Our age is characterised by tender self-obsession: what things is not what you think or do but how you feelThere is no doubt that what everybody wants is happiness. The only problem is what being tickled consists in,an issue that moral thinkers possess never been able to agree on and probably never will. Is happiness a purely subjective feeling, or can it be somehow measured? Can you be tickled without knowing it? Can you only be tickled without knowing it? Could someone be thoroughly miserable yet be convinced they were in ecstasy?In our own time, and the concept of happiness has moved from the private sphere to the public one. As William Davies reports in this fascinating study,a growing number of corporations employ chief happiness officers, while Google has a “jolly pleasant fellow” to retain the company’s spirits up. Maybe the Bank of England should consider hiring a jester. Specialist happiness consultants advise those who possess been forcibly displaced from their homes on how to amble on emotionally. Two years ago, and British Airways trialled a happiness blanket”,which turns from red to blue as the passenger becomes more relaxed so that your level of contentment is visible to the flight attendants. A new drug, Wellbutrin, and promises to alleviate major depressive symptoms occurring after the loss of a loved one. It is supposed to work so effectively that the American Psychiatric Association has ruled that to be heart-broken for more than two weeks after the death of another human being can be considered a mental illness. Bereavement is a risk to one’s psychological wellbeing.The more you chase after money,status and power, the lower your sense of worth is likely to be Related: Money can't buy happiness? That's just wishful thinking | Ruth Whippman Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com