It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
English novelist (1812 - 1870)
How many of us have heard “those were the days…” followed by wistful sighs that would make any self respecting steam engine want to throw in the towel and bid adieu to the world in general…everyone has favorite times that they remember with much fondness. My personal favorite is my school days.. what fun and care free days…we all hear our parents and grandparents speak of their youth.. saying that those were the times… legends of Rs 2 per liter petrol… 15 golgappas in 25 paisa and so on….
Come to think of it isn’t happiness all in the mind? Remember the first time we could actually half pedal a bicycle for the first time… the excitement we felt back then was something that is missing now even when we drive a luxury sedan. Why is it so? Remember the day we received our first salary (in my case it was a princely Rs 1200 during my housemanship). Compare that to the feelings of joy when we get a new job with a eight figure salary… pale stuff this. The law of diminishing returns applies equally well to emotions and feelings as to economic matters. Damn Malthus.
Why can’t we sustain the intensity and levels of happiness that we experience when achieving something for the first time? If only that were possible, life would not have been a constant race for the next high. In that matter how different are we from hard core drug addicts? We are all in this race for the next raise, for that better job, for the bigger house, for the latest car / gadget, for that next higher educational degree and so on. Why? Would that make us happier in the true sense? I suspect not. What would actually make us happier would be enjoying what we have right now (unless of course one is in really bad shape like in the middle of a heart attack or something).
Contentment has long had moral, ethical and religious sanction but is not looked upon favorably by the upwardly mobile (they must be picturing their 8 year old saying that she is content to study up to class IV and no more). I feel happiness is a chemical reaction caused by release of happiness inducing compounds (dopamine?) along the brain neurons while contentment has to be a spiritual thing. Happiness / joy / euphoria etc have been induced in the Laboratory with electrodes planted strategically in the brain as well as with chemicals / drugs etc. However can one generate contentment artificially? If only mankind could learn to be content, even in moderation, wouldn’t the world change dramatically? It would be the end of all the malaise that plagues mankind… wars, obesity, food shortages, crime, etc would all disappear.
I say contentment in moderation because too much contentment might have its own vices. Imagine being content with a 40 year lifespan and making no efforts to develop new cures for diseases. Or imagine being content with fire as the only source of light and heat. But I have a sneaking suspicion that our ancestors using fire for cooking and lighting purposes were not unhappier than us. The real cause of unhappiness would have been having to use fire after electricity was discovered and when we had become aware that there are far better sources of heat and light than fire. To elucidate my point let me give an example most would comprehend. Nearly every one of us would remember the days before television had become an integral part of our lives. Were we unhappy? Remember the fun evenings socializing with family and friends… the evening studies and night game played on the streets. Are we really happier with television? But can we imagine life without television now? Nah.. no way (‘take a chill pill dude’ would be how the younger generation would put it).
Carles Caleb Colton the famous English sportsman and writer put it best when he said: “True contentment depends not upon what we have; a tub was large enough for Diogenes, but a world was too little for Alexander.”
