Narsha Bulgakbaev
Learn to be happy! Confidence and Success
The Sextian school was founded by Quintus Sextius the Elder (50 BC). It has been described as a philosophical and medical school, combining mainly Pythagorean, Platonic, Cynic and Stoic elements. They argued that in order to achieve happiness, one must become a vegetarian, undergo an examination of conscience at night, abstain from both consumerism and politics, and believe that unattainable physical power will enter the body.
Augustine of Hippo
A happy life is a joy based on truth. It is a joy based on you, O God, truth. – Hail Augustine, confession.
Saint Augustine of Hippo (354—430 AD) was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose works influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. According to St. Augustine, all human activities revolve around love, and the main problem people face is a wrong understanding of love.
Happiness can only be found in God because He is the source of happiness. Since mankind was created by God, but has since fallen, the human soul remembers the bliss of being with God. Thus, if a person is directed towards the love of God, all other loves will be properly arranged. Thus, St. Augustine, relying on the Neoplatonic (syncretic philosophical and religious doctrine, which arose as a result of the activities of the ancient philosopher Plato, who wrote in his works) tradition, argues that happiness lies in the contemplation of a purely intelligible world.
One common concern of mortals is death. They work for it, strive for several goals, follow different paths, but do not strive to achieve one goal – happiness. – Boethius, Philosophy of Consolation.
Boethius (ca. 480–524) was a philosopher best known as the author of The Philosophy of Consolation. This work had the greatest influence on Christianity in the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, and has been described as the last great work of the Classical period. The book covers many topics, but among them it discusses happiness and the nature of God, discussing how to achieve happiness despite the vicissitudes of fate. He proves that by attaining happiness, the perfect good, and that perfect good is God. He then concludes that since God rules the universe through Love, praying to God and practicing Love leads to true happiness. Avicenna (ca. 980–1037), known as Ibn Sina, polymath and jurist; He is considered one of the most important thinkers of the Golden Age of Islam. according to him, happiness is the goal of man, and true happiness is free from worldly interests. ultimately, happiness is the development of the human intelligence through the integration of the general active intelligence. al-Ghazali (ca. 1058–1111) was a Persian Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic. al-Ghazali, who wrote towards the end of his life, wrote «alchemy of happiness» (kimiya-yi saadat, (in Persian). In his work, he emphasizes the importance of observing ritual requirements. Islamic religion, actions that lead to salvation and avoiding sin. According to al-Ghazali, happiness is four has the main components: self-knowledge, knowledge of God, knowledge of the world in reality, knowledge of life after death.
It is only through the use of one’s mental faculties – the faculties given by God – that one can transform from worldliness to complete devotion to God, the highest happiness. Maimonides (ca. 1135–1204) was a Jewish philosopher and astronomer who was one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars and physicians. He writes that happiness is ultimate and essentially intellectual.
A person is not completely happy if he has only desires and things to look for.
– Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) was a philosopher and theologian, in 1323 he became a Doctor of the Church. He syncretized Aristotelianism and Catholic theology in his major work Summa Theologica. According to Thomas Aquinas, perfect happiness is not to be found in any physical pleasure, in any worldly power, in any degree of worldly fame and honor, or in any ultimate reality. It can only exist in something infinite and perfect, which is God. And since God is not a material thing, but pure spirit, we are united by knowing and loving God. Therefore, union with God is the most perfect person and the ultimate goal of human life. Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) was a French philosopher. Influenced by Hellenistic philosophy and Christianity, with a belief in the separation of the public and private spheres of life, Montaigne writes that happiness is a subjective state of mind and that satisfaction varies from person to person. He further admits that belief in truth is necessary to perform concrete actions to achieve happiness without the interference of society. Jeremy Bentham (1748—1832) was a British philosopher, jurist and social reformer. He is considered the founder of modern utilitarianism (a direction in ethics (ethical theory), according to which the moral value of behavior or action is determined by its usefulness). According to Jeremy Bentham, a right action is the course that produces the greatest amount of utility, where utility is defined as the total pleasure (happiness) minus any pain (pain) to each individual affected by the action. To calculate the utility of a given action, he created the Felisif calculus. According to this calculation, for example, ascetic sacrifice is morally wrong.
