Happiness. A word too short to describe its intensity.

The power it possesses and the end-results it creates. But as a society or an individual, are we happy? Are we equivalent to the black and white photos of our ancestors smiling with their crooked teeth? Does our social media really make us appreciate ourselves or is it a dopamine to fuel the impatient ways of life nowadays? Are we happy by choice or by actions? These are some of the many questions addressing happiness and the societal roles changing since the past centuries.

According to Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist, people are tied to the society and breaking these ties is not an easy task for majority of the individuals due to the immense pressure and the correlation of the ID, EGO, and SUPEREGO theories backed up by Sigmund Freud.

In simpler words, everything we do is a result of the society’s expectation. For example, if you help someone on the road with the directions, that is not your personal choice, it is the operant conditioning levied by the society. Take the case of a blind person crossing the road. If you ignore him and cross the road, the society would perceive you as an uncivilized and ignorant fool. Why? Because, you did not follow the SOP’s of the society. Simple.

A MONTH OF MAITRI

Does it mean then that every decision we take is not voluntary and is controlled by some variables from their society? Well, yes. Because, we are all afraid to be neglected by someone or everyone. As social animals, this is a risk we cannot afford. However, does this mean that we should always be performing a robotic life? Absolutely not.

All the theories and presumptions made above talk about the behavioral science and psychoanalytic behavior. We as humans should not be conditioned operantly rather should be done classically. We should be acting like a child does when he gets hungry and starts to cry to portray his emotions, when a child is honest and brutal with his statements rather than the diplomatic answers we learn from our surroundings,  and when he laughs even without the need to control it according to the setting

A lot of people would deem these above examples as a halt to  the civilized enlightenment, but nations are civilized not by their fake personalities but by their originality. From the timer we set to waking up early to the workplace politics followed by the family feuds and expectations, the examples show the dependency factor of each individual on their society and how it’s a cobweb too sticky to jump out from.

Is the reason for control this era? its people? or the lack of self-fulfillment? Only time will tell. Amidst being the most successful generation in science and technology, in order to provide the solutions to the problems as our innovations boomed, we have spent billions on depression pills than vacation breaks. Has the concept of having more money and resources sufficed the void of medieval methodology? Or were those times the golden times?

There can be many debates regarding our search for happiness. It had started from the Heaven by Adam and Eve and we as humans, are still in this race of time. We are still on the same hamster wheel. Should we care for the society when it is flawed? Must we follow them blindly in fear? Did building homes build walls around us as well? Why does our thirst grow stronger day by day even when we have it all at our disposal?

Are we jovial by heart or is our skin molded by the society too? Did our milestones  really break our building stones? Lastly, did we really think money would buy us happiness and social media would refine our personality? Or is it a job done right by the society? Let us know in the comments……