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| Writer | Jiwoo Shin | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone number | 010******** | ||
| j****************** | |||
| Subject | < Changes In Perception Of Happiness Leads To Better Life> | ||
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what is happiness? Is happiness the highest level of success, or is it the result of being too busy to be miserable? Everyone speaks of happiness, but few know it. Actually, we cannot define what “happiness” is . Because there are no limits to happiness, it is interpreted variously by many researchers, or scientists. Thus, the perspectives from each person results in all different opinions. For example, Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher stated that happiness is hard to generalize and it is difficult to establish objective standards of happiness.In short, He defined happiness as an empirical and relative thing. On the other hand, Aristoteles, a Greek philosopher once said that “ Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and aim of human existence”. In contrast with Kant, Aristoteles constrained on the meaning of happiness, giving us the exact definition of what he think it is. We cannot criticize or judge them, tell who’s right or wrong, because like the preceding, we cannot give a definition of happiness. While we cannot determine what happiness is, we can look up for what causes the happiness of mankind. When we ask people what makes them happy, they give us answers that are related to income, education, health, security, or spare time which influence one’s happiness and constitutes “happiness exponent” ,namely “happiness index” . Most people may think that if the society-economic situation is good, the society’s happiness index would also be high. Would this be a true statement? The research from New Economic Foundation (NEF) shows us that isn’t always the case. Every three years, they released the result of happiness index and every time, Latin America was in the rank of top10 including Costa Rica. Korea ranked 63 in 2012, U.S ranking 105. However, Gross domestic product (GDP), which calculates the amount of money, America’s ranking was No.1, Korea in the 12th. How about Costa Rika? It was around 70. This research shows that it does not mean economic wealth directly affects happiness. There must be other reasons that lower our happiness index in a subtle way in everyday life. Unfortunately, Korea could be considered as one of the countries that society’s economic situation is inversely related to happiness exponent. Like I said above, a lot of people blame the economic ills to the reasons of unhappiness. They say ‘People are not happy because it is difficult to live and eat.’. But I'm really not in that point of view. Especially South Korea is hard to apply this logic. Let's look at the statistics again. In 2008, the financial collapse happened around the world including the South Korean economy having a large influence. However in 2010, about two years after, South Korea was chosen as the country that quickly overcame the crisis. Korea also has shown a steady economic growth from 2011. Nevertheless, happiness is falling. I wonder where the reason is. I think we need to find the answer elsewhere, not from the economy. Major accidents have continued, including the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014, political issues such as assault or national affairs. These continuous problems created psychological instability among the people. In addition, increasingly competitive employment rate, competition in education seem to be the reason why people worry about their destabilized future. Happiness is important in the present safety, but it is only complete in the state of having assurance about the future. Synthetically, the results of the research and the reality of our society show us that happiness is not something we can find from the outside. While the surrounding areas may affect us, true happiness lies within us. Happiness depends on how we face and accept the situation. We should overcome the pressure given to us and never give up. The faster we change people’s perception about happiness, it will provide better life and satisfaction to society as well as for individuals. |
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