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788—1860) is a German philosopher. His philosophy implies that selfish actions are the pursuit of self-interest, pleasure, or happiness, while compassion can only be a moral action. Schopenhauer interprets happiness as a satisfied desire, which in turn creates new desires. And dissatisfaction is the suffering that leads to empty melancholy. It also relates happiness to the movement of time, as we feel happy when time passes quickly and sad when time slows down. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844—1900) was a German philosopher, poet, cultural historian, and philologist whose work greatly influenced modern philosophy. Nietzsche criticized the English utilitarians’ pursuit of the greatest happiness, saying that making happiness the ultimate goal of life, in his words, «makes man despicable.» Instead, Nietzsche sought a culture with higher and more difficult goals than «mere happiness.» He introduced the figure of the «last man» as a kind of thought experiment against utilitarians and happiness seekers. These «little people» who avoid all dangers, difficulties, trials and struggles and seek only their own happiness and health deserve to be despised. Instead, Nietzsche prefers to think about the value of the difficult, that which can only be earned through struggle, difficulty, and suffering. He wants us to think not of everything of great value in life, including philosophy, but of the positive value of suffering and unhappiness that produces all the high achievements of human culture. Władysław Tatarkiewicz (1886—1980) is a Polish philosopher and historian. For Tatarkevich, happiness is the main ethical category, and true happiness requires complete satisfaction, that is, satisfaction with a whole life. Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979) was a German-American philosopher, sociologist, and political theorist associated with the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory. In his 1937 essay, «The Positive Character of Culture,» he argues that culture fosters tension in the fabric of society, and that it can challenge the social order established during this tension. If separated from the everyday world, the demand for happiness ceases to be external and becomes the object of spiritual excitement. In One Dimensional Man, his critique of consumerism shows that the current system is democratizing but authoritarian in nature, as few people insist on the perception of freedom that allows them to purchase certain versions of happiness. He goes on to say that the concept of «happiness can be bought» is psychologically destructive.
It is a characteristic of American culture that people are told to be happy over and over again. But you cannot pursue happiness; This should be done. A person must have a reason to be «happy».
– Viktor Frankl
Viktor Frankl (1905–1997) was an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor, and founder of logotherapy. His philosophy revolved around an emphasis on meaning, the value of suffering, and responsibility for something greater than oneself; Only one who faces these questions can be happy. Robert Nozick (1938—2002) is an American philosopher, professor at Harvard University. He is known for his political philosophy and thought experiments. «Experiment Machine» (1974) thought. In his experiment, he proposed a hedonistic theory of happiness by imagining a choice between everyday reality and a simulated reality that gives endless pleasure.
Axiological theory, according to which pleasure is the highest good and meaning of life, the only ultimate value (and all other values are instrumental, that is, a means of achieving pleasure), criticizes the notions. The Utility Monster (1974) is a thought experiment designed by Robert Nozick to test the concept of total pleasure utilitarianism (an approach in ethics (ethical theory) according to which the moral worth of a behavior or action is determined by its utility). Michel Onfray (born 1959) is a French writer and philosopher with a hedonistic, epicurean, and atheist worldview.
Onfray argues that the political dimension of hedonism extends from Epicurus to John Stuart Mill, Jeremy Bentham, and Claude Adrien Helvetis. Political hedonism aims to create the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Onfrey defines hedonism as «an introspective view of life based on self-pleasure and the pleasure of others, without harming oneself or others.» David Pearce (born 1959) is a British transhumanist (a social order, political position, and philosophical concept that promotes the use of science and technology to improve human mental and physical capabilities) who takes a lexical, negative, utilitarian approach to ethical issues. eliminating aspects – suffering, disease, aging and death. Transhumanists study the possibilities and consequences of using such technologies, the dangers and benefits of their use, including the idea of convergence of biological, informational, cognitive and nanotechnologies) philosopher.
