Human Happiness- SumBlog 5

Happiness, defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary, is defined as the state of being happy or an experience that makes you happy. Looking further into that definition, happy is defined as; feeling pleasure and enjoyment because of your life, situation, ect.,  showing or causing feelings of pleasure and enjoyment, or pleased or glad about a particular situation, event, ect.  I found that there was a trend amongst these definitions. That trend was the tendency to point out a “state” or particular situation which may bring happiness. Harriet Martineau explored social life and said “the great ends of human association” aim above all “to the grand one, -- the only general one,-- human happiness.” I think she intended for this profound statement to be vague. I think happiness is ever-changing because it is dependent of your current situations. Generally when people assess their happiness they look to current events that they believe illustrate happiness. People live in the moment and tend to base feelings off the present. I think Martineau said that we are all looking to happiness because on some level it is universal. Maybe we all define happiness a little differently but in the end we all mean the same thing and strive to achieve it.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ulterior-motives/201305/what-does-it-mean-be-happy

I choose this article from Psychology Today because I like the way it assess the data they found “First, there has been a shift in the US from a focus on happiness as a state that is caused from the outside through luck and prosperity to an internal emotional state that is under the control of the person.  Second, the view that happiness involves strong elements of external forces like luck is still common around the world, even if it is not common in the United States.” I think it is important to see the shift in the studies done about happiness and that there are many components, as the article says, that contribute to happiness.