What really makes us happy?

Happy! (Season 1; 2017)

What actually makes us happy? It seems that from time immemorial, we go around looking for that unattainable wish. Happiness, Bliss, Utopia, Eudaimonia, we refer to it with different names. What we actually yearn for a state of mind oblivious to things that happen around us and one that puts us in a state not wondering what tomorrow may bring and whether we will be left out from it. We want to feel, experience, the wonder of our brain immersed in the feel-good chemicals, serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin. The question why this drowning is self-limiting, numbs itself spontaneously with tolerance setting in. We need ever more of the same for the desired effect. We are still in search of true happiness if there is one. In the meantime, we divert our attention to other paths and convince ourselves that that indeed is happiness even though most do not buy it!

We create stories. We tell ourselves that the Law of Nature is just. Somehow happiness is portrayed as a wrong virtue. We should suffer in pain in that therein lies true happiness. Enduring pain (the antithesis of joy) is looked upon as a respected virtue which would be repaid in many folds in another realm. The mortals are left confused, scratching their heads wondering which part to follow. Like Sisyphus, we are told to find happiness within the gruelling continual rolling of the boulder uphill which repeatedly rolls back when we thought the peak is reached and our job is over. In that mad cycle of torture and disappointment, we are expected to find peace.

We threaten our kinds that happiness is indeed not to be experienced here on Earth but in the afterlife. Is it just a pacifier to thumb people down to submission and subjugation.

A simplistic formula to happiness. We try to
convince ourselves that indeed it is. Deep
inside we know but, with the dearth of any
other suggestions, we persevere.
We call this cognitive dissonance.

'Happy!' is anything but a happy story. It tells of a 'down-and-out' disgraced cop who is now a hitman. He is a walking zombie after suffering a massive heart attack. He sees an apparition of a talking blue unicorn who tells him of his child (which the cop is unaware) who has been kidnapped. The cartoonish looking flying unicorn is his daughter's imaginary friend who appears in his consciousness. Together they have to tract the site she is kidnapped against the mob who is out for his blood and the deranged man who is up to something no good with the children he has kidnapped. Then there are the kidnapped girl's mother and the cop's ex-partner who are all engrossed in their sorrows.

The cop finds happiness in intoxicants; the mother finds it in her child; the madman in the weird things he does; the mob in exerting authority; the ex-cop's partner and caring for her mother; the mother with her anti-depressive medications and the mob's family find solace in reality TV. The miniseries indeed show a rather weird world that we live in.

The problem with looking for happiness is that it is not a finite destination. The goal post always keeps shifting. We work hard towards a goal thinking that by achieving it, we will be happy. Unfortunately, when our desire is reached, we find no happiness. Conversely, we find a higher bar to reach and the vicious cycle continues.

Maybe we are looking for contentment in all the wrong places. This seemingly attainable feat may just lie within us but in the outside. Like Saint Nicholas who find joy in giving presents at Christmas, we should do the same. Incidentally, this season is set around the Yuletide with the message of giving screaming all over the set. And whats more, the main character's name is Nick Sachs! Christopher Leoni of 'Law and Order: SVU' fame stars.

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Sitcom for nerds?

The Good Place (Seasons 1-2; 2016+ )

Yes, Ted Danson of the 'Cheers' is at it again. No, not a remake of the 1980s sitcom but he stars in another sitcom. Danson does not reprise his role of Sam Malone, the bartender. Maybe for old time sake,  he gets to the back the counter to serve in one scene.  

This show deviates from your typical offering of American comedy where canned laughter spliced with unimaginative jokes weaved with sexual innuendoes rule the day. Interestingly, this show deals with something out-of-the-world, literally, that is.  

It delves into the meaning of life and talks a lot about philosophers who gave their input trying to explain our existence,  the purpose of it all and the way one should live it. Questions like mortality, morality, telling white lies, mindfulness and inter-human relationships are dealt in a playful yet profound way. 

Bartender, at your service!

The first episode starts with a group of misfits dying and landing on the other side. The place is 'The Good Place' (vs 'The Bad Place') where people enjoy eternity in bliss after earning their brownie points on Earth. Michael (Ted Danson) is the Architect who masterminded the genesis of the area and is on-site to run the place as well. He is assisted by an A.I. being called Jenny. 

The four main characters in the show are Eleanor, a frustrated delinquent with deprived childhood, who is mistakenly taken in for an environmentalist; Chidi, an indecisive and 'too intelligent for his own good' professor of Ethics and Philosophy; Tahani, a haughty, name dropping and narcissistic Pakistani-British socialite with overt sibling rivalry issues and a drug-dealing social outcast and an amateur DJ, Jason Mendoza, who is mistaken for a Buddhist monk. 

Eleanor and Jason know that there must be a glitch in the system for being there as they know they do not deserve that heaven! Chidi, at first he thought that his admission was due to his knowledge and his deed on Earth. He soon discovers that his indecisiveness and procrastination brought harm to others. (His death was due to it too!) Tahani thought her philanthropic work did the trick but was made to realise that she did it for self-interest, not altruism.

With many psychological tests and examples, the series takes us to the end of the first season when the story takes a twist. (No spoilers). It becomes more interesting towards the second season when 'The  Good Place' goes through a turmoil.

The trolley problem: should you pull

the lever to divert the runaway trolley

onto the side track? (Phillipa Foot,1967)

We do good because it is the right thing to do as we, humans, set it to be; not because so and so said so. The inquisitive nature of Man is the one which would carry our race through time. Even though on the surface, we appear disjointed and in packs, in time of adversities, we join forces to combat a common enemy. The thinkers amongst us spur us to come up with answers and justifications for our action.

In many psychological dilemmas, there is no one 'correct' answer. Sometimes, there are no answers, but we still seek them with our nimble minds.

In the trolley conundrum, the answer is not so straightforward. Other parameters play a role too. The quandary of sacrificing a sole individual over five may seem easy enough. What if the one is a professor or a scientist who is the verge of a breakthrough discovery or a national leader or someone known to you and so on.  This issue is also dealt with when it comes to self-driving cars.
Can self-sacrifice be accepted as another form of solution to this enigma? Like God giving His Son, which is actually a part of Him, to die on the Cross to wash Man of his original sin and save him?

 https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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