In this blog post, we will look at whether happiness can be measured by biochemical factors such as hormones or social standards.
Introduction
We often ask ourselves, “Am I happy?” And society also asks us, “Are you happy?” It is no exaggeration to say that humanity today is living in pursuit of happiness. What is happiness then? Yuval Noah Harari’s “Sapiens” defines happiness as “subjective well-being.” In other words, happiness is an emotion that you feel within yourself, and it refers to the immediate joy or long-term satisfaction you feel about the way your life is going. If happiness is a subjective emotion that I feel within myself, can I measure it? And can we quantify happiness?
Can chemical hormones determine our happiness?
In Chapter 19 of Part 4 of Yuval Noah Harari’s “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind,” “And They Lived in Happiness,” he presents various perspectives on happiness. Among them is the perspective of “chemical happiness,” which states that happiness is determined by the biochemical system of humans. Just as social scientists in “Sapiens” suggest that social and economic factors such as wealth and political freedom are the criteria for determining happiness, biologists argue that our minds and emotions are governed by biochemical systems. And if the level of a biochemical substance such as serotonin can determine happiness, the threshold is not very important in determining happiness. In other words, if a person has an average serotonin level, even if an external stimulus is given to that person, there will only be a temporary change in the level, and the person will not become happier because there will be no significant change in the person’s average serotonin level. In “Sapiens,” it is expressed that a person with an average serotonin level of 8 is happier than a person with an average level of 5, and a person with an average level of serotonin is always depressed no matter how much positive stimulation is applied. This is explained by comparing a friend with a positive and bright mindset to a friend with a negative and irritable mindset.
According to the claim of Yuval Noah Harari, we come to the question of “Can happiness be quantified?” And we also wonder whether the number can be used as an objective yardstick. Generally, people think of hormones as a standard for quantifying happiness. Then, we would like to discuss the question of whether happiness can be quantified from the perspective of “chemical happiness,” in which biochemical substances such as hormones determine happiness. But before that, we need to think again about how chemical happiness is defined. As Noam Chomsky said in “Sapiens,” if happiness is influenced by biochemical substances, we come to another question. Does our happiness really depend on hormones, or do we feel happy because our hormones are high?
The correlation between serotonin and happiness
People who claim that happiness can be quantified through hormones generally say that hormones determine happiness. That is why the question of whether hormones determine happiness or happiness determines hormones is a very important issue. In fact, this debate is a very important issue in the treatment of diseases such as depression. If hormones can determine the degree of happiness, psychological diseases such as depression can be treated by administering biochemical substances such as hormones. Biochemical substances such as serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin are widely known as the substances that determine happiness. Among them, serotonin is one of the various neurotransmitters in the brain, and it plays a very important role in regulating emotions by balancing the autonomic nervous system and hormones. It is sometimes called the “happiness hormone” because it is said to stabilize the mind and body and give a feeling of happiness when it is secreted. Serotonin helps our emotions to be balanced and not skewed by regulating dopamine, which is responsible for pleasure, and noradrenaline, which is responsible for anxiety and stress.
To argue that serotonin, known as the “happiness hormone,” determines happiness, it is important to first understand how serotonin plays a role in stabilizing the mind and body. If people felt happy on average when they had a lot of serotonin secreted, then serotonin could be said to be the hormone that determines happiness. However, the fact that there is a difference in serotonin levels between happy people and unhappy people does not mean that serotonin determines happiness.
A 2007 study experimentally confirmed that people suffering from depression have statistically lower serotonin levels than people who are not. This also revealed that serotonin deficiency is associated with symptoms such as anxiety and insomnia. However, these research results alone cannot be said to determine happiness. A later study in 2016 compared rats that did not have receptors that inhibit serotonin secretion with rats that did have receptors. Rats that did not have receptors that inhibit serotonin secretion had higher levels of serotonin in their brains, and the study found that rats without receptors exhibited less anxiety and depression-related behavior. In addition, multinational pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company found that an increase in the amount of serotonin significantly reduced the symptoms of depression in patients with depression. This led to the launch of Prozac, a drug that treats depression by increasing serotonin levels. Based on these results, it can be argued that serotonin determines happiness because the feeling of depression can be controlled by increasing the amount of serotonin. However, the above experiments did not look at whether happiness increased when serotonin levels were increased, but rather at how much depression was reduced. So, can we say that happiness has increased because depression has decreased? Happy people are less depressed, but being not depressed does not necessarily mean that they are happy. In other words, depression can be a measure of happiness, but it cannot determine happiness by itself. In fact, changes in serotonin levels are not observed in all patients with depression. This is because, although statistically, the serotonin levels of patients with depression are relatively low, not all patients have low serotonin levels. This means that the degree of happiness cannot be determined by serotonin levels alone. In other words, if your serotonin levels are low, you may have a weaker ability to reduce depression, but this does not mean that you are not happy. Similarly, high serotonin levels do not necessarily mean that you are happy. Also, not all depressed people have low serotonin levels, so we cannot say that the amount of secretion of biochemical substances such as serotonin alone determines happiness.
