Revealed at last – the secret of happiness

Is there a formula for happiness? Scientists at University College London believe that they have found one – and that if we stick to it, the world of tomorrow will be a far brighter place. It was a “Eureka!” moment. After a lot of research, the neuroscientists at UCL were finally able to sum up their findings on a blackboard. To an outsider, it would have looked like double Dutch, but it boiled down to a simple proposition. To be happy, you should lower your expectations – but not by so much, or for so long, that it makes you unhappy. The scientists had used a gaming app and MRI scans of people’s brains to arrive at their formula. The app, called The Happiness Project, involved users making risky decisions, and allowed the team to see how 18,420 of them reacted. Their conclusion was that the players’ happiness did not depend on how well they were doing. Instead, it depended on whether they were doing better than they expected. According to the team’s leader, Professor Robb Rutledge, this means that you should not expect things in life to be too wonderful. If you think that they are going to be bad – or even so-so – and they then turn out to be good, you will be happy. “There are times, such as on holiday, when lowering your expectations might not be a bad idea,” he says. “Your expectations might be a bit unrealistic if you chose your holiday based on a friend’s rave review. You may enjoy yourself more if you don’t expect everything to go perfectly.” You can also manage other people’s expectations. To tell a friend that you have bought them a brilliant present is to risk disappointing them. It is much better to say that you are not sure whether they will like it. It is possible, however, to go too far. If you convince yourself that you will hate your new school, you will feel miserable until you get to it. And if you tell your friends that your birthday party is not going to be anything special, they may not bother to come. Though humans have always been obsessed with the pursuit of happiness, they have disagreed widely about how to get there. In Ancient Greece, Aristotle defined happiness as an experience of the good life through virtuous action – something he called “eudaimonia”. This put him at odds with hedonists, who emphasised the pursuit of pleasure. A common criticism of hedonism is that it is a treadmill: however much pleasure you have, you want more in order to get the same enjoyment from it. In Asia, Confucianism and Taoism encouraged people to detach themselves from material things and the stresses of daily life, and establish a close connection with the natural world and humanity in general. The Dalai Lama describes happiness as a skill that allows one to understand the true nature of reality. In 18th-Century England, Jeremy Bentham came up with the philosophy of utilitarianism, with its central belief that “it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong”. His fellow utilitarian, John Stuart Mill, emphasised the importance of pleasure – but argued that pleasure could be intellectual and emotional as well as physical. Is there a formula for happiness? Smiles per hour Some say, yes. Humans are all basically the same and depend on the same things to make us happy: a secure life without worries about food and shelter, good health, enjoyable and fulfilling activities and the company of friends and family. Unless you live in an unstable country, all those things are achievable. The important thing is to pay proper attention to each of them. Others argue that happiness is a state of mind, and whether you can achieve it depends entirely on the individual. Some people are never satisfied with life, no matter how much they have. And you cannot tell those who suffer from depression that following a few rules will immediately solve their problems. KeywordsDalai Lama - The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.