper highlights how happiness and meaning are strongly correlated but still different in some aspects. In his research, Baumeister has used surveys to isolate factors that affect one positively and the other negatively or only affect one without affecting the other. He found that many factors, such as being with people, doing productive work, and having an exciting life, affect both happiness and meaning positively. However, statistically, people associate happiness with current needs and having a good life now. On the other hand, people associate meaning with being able to link activities across the past, present, and future and form a cohesive life story.

Therefore, according to Prof. Baumeister’s research, an easy and satisfied present is the biggest driver for a happy life. When we think about our happiness, we look at how we feel now or have felt recently. On the other hand, meaning depends on our ability to align our present situation with our past struggles and future dreams. If we are doing something now that honors our past struggles or can lead to our future dreams, we find our lives meaningful even if it is challenging. Furthermore, since happiness is a result of our necessities, it is a product of nature. On the other hand, since meaning is a result of interpretation, it is a product of culture. Finally, a happy life without meaning tends to be selfish and shallow, even though it is good, whereas a meaningful life without happiness tends to be complex and altruistic, though challenging. Therefore, Baumeister encourages a quest for meaning over happiness and considers a meaningful life to be superior to a happy life, even if it is hard.

Here are my thoughts on the topic:

1. Statistical definitions often disguise personal definitions, which are critical in assessing culturally loaded words such as meaning and happiness. If individuals define happiness and meaning differently, none of it matters.
2. Assuming that the above definitions are correct and fairly general, one criticism is the attribution of cause. Baumeister suggests that happiness results from the satisfaction of needs. However, the stability of happiness scores in people over time, especially when it depends on transitory variables, suggests an alternate explanation. Probably happiness is not a result of an easy life but a state of being or personality or skill that makes life easy. In this case, happy people are less selfish because they need less to be content. Since Baumeister didn’t take the actual circumstances of people into account in his study and only relied on self-reported scores, we do not know whether happy people actually had easier lives or only perceived their lives to be easy.
3. Another interesting consideration is the strong correlation between happiness and meaning. An increase in happiness in personal lives may encourage individuals to seek well-being for others, leading to a greater sense of meaning. On the other hand, unhappy people may find it hard to pursue all the greater good that Baumeister associates with meaning. Since we do not have real results, we can only conjecture. We do not know who is more altruistic or socially impactful.
4. Also, since finding meaning is a result of thinking, it can be the case that people seeking meaning just think more and do less. There is an example in the research that might suggest so. People found more meaning in “thinking that they have to do deep thinking” than when they actually “did deep thinking.” While thinking about things is important, it may not be a substitute for action.
5. One thing that I accept, however, is that it is harder to attain happiness if it is an inherent personality trait. Medication is the only way to retune our neural circuits (although imperfect). On the other hand, meaning is based on interpretation and is therefore more accessible to change through counseling and therapy. And given the correlation, increased meaning may (not necessarily) lead to greater happiness in the lives of people who are not tuned for happiness naturally. None of it matters if happiness and meaning are skills.
6. However, neither seeking happiness nor seeking meaning should be a goal in life. When we seek more happiness, we are just becoming slaves to our natural instincts. Whereas, when we seek meaning, we are becoming slaves to our cultural conditioning. Are they persuasive or helpful goals for independent thinkers and free spirits?
7. Here, I think stoics, Buddhists, and other Eastern traditions have the best suggestion, which is to maintain equanimity and pursue with discipline the path or values that you have chosen to pursue. (How to choose can be a topic for another discussion). We should treat “happiness” and “meaning” as what they truly are — tools for managing our motivation to act (possible action drivers).
8. “Happiness” focuses us on our present discomforts. If something in our present is bad, we need to fix it. Addressing a pressing issue can help us improve our happiness and free us to pursue future goals. However, if we feel that we are unhappy for no apparent reason or we need to bear some sadness/stress as part of our journey, then we should just accept that our unhappiness is misguided and learn to ignore it. Learning to be happy brings contentment.
9. On the other hand, meaning allows us to bear present discomfort to attain future goals. We find our lives to be meaningless if we are doing things that are not aligned with our past and future values. In such a situation, it is important to refocus ourselves and prioritize more important work. However, if we want to bear discomfort in the present for a while because we care about something in the future, it is equally important to weave a story around the activity and align our values. Learning to find meaning enables suffering.
10. In summary, happiness and meaning are mechanisms (tools) that help us. They may also serve as indicators or measures. But, it is not helpful to treat them as goals.

Here’s an example: I write because expressing my thoughts makes me happy. But I hate editing. Editing is painful. But I want to learn how to edit and make my thoughts readable. Now, practicing editing is meaningful — I guess.

Neither seeking meaning nor happiness is the goal. But happiness and meaning can guide us in picking what to do and doing those things for as long as we need or want to do them.