Can happiness determine hormones?
If so, can we say that happiness determines hormones? If I am happy, my depression will be low, and my serotonin levels, a biochemical substance that controls depression, will be high. On the other hand, if I am not happy, my depression will increase and my serotonin levels will decrease. In other words, happiness can determine hormones. However, if happiness determines hormones and hormones do not determine happiness, one problem arises. Why do depression symptoms improve with the use of drugs that increase serotonin levels? Why do people feel happy when their serotonin levels temporarily increase? Depression is a disease caused by changes in the brain’s ability to control emotions, and the exact cause has not yet been identified. However, it has been experimentally shown that biochemical substances such as serotonin and dopamine affect the alleviation of depressive symptoms, and depression medications are actually being used that use changes in these hormones. A temporary increase in serotonin levels is a mechanism that makes you feel psychologically stable by balancing serotonin with other hormones such as dopamine and norepinephrine. Therefore, temporarily increasing serotonin levels can reduce depression, and even if the hormone itself does not determine long-term happiness, it can alleviate depression symptoms by temporarily reducing depression. And if these temporary changes are continued and the hormone balance returns to normal, it can be said that the depression has been cured.
Can the degree of happiness be measured by hormone levels?
Even if hormones themselves cannot define the happiness that humans feel, we can consider the influence of hormones as one of the factors of happiness. So, can we use these hormone levels to objectively quantify the degree of happiness? In “Sapiens,” it is stated that people with low serotonin levels are not as happy as people with high serotonin levels, and that people with low serotonin levels will feel depressed even when they receive positive external stimuli. However, it cannot be concluded that the average serotonin level is low, and that the person’s satisfaction with life or sense of happiness is lower than that of a person with a high serotonin level. The society in which we live tries to quantify many things and compare them objectively. A typical example can be found in the process of doctors diagnosing diseases. For example, when diagnosing cancer, doctors determine the stage, survival rate, and treatment required based on the extent and speed of cancer metastasis using objective figures and statistical data. Even if doctors quantify a patient’s condition, the patient may live longer or shorter than the diagnosis results depending on their situation and environment. Treatment may also be faster. In the end, even if everything is quantified based on objective criteria, fluctuations will inevitably occur depending on the individual’s will or the surrounding environment, which means that we must rely on statistical data. Just as not all people with depression feel the same level of depression because their serotonin levels are low.
If a person with a low serotonin level tries to be happy in a positive environment, it is possible that he or she will be happier than a person with a high serotonin level. Conversely, if a person with a high serotonin level is placed in a negative environment, can we conclude that he or she is happier? As such, it would be difficult to objectively determine happiness based on hormone levels alone.
How to quantify happiness through happiness index
So far, we have discussed the question of whether happiness can be quantified from the perspective of chemical happiness. And as a result, we have come to the conclusion that the level of biochemical substances such as serotonin alone cannot determine happiness. However, there are various criteria for quantifying happiness in addition to biochemical substances. A typical example of quantifying happiness by taking into account various criteria is the happiness index. We often say that countries like Finland and Denmark have high happiness levels. In the World Happiness Report released in 2022, South Korea ranked 59th out of 146 countries, receiving 5.951 points out of 10.
There are many controversies about quantifying individual happiness, but how can the degree of happiness of a country be quantified and compared? A typical example is the National Index of Well-being (NIW) conducted by the OECD and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) under the European Commission in 2006. This index evaluates the quality of human life by taking into account various factors such as psychological well-being, ecology, health, education, culture, standard of living, use of time, and community vitality. In this evaluation process, subjective and objective factors are divided into monetary and non-monetary indicators and considered comprehensively. Of course, this indicator is not fully applicable to all countries, but since it takes into account both subjective and objective factors, it can be said to provide more reasonable results than determining happiness based on each factor alone. If we take into account various factors that affect happiness, such as economic wealth, health, appearance, biochemical substances, and social status, we can quantify happiness through the happiness index. Although these indicators may not be perfectly applicable to all people or countries, they will be a way to objectively compare the degree of happiness to some extent.
Conclusion
Whether hormones determine happiness or happiness determines hormones is like the debate of whether the chicken came first or the egg came first. However, when looking at the role of serotonin and the effects of its prescription, serotonin plays a role in temporarily reducing depression. This can alleviate depressive symptoms, but a reduction in depression does not necessarily mean that a person is happy. Therefore, it cannot be said that biochemical substances such as serotonin determine human happiness. Although it is impossible to quantify each of the various factors that determine happiness, if we take a comprehensive look at the data on economic wealth, health, social status, biochemical substances, and so on, we can quantify the degree of happiness of an individual to some extent using the happiness index. Although these numbers may not apply to everyone, isn’t it necessary to quantify happiness and continue researching it in order to develop into a happier society?
