CHAPTER 32 • BIOLOGY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS 



1 Do all living things feel pain and pleasure? 



2 Can other animals besides human beings feel happy or unhappy ? 



3 Whv do some people seem to be more consistently cheerful, or 



more consistently unhappy, than others ? 



4 What conditions are likely to increase human happiness* 



5 Does happiness depend upon circumstances or upon one's nature? 



6 Can people be happy if they are not in good health' 



7 Are children happier than adults' 



8 How does being civilized make people happier than sa\ages are? 



9 Whv is it said that more knowledge means more sorrow- 



10 If wealth does not ensure happiness, wh\- do people try so hard 

 to get it? 



A babv gets what he needs when he needs it. He is protected from harm. 

 His comfort is looked after. Nothing worries him. He need not exert himself. 

 Could anvone be happier.' From this point of view, the pillow on which the 

 babv lies mav be still happier. It has no needs. Hardly anything can hurt it. 

 It can experience no discomfort. It can neither exert itself nor worry. Many 

 of us feel at times that we should like to change places with a baby. Hardly 

 anvone would want to change places with a pillow. 



The most complex animals are the most sensiti\e to stimuli. They are ac- 

 cordinglv able to feel the most pain — but also the most pleasure. Man, \\ ith 

 his exceptional intelligence, finds ways to reduce sickness and pain, to lengthen 

 life. He has managed to increase the margin of free time and energy, to use as he 

 Hkes. He can enjoy Life, not merely make a living. He can carry on activities 

 that are distinctly human. He finds satisfactions that are distinctly human. 



But is man today better off than his ancestors were? Are people in scien- 

 tific countries anv happier than those in backward countries? 



Just What Is Happiness? 



Pain and Pleasure^ The most "real" of all experiences are the feelings 

 of pleasure or of pain which accompany our sensations and our activities. 

 These feelings influence all our actions. Ever\'body wants to avoid pain and 

 to get pleasure, more and more pleasure. Yet "pleasure'' is not the same as 

 happiness. Indeed, the mother of a new baby insists she is very happy while 

 her phvsical pains are quite severe. A player who has been hurt in a game says 

 that he is happy o\-er the outcome. But the immediate practical goals in the 

 pursuit of happiness are largely to satisfy desires and to avoid or reduce pain. 



^See No. 1, p. 673. 

 658 



