Arthur C. Brooks: “Three Equations for a Happy Life”
Arthur C. Brooks recently published “The Three Equations for a Happy Life, Even During a Pandemic” in “The Atlantic.” I generally don’t like his work as he is religiously and politically conservative—if not fanatically so. He was president for a decade of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank and he claims to have been converted to Catholicism after the Virgin Mary appeared to him. I’m not making this up! (How smart people can be so delusional always amazes me. veridical His subjective experience is almost certainly not a veridical account of objective reality.)
Still, I was willing to read someone whose critical thinking skills have been thrown into doubt by his biography, and whose views I won’t likely agree with. Yet I found this to be a fine essay and a good summary of much of the recent work on human happiness.
Brooks teaches a class on happiness at the Harvard Business School. He begins by noting that the “scientific study of happiness has exploded over the past three decades.” The article attempts to summarize what science has found on the topic. (Note. I’ve discussed happiness many times, especially in my summary of the Harvard psychiatrist George Vaillant’s book: Triumphs of Experience: The Men of the Harvard Grant Study.) In order to explain the science, Brooks introduces 3 equations.
1: SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING = GENES + CIRCUMSTANCES + HABITS
Equation 1 summarizes a vast amount of literature on subjective well-being (SWB.) Social scientists prefer the term SWB because it captures a longer-lasting sense of happiness than the common usage which might refer to a temporary good mood or other fleeting feelings.
Regarding genes, the research strongly suggests that about 50% of our happiness “set point” or baseline of happiness is genetic. Regarding your circumstances, the research is inconclusive with estimates of its role in SWB as anywhere from 10% to 40%. Whatever the role of circumstances though their effect never lasts very long. When we get promoted, win the lottery, marry or get divorced, we tend to adjust to our new circumstances quickly. While genes aren’t under our control, and circumstances often aren’t either, habits are under our control. To better understand habits, we need Equation 2.
2: HABITS = FAITH + FAMILY + FRIENDS + WORK
Brooks argues, on his summary of thousands of academic studies, that SWB comes from human relationships, productive work, and the transcendental elements of life. (These are very close to Vicktor Frankl’s components of the meaningful life.)
Regarding faith, Brooks says that “many different faiths and secular life philosophies can provide this happiness edge. The key is to find a structure through which you can ponder life’s deeper questions and transcend a focus on your narrow self-interests to serve others.” Regarding family and friends “the key is to cultivate and maintain loving, faithful relationships with other people.”
Regarding work, the literature shows that productive work is part of SWB. While some jobs are better than others “most researchers don’t think unemployment brings anything but misery.” Brooks argues that meaningful work can be of almost any kind as long as it gives you a sense “that you are earning your success and serving others.” He also notes that money doesn’t buy SWB because we never think we have enough of it. (He omits saying that being poor is bad for you SWB. SWB depends on having a minimal amount of wealth.)
So there you have it. A good life consists of loving relationships, productive work and having a purpose in life. This echoes Aristotle on the good life.
3: SATISFACTION = WHAT YOU HAVE ÷ WHAT YOU WANT
Brooks’ final equations emphasize satisfaction which for him is being satisfied with what you have and caring less about what you want. (To paraphrase the Stoics, happiness isn’t getting what you want but wanting what you get.) While I agree, I would note that it is easy for a wealthy upper-class person like Brooks who has so much to say this. Much harder for the poor and oppressed to be content. Still, I agree that the key to happiness—if you have a reasonable amount of wealth—is to focus more on the numerator of Equation 3 rather than the denominator. Otherwise, we may find ourselves on the hedonic treadmill.
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Below are some of my previous posts related to happiness.
