Does Happiness Make You Happy?

Vsauce2 dives into the fundamental meaning behind the concept of "happy" and how our twisted modern take on happiness is making things measurably worse. What is the paradox of chasing happiness? And how to things we think will make us happy actually lead to depression?

*** CREDITS ***

Vsauce2:

Hosted and Produced by Kevin Lieber

Research and Writing by Matthew Tabor

Editing by John Swan

Additional Editing by Vic Grimes

Huge Thanks To Paula Lieber

Watch more science news, tech news, psychology facts, and educational videos like Mind Blow with the Vsauce crew on our channel!

#vsauce #psychology #science #mentalhealth

[BlakeLeasure]

I never thought of happiness as a byproduct. It makes so much sense now! Happiness comes from living well, not the other way around. This video might have just changed my life. Thank you Kevin and everyone at Vsauce!

[BlackGryphn]

LOVED this one! I've always thought it was impossible for "happy" to be a base state... Happiness is defined by its contrast with sadness, so for us to feel joy we must also experience pain. Perspective is key. Some of the happiest people I know have been through some of the worst suffering.

[AXMIM]

Wow Keven, you outdid yourself on this one. Marvelous content in here. The part about seeing a friend almost daily in childhood and youngest struck a cords. Society isn't designed to facilitate this anymore with divorces, highways, jobs, real estates prices, etc. Anyways, I'm glad you are doing well lately.

[TheOneSkitzoGamer]

A while ago I realized trying to figure out how to become happier, which kinda just drove me crazy. Nowadays, I focus more on contentment. Happiness is fleeting, but when you can live a life or pursue a goal youre satisfied with, you feel content.

[pandabytes]

I stopped relentlessly chasing happiness a few years ago. Last year I made the decision to move to a larger city so that I could stop relying on cars. I still have a treatment done 2 or 3 times a month... every month. Despite that, I feel like this is the best I've ever done. I've started to think about education again, and I'm finding it easier to socialize despite crippling social anxiety. I have hope that things will continue getting better and, honestly, I don't know anything better too hope for.

[philipwilson]

I truly feel as if I am a happy person. I feel it most when I express/acknowledge gratitude throughout my day. Oddly, I've had people who have become "upset" with me because, as they have stated, "no one should be that happy."

[Life_]

Be content with what you have and your circumstances. But do not let that keep you comfortable in your place, do better if you have the choice to do so.

[mattcy]

The problem is wanting curbs happiness. We are in a world that presses you to want.

[Chez]

Honestly, I think we were never meant to be isolated from each other the way we are in the modern world. We live secluded from each other in our homes and hardly interact with our neighbours, and that was even before the internet age. We've traditionally lived in small tribes who hunted together, ate together, defended ourselves together etc. Now there are no real threats that unite us in victory, be it hunting or chasing off rival tribes. We're numb, and it's because we're focussed on judging ourselves against each other based on monetary value and where we feel we should be at our given age. We are slaves to the things we own and the things we work towards owning

Frankly I don't know if I'm talking utter nonsense but if i am, I'd like to be corrected but thats how it feels

[ClubsHeartsSpades]

One of my favourite quotes of all time that I try to always remember is "Success is not the key to Happiness, Happiness is the key to Success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful". Like it was mentioned in the video, happiness is not an end goal but a state of being and "living well".

[natalierafferty]

If this is the case then I’ll live forever

[paweherman]

1:12 I'm from Poland and when you said about origin of word happiness I realized that in polish language we don't even have two words for happiness and luck. Word szczęście (in polish) means both luck and happiness. Lol

[BobbyLalashki]

Yes, thank you for making this video!

I vividly remember my first day of school, how I cried and how I hated it. And you know, these sort of things are normal, but for me, this lingering feeling kind of never went away.

I simply did not want to be a part of the current system of society, it felt wrong. And yet, everyone was doing it and everyone around me was like "study hard, work hard, make a family - this is happiness, this is the meaning of life"!

So I thought "maybe something is wrong with me, but I don't feel like this IS IT".

I went through school thinking I was meant to be a failure and might end up homeless, because I had bad grades and couldn't focus while teachers were trying to force-feed me stuff I wouldn't even practically use in my everyday life.

After school, my parents pressured me into uni - I lasted three years and quit - best decision I ever made. The environment was so incredibly toxic, but not as toxic as the corporate world.

Still, I somehow I managed to bullshit my way through the system and kind of made it work for me, meaning I managed to get a well paying job that I don't completely hate.

Is this what I want to do with my life? Hell no, but for now it's alright, because while I don't buy into the BS of the corporate entity I'm working for, I'm blessed to have a boss that is incredibly compassionate and on-point and I have the luck of working with literally my best friends.

To get to this point, I also experienced what it's like to be a manager in a corporate environment... this almost broke me, but I am so grateful for that experience. At least it let me know that I do want to help people grow and not manage and treat them as disposable assets. And that I will never think of applying for a managerial position in a corporate environment, of course.

At the end of the day, happiness is what you make it and I think this video nails the idea of it too - it's YOU, AS A HUMAN BEING THRIVING!

I'm not there yet, but I do make my life manageable, by focusing on just enjoying myself and being thankful for the friends and family I am blessed to have. I don't need a career or anything like that and I'm really confused by people, who make this their end game. I mean if that what thriving is for you, by all means, but generally I don't think that's the answer.

Ah, if only the world wasn't run by corporate propaganda and the majority of governments weren't into that shit, I think we as a species would be living in a literal utopia... and yet here we are, with technology that is meant to connect us more than ever, but we've never been more divided.

It's the tragedy of our modern times and I only hope we all collectively awaken at some point and embrace the fact that we are ALL ONE and stop suffocating each other.

[savannawithoutanh]

I have watched dozens of videos and read many articles trying to make sense of "happiness". This is, by far, my favorite explanation.

[KJVHomeMovies]

Something I think about often on this subject is "meaning" and "purpose." I feel like they are the strongest tools we have to push through the hardships of our own life and allow us to not negatively fixate on the boons of others around us. Feeling that you are here for a reason helps you look at the bad times, even the worst of bad times, as just steps to a larger thing. This doesn't stop you from feeling sadness or hopelessness, but knowing that your problems are only temporary (or even that they're meant to help you grow) can really help you focus on living better with what you have.

[vakusdrake]

It seems like there's no way to untangle the correlation=/=causation issues here. Since it seems obvious that the people who are the happiest wouldn't be the one's actively trying to seek it, since already happy people don't have an impetus to seek happiness. This feels akin to concluding that therapy causes mental illness or that trying to find food causes hunger, the causal relationship here seems to be completely the opposite of what's being claimed.

[joelbellJB]

Happiness is an emotion, and like all emotions it’s fleeting…

[DisOcean]

A dog of wisdom once told me "You can not fetch happiness. Happy happens."

[nebulagospel]

Eudaimonia is a word we lost. But because of this, video had been found and will now flourish.

[gerarddip]

Everybody’s just gotta be good to themselves and to each other. And a great example of eudaimonia is SpongeBob. Not living the most glamorous life, but having fun every day.