Moral Approach – The philosophy of happiness is often discussed together with ethics. Traditional European societies, inherited from the Greeks and Christianity, often associated happiness with morality. In this sense, morality was the fulfillment of a certain role in a certain form of social life. Happiness remains a difficult term for moral philosophy. Throughout the history of moral philosophy, there has been an oscillation between attempts to define morality in terms of its consequences for happiness or to define it as unrelated to happiness at all. In psychology, the relationship between happiness and morality has been studied in various ways. Empirical research shows that laypeople’s judgments of a person’s happiness depend in part on their perceptions of that person’s moral qualities, suggesting that judgments of others’ happiness involve moral evaluations. Many studies also show that engaging in prosocial behaviors can increase happiness.
Eudaimonia is a classical Greek word, derived from «eu» («good» or «well-being») and «daimon» («spirit» or «little god»). In this sense, a happy life is a good life, that is, a life in which a person has a better sense of his human nature. In particular, Aristotle argued that the good life is a life of highly conscious action. He arrived at this statement through the «function argument». Basically, if this is true, then every living thing has a unique function to perform. for aristotle the human function is reason because it is the only thing that humans do unilaterally. and it is up to you to perform your function well or perfectly. According to Aristotle, a life consisting of perfect rational action is a happy life. Aristotle argued that the second best life for people incapable of higher conscious action is a life of moral virtue. The main question that Aristotle tries to answer is: «What is the ultimate goal of human life?» Many people seek pleasure, health and a good reputation. It is true that they have value, but none of them can take the place of the great good to which mankind aspires. All good things may appear to be means to happiness, but Aristotle said that happiness is always an end in itself.
Theories on how to achieve happiness include «encountering positive unexpected events», «seeing the importance of others,» and «seeing acceptance and praise from others.» Some believe that happiness is not only about external, momentary pleasures. The theories of positive psychology, well-being, eudaimonia, and happiness researchers Diener, Riff, Case, and Seligman cover a wide range of levels and topics, including «biological, personal, relational, institutional, cultural, and global aspects of life.»
Psychiatrist George Vaillant and Adult Development at Harvard University, The director of the study, Robert Waldinger, said that happy and healthy people have stronger interpersonal relationships. studies have shown that adequate sleep contributes to well-being. good mental health and good relationships contribute to happiness more than success. In 2018, Lori r. Santos’ course, Psychology and the Good Life, was the most popular course in Yale history and was available online for free to non-Yale students. some commentators have drawn a distinction between the hedonic tradition of seeking pleasure and avoiding unpleasant experiences and the eudaimonic tradition of living a full and deeply satisfying life. Kahneman: «When you look at what people want for themselves, how they pursue their goals, they seem to be more motivated to seek satisfaction than to seek happiness,» he said. A similar observation was made by the psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, who had the opportunity to observe his own and other prisoners’ experiences in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. He noted that those who lose hope die quickly, and those who have strong faith and purpose tend to live. As Frankl pointed out, happiness and misery depend more on one’s attitudes and choices than on one’s environment. He believed that not only positive situations, but also positive meaning bring the greatest satisfaction in life. The three main sources of meaning he identifies in his work are:
