14/06/2024
𝐸𝓃𝒹𝑜𝒸𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑜𝓁𝑜𝑔𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈
What is happiness? We do not know.
Is it a hormonal change? If so, is it a transient change or a permanent and sustainable shift in some hormonal axis?
Why is happiness important for human beings? Do animals feel happy? What is the evolutionary perspective on happiness?
What is the endocrinology and biology of happiness? Is happiness the same for you as it is for me?
These are often existential questions that frequently trouble me.
From what I understand, it is an interplay of hormones and neurotransmitters.
From a lens of simplicity, what I understand is that 'dopamine' leads you to a drive. It takes, nay, forces you to go on a journey toward some goal. It could be anything that one biologically seeks. In some cases, it could go beyond biological needs too. When there is a dopamine rush, it is a dopamine rush. There is no happiness there. Though some people take this drive as happiness. As it is said, for some, happiness is in the journey and not the destination. Dopamine is the journey.
And then, once the craving or the journey ends, a 'reward' is generated. The serotonins and cannabinoids take over to give you a sense of accomplishment. This is happiness as close to the definition of happiness that we can understand.
And so, it is this reward that we seek. The reward we get at the end of the journey is what drives us on the dopamine path again.
However, the gratification path may have different timelines, even for the same people. I suspect the magnitude and nature of the reward generated at the end may also differ based on the duration of the path. Is delayed gratification more powerful than short-term gratification? We do not know.
