What is happiness? When will I be happy? How much money will it take to be happy? Will success make me happy? These are the questions that documentary filmmaker, Max Joseph, explores in his latest documentary, HAPPINESS.
Quantifying Happiness
When it comes to happiness, several neurotransmitters need to be activated in order to achieve that “good feeling” we all love to feel, the building blocks of “happiness”. The question, however, is why some people experience more happiness than others.
In the first episode of HAPPINESS, there seems to be a correlation between happiness and what aspects of life countries place an emphasis on … Western Nations tend to emphasize hard work and money as a roadmap to success, which is usually promoted throughout our education as the starting point for achieving happiness. However, according to HAPPINESS, this path doesn’t trigger all the necessary neurotransmitters to release those “feel good” hormones, which means we aren’t being fulfilled and, in turn, aren’t exactly happy.
On the other hand, societies that place a bigger emphasis on community and family trigger the other present neurotransmitters, and, while money may be in short supply, those who take this path seem to be more fulfilled in general.
We are Damaging our Biology
According to the documentary, when we only trigger the dopamine and serotonin neurotransmitters (the ones that rule performance, a.k.a. emphasizing achievement in careers and such), we may actually be damaging our biology! While this has — for the past few years — become a prevalent theory on social media as Gen Z strives for a better work-life balance and Millennials burn out one after the other, we seem to have scientific evidence supporting that money isn’t everything …
Matter Neuroscience
In a time where it seems everyone is depressed and that the world is just a horrible place, I find it intriguing that scientists and companies like Matter Neuroscience are more concerned about the mental health of society than those in authoritative positions. For me, it merely shows how greedy corporations are, how tone-deaf politicians are, and how it’s up to us to make our own happiness at the end of the day.
Watch HAPPINESS:
You can watch the first episode of HAPPINESS by Max Joseph on YouTube here to find out why you’re unhappy and unfulfilled with life right now … and, maybe, together we can change it. 🙂