1. Doing meaningful work or doing an action.
2. Love expressed in a profound encounter with another person or experience.
3. Finding meaning in inevitable suffering, for example, understanding it as healing from the Creator and seeing it as an opportunity for learning.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a pyramid depicting the levels of human psychological and physical needs. When a person climbs the pyramid steps, self-realization occurs. In addition to the order of satisfaction of needs, Maslow imagines special moments of experience called peak experiences, deep moments of love, understanding, happiness or pleasure, during which a person feels complete, alive, self-sufficient and at the same time a part of the world. this is similar to Mihaly Csikszentmihalij’s concept of flow. The concept of flow is the idea that by having our basic needs met, we can achieve greater happiness without ever wasting time by changing our mindset. our intense focus makes us forget about any other problems, which in turn promotes positive emotions. Erich Fromm said: «Happiness is a sign that a person has found an answer to the problem of human existence: the productive realization of his potential and, thus, at the same time unity with the world and preservation of the integrity of his «I». Increasing energy by using energy effectively, energy «burns out if it is not used honestly». Self-determination theory links intrinsic motivation to three needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Competence is a person’s effectiveness in interacting with the environment, autonomy is flexibility in making choices and decisions, and relatedness is the need to establish warm, close personal relationships. Using data from the World Values Survey, Ronald Inglehart identified cross-national differences in happiness. He believes that the degree to which a society allows free choice has a major impact on happiness. Satisfying basic needs depends on economic and cultural factors that ensure free choice of lifestyle. In countries with limited freedom of choice, happiness also depends on religion. Sigmund Freud said that all people strive for happiness, but the possibilities of achieving it are limited, because we «enjoy intensely only the contrast, and very little the state of things.» The idea of motivational hedonism is the theory that pleasure is the goal of human life. Positive Psychology Since 2000, the field of positive psychology, which focuses on the study of human happiness and flourishing rather than maladaptive behavior or disease, has expanded dramatically in terms of scientific publications. It has given rise to many different views on the factors associated with happiness, such as positive social interactions with family and friends, which are the causes of happiness. included six key strengths in these factors:
– Wisdom and knowledge, including creativity, inquisitiveness, love of learning, and open-mindedness.
– Courage, which includes courage, determination, loyalty and vitality.
– Morality, which includes love, kindness, and social intelligence.
– Virtue, which includes leadership, integrity, and justice.
– Temperance, which includes self-control, prudence, forgiveness, humility and modesty.
– Transcendence, including religiosity/spirituality, hope, gratitude, appreciation of beauty and perfection, and humor (philosophical concept indicating that experimental knowledge is fundamentally inaccessible, beyond the limits of sensory experience).
Many authors, including Camus and Tolle, have written that the pursuit of happiness is incompatible with being happy. John Stuart Mill believes that for the vast majority of people, happiness is a matter of chance, something they can achieve. It means a lack of self-awareness, introspection, thinking about imagining or doubting one’s own happiness. Then, under favorable conditions, a person «inhales happiness from the air he breathes and calls it Happiness.» William Inge: «In general, those who have no reason to be happy are the happiest creatures.» Orison Swett Marden said «some people are born happy». Cognitive behavioral therapy is a popular therapeutic method used to change habits by changing thoughts and problem behaviors. It focuses on emotional regulation and uses many positive psychological practices. It is often used for people suffering from depression, anxiety or addiction and works towards a happier life. Common processes in cognitive-behavioral therapy are reframing problematic thought patterns by replacing thoughts with helpful or supportive ones, finding helpful coping skills, and choosing new activities that support desired behaviors and discourage undesired behaviors. Happiness is a topic studied in health psychology, especially positive psychology. Related concepts: eudaimonia, joy, prosperity, quality of life, satisfaction and meaningful life, meaning of life. Central theories include Diener’s three-factor model of subjective well-being, Reiff’s six-factor model of psychological well-being, Corey Case’s work on flourishing, and Seligman’s contributions to positive psychology and his theories of authentic happiness and P.E.R.M.A. In positive psychology, eudaimonia, the «good life» or flourishing, is the most important value in life. What are the biggest contributors to a good life and a fulfilling life? Although positive psychologists do not attempt to provide a precise definition of the good life, they agree that in order to experience the «good life,» a person must live a happy, active, and meaningful life. Martin Seligman calls the «good life» «the daily use of your strengths to achieve true happiness and abundant fulfillment.» In the words of Christopher Peterson, «eudaimonia trumps hedonism.»
Research in positive psychology, subjective well-being, eudaimonia, and happiness, and the theories of Diener, Rieff, Case, and Seligman, cover a wide range of levels and topics, including «biological, personal, relational, institutional, cultural, and global aspects of life.» Pursuit of happiness predicts both positive emotions and depressive symptoms. People who prioritize happiness are more psychologically capable, all else being equal. What is the relationship between life satisfaction, appreciation and happiness?
