Sunday, September 30, 2018

Advertising, Happiness and The End of the World

 For me the topic of happiness is an expansive one, that has many different sides and points of view. When I find myself experiencing the feeling of happiness, its usually in the company of friends or family, playing my favorite sport, or eating delicious food. All of these examples may provide similar feelings among certain people, and contrarily it may not for others. Nevertheless, the concept of a "happiness index" is a delicate one. In the instance of Bhutan, they implemented what they called the "Gross National Happiness Index", which had the goal of providing economical balance whilst preserving traditional lifestyles. Simply based on its originality and general inclusiveness, this seems like a sound and logical idea. However, due to certain income gaps and unemployment issues, this didn't solve all of their problems. Ultimately, if regulated properly, this form of creating a universally positive and happy environment is definitely a good one. In broader terms, the best way to measure the happiness of a nation is to find a solid balance between a healthy lifestyle, on the terms of a day to day basis.

  Technology and happiness have only been able to be directly connected for the last few decades. In the short story "I have been called a Luddite", Kurt Vonnegut explains that you don't need mechanical/technological devices in order to instill or find happiness in the current day and age. This is something that I can agree upon, particularly because how did people find happiness before technology? Well, people had the whole world to explore, didn't they? If not that, they had plenty of other daily activities that occupied them the same amount if not more so than technology does today. However, since technologies implementation into our society, it has become more and more of a normality to familiarize and utilize it in the attempt to make ourselves happy, or at the very least occupied. Thusly, it is simply based on your opinion alone whether you believe happiness if found in technology or not.

  The article, "But Will It Make You Happy", explores the idea of consumerism in relation to one's level of happiness. In the instance of Tammy Strobel and her husband, they decide that downgrading their way of life, from large amounts of consumerist goods, down to the top 100 personal essentials, is the way they will achieve their ideal level of happiness. Thusly, conforming to the societal tendencies by purchasing whatever will match your economic status, is not, in fact, the way to go. Therefore, the idea of "keeping up with the Joneses", wherein which you apply the tactics mentioned above, is not valid, or at the very least, ideal. Nevertheless, based on the points made and efforts taken by those in the article, I can agree and disagree with the position. On the one hand, if this way of life is what makes you happy, then encouragement of such a lifestyle is positive. However, if you find happiness a different way then sizing down, in this instance, then find what works best for you and stick with it. 

  Heres a good example of what happiness means to me, in the form of an online musical piece:
  Not only is the title of the video "Happy", but it also provides a generally positive mood throughout the song.

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