The Equation of Happiness as a Quantifiable Element - Research Paper Example

 The current research report looks into The Geography of Bliss, a sort of true-life travel memoir by author Eric Weiner. The tone of the memoir is at times funny and satirical, but the overall message is positive, and meant to reinforce the idea that happiness is something that humanity can attain. The question, however, is whether or not geography has anything to do with attaining happiness. Weiner looks into this question through traveling to different countries, which have been quantified in terms of the happiness of the people there. In the author’s work, we can see a sort of documentary film quality, but in textual form. The tone of what amounts to qualitative research carried out by Weiner is familiar enough to be able to expose the results of their happiness study, to the normal reader. Really, the conclusion of my reading, and the basic assumption that I make in a correlative review of this book, is that what Weiner gives the reader is a philosophical treatise that invokes the ideas of Mills, Bentham, and other classical Utilitarian philosophers, and puts them into a modern setting. The narrator’s journey can be seen in the situation of Utilitarianism because this is a philosophy centered on action, rather than the expectations of its people, which provides the real happiness. In this counter-example considered, happiness is defined through a meaning of personality that is focused on the materialism of embracing objects for sale on the free market, which may not have any real practical value other than that of inspiring the envy of the other. Therefore, it is a basically negative portrayal of the individual in that whatever the case, the process is mixed up with money and the basic insecurity of keeping up with other people based on the possessions that they have. Everyone has a different definition for happiness, but the most common reflection, from the Weiner text and readings about the current question that is being talked about, seems to be that it embraces a sort of optimistic worldview and blends identity with expectations to the point that human beings are seen to be most happy when they are most successfully relating to negative foresight. Eric Weiner in The Geography of Bliss announces the arrival of the next great documentary category of the literary philosophy of self-help humorous travel memoir. Weiner, a veteran foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, has covered a multitude of disasters and disease more than 30 countries over the past two decades. For the study of Bliss, however, decided to tell the other side of the story, visiting some of the happiest places in the world. Using the ancient philosophers and the more “science of happiness” (Utilitarianism) as his guide, Weiner traveled the world in search of the most beautiful places. Many authors have tried to describe what happiness is, and the last thing one can say about Weiner is that it is shown that we can learn from people of different cultures. It is true that Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill both argue that the fundamental principle of morality is the principle of utility. Both also equate happiness as being an absolute and quantifiable ideal. There are arguments in favor of utilitarianism, because it proposes the most good for the most number of people. There are also counter-arguments, because many have critiqued utilitarian quantification, including Dickens. It is not the basic assumption of the current report that utilitarianism is a moral theory, and it is an ethical theory that stresses the limits of ethics by appearing as science. There are drawbacks to seeing things from Mill’s perspective, first of all because Mill lived in a society which was much different and much less global than Weiner’s society. Secondly, there are problems in equating society at the beginning of the industrial revolution, in terms of time frames. As Weiner arrives in Iceland (one of the happiest countries in the world) Bhutan (where the king has given gross national income of Happiness a national priority) to Moldova (not a happy place), the basic experiment asks the collective wisdom of “a self-help industrial complex that will help you navigate the path to satisfaction” (Geography, 2000). He goes to Switzerland, where he discovers a hidden virtue of boredom. The author also travels to the low lying and extremely rich Gulf nation of Qatar, where the relationship between money and happiness is a birthright. “Jeremy Bentham incorporated the essential basis of moral equality into his utilitarian system of ethics in the formula Each to count for one and non for more than one. In other words, the interests of every being affected by an action are to be taken into account and given the same weight as the like interests of any other being” (Singer 34). In utilitarianism, deliberation can be conflated with intention and determination, whereas justification can be thought of as proven reasonability. There are differences between different categories of the philosophy in general, which are basically involved with the application of theoretical concepts in terms of predicting and justifying consequences of finding happiness in society. In his efforts around the world, Weiner integrates the insights of classical thinkers from the Western canon like Mill and Bentham, complete with one-liners worthy of a comedian, making the book very readable. While it is comical, it is also ethical, however. Ethics is akin to an individual’s conscience, which tells them what is right and wrong. While morality is religiously instilled, ethics is more of a natural feeling that one gets when they do something good or bad. While ethics differs with the individual, it is very different from law, which is held to be the same for everyone. Therefore, ethics