If You’re Happy and You Know It

Happiness is rooted in our culture, religion, and language, and even in our national constitution. It is a defined right to some, and freedom to pursue it guides our charter of rights. Despite its foundational roots, it can be elusive, scarce, and even the source of conflict and war. “If You’re Happy and You Know It” examines the research on happiness against the back-drop of existential and real life crises of the protagonist as he reflects on key relations in his life as they change over time. While psychology has taught us about cognition, behaviour, and emotion, biology has patiently evolved to propel the human organism forward in the pursuit of happiness. When we distill the key factors common in life, we soon learn that happiness is an essential driving force. Happiness propagates the human species, and our interaction with life provides the meaning. Everything else is details.