The U-curve of Happiness
We used to call it the bluebird of happiness, but now that scientists and pollsters and even governments are taking on the subject, it's the U-curve of happiness. Each winter I organize a course at the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning, University of San Francisco, called The Wonders of Science. I thought my students, all retired people over the age of 50, would be interested in the U-curve, which shows how happiness changes between the ages of 17 and 82, based on hundreds of studies done in many different countries and summarized in a recent issue of The Economist. Now almost anyone would suppose that 17-year-olds, with their youth and vigor, would be much happier than 82-year-olds, who are losing their hearing, eyesight, and memories. But almost anyone would be wrong! The average level of happiness, measured by questionnaires and testing, goes down after 17 and bottoms out at about 50, then rises steadily again and at 82 is higher than it was at 17!
Faced with this counter-intuitive finding, many theories have been proposed for explaining it, mostly speculating that older people have gotten better at dealing with their problems. The writer of a follow-up letter to The Economist was reminded of the arguments among religious leaders about when life begins. The Catholic priest says it begins at conception. The Calvinist parson says it begins at birth. The rabbi says it begins when the children grow up and the dog dies.
Sigmund Freud maintained that the main sources of happiness are love and work. This of course would not apply to my students, who are all retired from their prior occupations. Following my lecture, I read from my new novel, The Dark X: a Medical Mystery and African Adventure, and signed books for the purchasers. The main characters: Suzanne, a primatologist who contracts a strange disease, and Tony, her San Francisco doctor, are each passionate about their work and might be passionate about each other. But obstacles stand in the way: her illness, his ethics, and a jealous chimpanzee. Does this situation have a happy ending? You'll have to read the book.