Mental health is the strongest individual predictor of life satisfaction (life expectancy). Mental disability is associated with deterioration of subjective well-being. In fact, mental health is the strongest predictor of later quality of life (life expectancy). Research has documented a link between anxiety and quality of life. The VOXEU happiness analysis found that the main determinants of adult life satisfaction were income, parenthood, family breakdown, maternal mental health and schooling. Factors explaining life satisfaction are roughly (negatively) related to factors explaining humiliation. They are first diagnosed with depression/anxiety, explaining the variation in subjective well-being between people, such as physical health (number of illnesses), income and having a partner. These factors are twice as important each as whether a person is employed or not a criminal, which in turn is three times as important as the number of years of education. Overall, the best predictor of adult life satisfaction is the emotional health of the mother and child during childhood. This goes beyond factors such as the qualifications a person receives and the behavior of their mother and 16-year-old child. A child’s emotional health, and therefore an adult’s, depends on the mother’s mental health, which is slightly more than twice as important as the family’s income. parental involvement is significant for 2/3 of family income, with a partial correlation coefficient of 0.1 between aggressive parenting (negative), father unemployment (negative), marital conflict (negative), and whether the mother worked in the first year of the study?
However, mother’s subsequent employment has zero association with well-being. Correlation (statistical relationship between two or more random variables (or values that can be considered such with a certain reasonable degree of accuracy), changes in values, one or more of these variables are accompanied by systematic changes in the values of other variables) and affective well-being in terms of effect size main determinants:
Corruption index (-0.54)
Fight against corruption (0.47)
Bureaucratic Quality (0.40)
PPP adjusted GDP per capita (0.39)
Economic freedom (0.35)
Violation of human rights (-0.33)
Political and ethnic violence (-0.28)
Civil liberties (0.28)
Mother and child health (0.27)
Satisfaction with standard of living (0.24)
A significant decline in women’s happiness over the past 33 years has led researchers to conclude that men are happier than women. on the contrary, the survey showed that women are generally more satisfied with their lives than men. other studies have found no gender differences in happiness. Part of these results may be due to the fact that men and women calculate their happiness differently.
Women’s happiness lies in positive self-esteem, closeness in relationships, and faith in religion. Male happiness is positive self-esteem, active leisure time and physical strength. thus, neither men nor women are superior to each other in terms of happiness. at an earlier age, women achieve their goals (material goals and aspirations for family life) more than men, thus increasing their life satisfaction and overall happiness. however, later men achieve their goals, are satisfied with their family life and financial situation, and as a result, their overall happiness exceeds that of women. possible explanations include an unequal division of labor in the household, or that women are more variable in their emotions (more extreme) but generally happier. The effect of gender on well-being is paradoxical: men report feeling happier than women are more likely to be depressed. Siamak Hodarahimi conducted a study to determine the role of gender and age in positive psychological constructs – psychological stability, emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and happiness among 200 Iranian teenagers and 200 young adults who were surveyed using various tests. The study found that men in the sample scored significantly higher on resilience, emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and happiness than women, regardless of age. Happiness is partly genetic. Based on twin studies, 50 percent of a given person’s level of happiness is determined by genetics, 10 percent depends on life circumstances, and the remaining 40 percent of happiness depends on self-control. The question of whether or not emotions are genetically determined was investigated by David Lykken and Auke Tellegen. They found that 80% of the difference in long-term well-being between twins born in Minnesota was due to heredity. The remaining theoretical 20%, environmental/scientific sources still leave room for significant variation in thought and behavior that cannot be ignored, and the interpretation of variance (differences) in twin studies is controversial even among clinical psychologists.
Individual differences in general eudaimonia and aspects of eudaimonia, loosely defined by self-monitoring, are heritable. Evidence from one study supports 5 independent genetic mechanisms underlying the Riffe aspects of this trait, leading to a genetic construct of eudaimonia in terms of general self-control, and four supporting biological mechanisms that provide purpose, agency, growth, and positive psychological empowerment. In general, happiness is mediated, at least in part, by dopaminergic, adrenergic, and serotonergic metabolism. A correlation between hormone levels and happiness has been found. SSRIs (a group of antidepressants), such as Prozac (an antidepressant), are used to correct serotonin levels in clinically depressed individuals. Researchers like Alexander have shown that many people’s drug use may be the result of attempts to regulate hormone levels to cope with situations that make them unhappy. A positive correlation was found between the volume of gray matter in the right precuneus region of the brain and the subject’s subjective rating of happiness.
