Inside Yoga 116 (22/9/14)
It is probably safe to say that we all want to be happy; it is a straight forward and simple desire yet something that can feel so hard to find and then hold onto for many of us, but according to Yuval Noah Harari, author of a history of humankind, our ancestors in the stone age, the hunter gatherers, found their world more fulfilling.
We might have developed in so many ways, reaching the point where we are able to dominate and (possibly) destroy our world; we have built and designed so many things to make our lives easier and more comfortable, yet this march of progress has not solved the eternal desire to be happy.
The author discusses the “Whig view of history” which believed progress was a triumphal process ever forward to a better life for all. Harari says that: “this progressive view is highly controversial. Though few would dispute the fact that human power has been growing since the dawn of history, it is far less clear that power correlates with happiness. The advent of agriculture, for example, increased the collective power of humankind by several orders of magnitude. Yet it did not necessarily improve the lot of the individual. For millions of years, human bodies and minds were adapted to running after gazelles, climbing trees to pick apples, and sniffing here and there in search of mushrooms. Peasant life, in contrast, included long hours of agricultural drudgery: ploughing, weeding, harvesting and carrying water buckets from the river. Such a lifestyle was harmful to human backs, knees and joints, and numbing to the human mind.”
He adds: “In return for all this hard work, peasants usually had a worse diet than hunter-gatherers, and suffered more from malnutrition and starvation. Their crowded settlements became hotbeds for new infectious diseases, most of which originated in domesticated farm animals. Agriculture also opened the way for social stratification, exploitation and possibly patriarchy. From the viewpoint of individual happiness, the ‘agricultural revolution’ was, in the words of the scientist Jared Diamond, ‘the worst mistake in the history of the human race’.”
This is a damning indictment of what we were taught was progress in school.
Harari discusses the “romantic view of history” which says that as humankind gained more power, it created a cold mechanistic world, which is ill-suited to our real needs.” He writes: “The harshest criticism of all is reserved for the unholy trinity of industrialism, capitalism and consumerism. These three bugbears have alienated people from their natural surroundings, from their human communities, and even from their daily activities.”
Mind you, he does say that we did get some things right, for example, he says: “Over the last two centuries modern medicine has beaten back the army of diseases that prey on humankind, from tuberculosis and measles to cholera and diphtheria. Average life expectancy has soared, and global child mortality has dropped from roughly 33 per cent to less than 5 per cent. Can anyone doubt that this made a huge contribution to the happiness not only of those children who might otherwise be dead, but also of their parents, siblings and friends?”
So perhaps we are happier than our ancestors? Harari points out that “our wellbeing is usually influenced by the quality of our relationships more than by our household amenities, the size of our bank accounts or even our health. Unfortunately, the immense improvement in material conditions that affluent westerners have enjoyed over the last century was coupled with the collapse of most intimate communities.”
Many of us are aware that modern living has split families and communities apart to the point that we don’t know our neighbours and feel nervous walking along our own street. But Harari goes further, to say that it is our friendships that are not what they were…back in the Stone Age.
He writes: “Many present-day friendships involve little more than talking and having fun together. We meet a friend at a pub, call him on the phone, or send an email, so that we can unload our anger at what happened today in the office, or share our thoughts on the latest royal scandal. Yet how well can you really know a person only from conversations?
“In contrast to such pub buddies, friends in the stone age depended on one another for their very survival. Humans lived in close-knit communities, and friends were people with whom you went hunting mammoths. You survived long journeys and difficult winters together. You took care of one another when one of you fell sick, and shared your last morsels of food in times of want. Such friends knew each other more intimately than many present-day couples. Replacing such precarious tribal networks with the security of modern economies and states obviously has enormous advantages. But the quality and depth of intimate relationships are likely to have suffered.”
For me this does ring true: those who have been on a long expedition or journey with others, or been part of a challenging project living together struggling to achieve a particular aim would recognise what Harari describes – though these days even this a so-called “reality” show. Yet this is a choice we make, but in the Stone Age this was the norm, it was part of the need to survive.
Have we become too comfortable in modern life that we have lost touch with what is important in our lives? Or as the author says, we have so much yet we are still not happy?
He says: “Compared to what most people in history dreamed about, we may be living in paradise. But for some reason, we don’t feel that we are.”
Harari adds: “One explanation has been provided by social scientists, who have recently rediscovered an ancient wisdom: our happiness depends less on objective conditions and more on our own expectations. Expectations, however, tend to adapt to conditions. When things improve, expectations rise, and consequently even dramatic improvements in conditions might leave us as dissatisfied as before. In their pursuit of happiness, people are stuck on the proverbial ‘hedonic treadmill’, running faster and faster but getting nowhere.”
It is crazy really when we think about it this way! When I started reading the article by Harari I was interested to see where his description of human history and its relationship with happiness would lead. And it was not a surprise to find that he finishes by discussing what the Buddhist and Yogic teachings pointed out thousands of years ago.
He writes: “Thousands of years ago Buddhist monks reached the surprising conclusion that pursuing pleasant sensations is in fact the root of suffering, and that happiness lies in the opposite direction. Pleasant sensations are just ephemeral and meaningless vibrations. If five minutes ago I felt joyful or peaceful, that feeling is now gone, and I may well feel angry or bored. If I identify happiness with pleasant sensations, and crave to experience more and more of them, I have no choice but constantly to pursue them, and even if I get them, they immediately disappear, and I have to start all over again. This pursuit brings no lasting achievement. On the contrary: the more I crave these pleasant sensations, the more stressed and dissatisfied I become. However, if I learn to see my sensations for what they really are – ephemeral and meaningless vibrations – I lose interest in pursuing them, and can be content with whatever I experience. For what is the point of running after something that disappears as fast as it arises? For Buddhism, then, happiness isn’t pleasant sensations, but rather the wisdom, serenity and freedom that come from understanding our true nature.”
Having studied Buddhist and yogic teachings for the last 20 years I do agree with this comment, and I continue to practice meditation, in order to remind myself that this is the way it works. Many people in the world use meditation to get off this proverbial ‘hedonic treadmill’, but Harari points out that “unfortunately the practical impact of such alternative views is minimal. For the capitalist juggernaut, happiness is pleasure. Full stop. With each passing year, our tolerance for unpleasant sensations decreases, whereas our craving for pleasant sensations increases. Both scientific research and economic activity are geared to that end, producing each year better painkillers, new ice-cream flavours, more comfortable mattresses, and more addictive games for our smartphones, so that we will not suffer a single boring moment while waiting for the bus.”
It is hard to change all of us, so why not start with just ourselves: by learning to meditate, to practice yoga, to clean up our act, our body and mind, perhaps we will find more happiness. We might not be able to change others, but if we change ourselves for the better, it might just happen that those around us see the transformation and decide to ask us “how come you are so happy?”
To read the article by Yuval Noah Harari, go to http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/05/were-we-happier-in-the-stone-age
Yuval Noah Harari’s book is called “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind”, published by Harvill Secker
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