An interesting material/ interview in The Independent about/with Matthieu Ricard, author of ‘Happiness: A Guide To Developing Life’s Most Important Skill’ and arguably the happiest man alive (at least according to the conclusions of research done by top neuroscientists at the University of Wisconsin). Two excerpts that I believe to summarize the essence of what Ricard states in this article:
Developing happiness, Ricard argues, is a skill. Most people exist like beggars, “unaware of the treasure buried beneath their shack”. We can develop our potential as if “polishing a nugget” and eventually (omega) achieve happiness, “like a bird soaring into the sky when his cage is opened”.
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But ultimately, it’s how your mind relates to the world that determines whether you’re miserable or not. You have to ask yourself: is my happiness dependent on other people?”
One immediate problem (that I notice) with being happy ‘on your own’, independent of all other people around you, is that most empirical research in the economics of happiness, for instance (I guess there are zillions of studies on happiness in many other disciplines…), seems to agree that your happiness does depend to a considerable degree on the people to whom you directly compare/relate to (your peers, your neighbours etc)- for instance, one of the consistent results seems to be that your relative income (with regards to your reference group) and not so much your income in absolute level, are determinants of the general level of happiness. The happiest man in the world seems to state precisely the opposite: that it is not about that, that your happiness only depends on yourself. I guess the whole issue ultimately boils down to the definition of happiness (Mr. Ricard repeatedly points out that ‘happiness’ is by no means ‘elation’- so at least he’s giving an idea of what happiness is not- that obviously does not answer the question of what happiness IS).