Neurobiology and visualization have shown growing potential to help science understand happiness and sadness. Although any comprehensive objective measure of happiness is impossible to achieve, some physiological correlates of happiness can be measured. In his book The Science of
Happiness, Stefan Klein links the dynamics of neurobiological systems (eg, dopaminergic, opiate) with concepts and discoveries from positive psychology and social psychology. Nobel laureate Eric Kandel and researcher Cynthia Fu described a highly accurate diagnosis of depression by looking at fMRI brain scans. By identifying the neural correlates of emotions, scientists can use techniques like brain scans to tell us more about the different ways to be «happy.» Richard Davidson conducted research to determine which parts of the brain are involved in positive emotions. he found that the left prefrontal cortex is more active when we are happy and is also associated with an increased ability to recover from negative emotions, as well as an increased ability to suppress negative emotions. Davidson found that people can train themselves to increase activity in this area of the brain. It is believed that our brains can change profoundly throughout our lives as a result of our experiences; this phenomenon is called neuroplasticity. An evolutionary perspective offers an alternative way of understanding happiness and quality of life. What brain functions allow people to distinguish between positive and negative moods? How do these features improve a person’s ability to survive and reproduce? The evolutionary perspective suggests that the answers to these questions may lead to an understanding of what happiness is and how to make better use of the brain capacity that humans have been given. This is the view of evolutionary biologist Bjorn Greene in his book «Darwinian Happiness». Previous research has focused on well-being and development in adults, and although eudaimonia is not a new area of research, little research has been conducted in adolescence and young adulthood. Research in this age group has previously examined negative aspects such as problem and risky behavior (eg, drug and alcohol use) rather than well-being. A 2013 study by researchers acknowledged the lack of adolescence in eudaimonia research and the importance of this developmental period.
Adolescents undergo rapid cognitive, social, and physical changes that make them prime subjects for research in terms of development and well-being. Eudaimonic identity theory has been used in his research to examine personality development through self-awareness and self-actualization. They emphasize the personal value to be found in uncovering and appeasing one’s «daimon» (demons). Researchers focused their research on PYD (positive youth development) and eudaimonic identity theory in the context of three developmental elements: self-determined agency, personal expressiveness, and goal-directed behavior. They found that adolescents choose several self-defining activities; These activities help shape identity because people choose activities that reflect who they are. These self-defining activities also help define the adolescent’s social environment. For example, a teenager who plays sports may surround himself with like-minded people who are active and competitive. Personal expressiveness, as defined by psychologist AC Waterman, is the activity we choose to express through subjective experience and communicate with our «daemon.» Finally, goal-directed behavior develops through goal-setting as people work to define their identity. Adolescents recognize their passions, talents and abilities and strive to achieve their goals. They act in a way that satisfies their true nature. A study of adolescents was conducted in Italy, Chile, and the United States, and the results were somewhat different. Results depended on availability and choice of features (activities). The results were also affected by the socio-economic context, as not all individuals were able to access activities that were more in line with their true selves. The Personal Expressive Activity Questionnaire (PEAQ) was used to conduct the study. Adolescence was the youngest age group in which the PEAQ was used. The PEAQ asked adolescents to self-report the activities they participate in and to describe themselves using self-identified activities. 80% of teenagers reported that they define themselves by two to four self-defining activities, which are leisure time, work and study, and fun. Leisure activities were found to have the greatest impact on individuals because these activities were the most self-directed of the three domains, as adolescents had the opportunity to choose activities and were more likely to identify with their true selves. The study found that subjective experience was more important than the activities themselves and that adolescents reported higher levels of subjective well-being (happiness). They reported that when adolescents express themselves in multiple domains through self-directed activities, they have a clearer sense of who they are, what they want to achieve, and a sense of well-being. Goal setting was found to be a unique predictor; When adolescents work toward and achieve their goals, they have a stronger emerging sense of identity and better well-being. Researchers have found that teens who participate in activities of their choice are happier because those activities are chosen to fit their true selves.