is perhaps a better measure of corporate leadership practice than morality, as it is seen as being less intertwined with belief systems than it is with more generalized (good or bad) behavior in relation to oneself and others. Like morality, ethics are assigned to a certain extent by the customs of the society in which the individual works and lives. It becomes clear that the working environment must also function in this situation, like a mirror that reflects the optimal society. The author focuses on the equation of happiness as a quantifiable element, for the greater good and altruism, and this is something that is easy for many to support. “The greatest number" included all who were affected by the action in question with "each to count as one, and no one as more than one." Any theory that seeks to extend benefits not only to the self but also to others is a form of altruism . (Another goal-directed theory is egoism, which promotes the greatest good for the self alone.)” (Shenk 104). Some critics say that this idea of happiness was too determinist, and that an action cannot be judged by its outcome before the outcome arrives. I would state that this does not detract from the positive merits of the theory. Others may claim that quantifying pleasure is impossible. I would grant this, but also add that some things are obviously more pleasurable than others, objectively. Utilitarianism shows how in terms of institutional application in a historical sense, the main points of justification theory utilitarianism as a way of grading or categorizing institutions or pay scale ramifications in terms of testing and proving the efficiency or utility of the institution through a utilitarian viewpoint, which values happiness as the greatest sum. Weiner provides a philosophical perspective that considers Utilitarianism. It is travel writing, but at the same time, it is travel around the world through the mind of the author. Weiner is not a dispassionate observer. In his search for the happiest places in the world, he undergoes many adventures, eating rotten shark in Iceland, smoking hashish in Morocco, and doing other bizarre chores which are attempts to crash-integrate into cultures quite separate from his own. In other words, it may not be the rotten shark itself that is the answer. In any case, in terms of earned epiphanies, The Geography of Bliss shows ways by which to achieve success through books, and even fewer dare to achieve this facet of the book: it is designed to amuse the reader, and make them happier. “My last name is pronounced ‘whiner,’ and I do my best to live up to the name” (Weiner 15). As noted, the author travels to the world’s happier (and less happy) places to “explore to what degree an individual’s happiness is intertwined with shared geography and culture. To that end, he shoots off to unusual locales — Bhutan, Iceland, Qatar — and to Thailand and India, perpetual stopovers for pleasure seekers, visiting nine foreign countries altogether over the course of a year. His final chapter is about the United States, which “is not as happy as it is wealthy” (Geography 2). Overall, we find the world’s happiest nations are secular and homogeneous, often report high suicide rate. Armed with this information, Weiner visits not only happy countries; but also a couple that falls in the field of sad, because they have the sources of discontent. Chapters follow a trajectory, the initial annoyance of “Damn the efficient, competent Swiss to hell” (Weiner 29). The book’s narrative skillfully weaves his own discoveries and conclusions of other studies in his travelogue that never once seems that the information had been systematically downloaded into a chapter, or richly woven narrative thread to enter data. “And what does he learn? As Weiner says of happiness science and could easily say of his book, “The research findings are alternatively obvious and counterintuitive, expected and surprising” (Geography 2). Weiner’ s quest for happiness leads to further philosophical questions about the nature of humanity within the universe. In general, happiness levels within a country vary less than happiness levels between countries, though not everyone’s personality suits the cultural blueprint of his native land. “In several places, Weiner encounters people he calls “hedonic refugees,” those who realize they were born in the wrong place and bound off in search of a better “cultural fit.” They may head to Thailand, where happiness seems to stem from” (Review 3). This concept of utility has been stretched and formed the main basis for those who would criticize utilitarianism as a dry and humorless statistical impossibility that drained the imagination out of humanity and based impulse on quasi-scientific moral propositions. This is a valid criticism in the light of various authors’ use of Utilitarianism, but it is also important to keep in mind that Utilitarianism is basically a positive principle that lays out a plan for happiness, not equality. In other words, there are bright and dark sides to this issue, in which the philosophy can be changed and develop a more hybrid definition as it is interpreted by different thinkers. It can be argued as well that Utilitarianism is brought into the present tense by Weiner, who makes a spiritual and philosophical journey that is concerned with the sum total to which this philosophy ascribes itself. REFERENCE Shenk, J. “What makes us happy.” The Atlantic, 2009. Singer, P “Utilitarianism” http://www.animal-rights-library.com/texts-m/singer02.htm, 2010. Weiner, E. The Geography of Bliss. New York: Pantheon, 2008. “The Geography of Bliss.” New York Times, 2008. “Review—Geography of Bliss.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jul/19/scienceandnature, 2010. “Bentham: Happiness and the greater good” http://philosophy.lander.edu/ethics/notes-bentham.html, 2010. Read More