The old-fashioned way of experiencing pleasure and happiness.
According to the Rotterdam ‘professor of happiness’ Ruut Veenhoven, feeling happy does not depend on having a goal in life. This does not surprise me because life has started by random chance, then evolved and has no purpose.
But enjoying it is useful, as it is closely associated with food and reproduction and thus crucial for survival. These ‘hedonistic’ feelings are so strong that they lead to overpopulation and obesity. Being in love, maternal love and pleasure in social contacts are also positive feelings benefiting the survival of the species.
The cognitive development of humans enabled feelings of pleasure to be elevated to the ‘higher order’ of art and science, altruism, financial and transcendent activities, and to happiness.
We know what disturbances in these feelings can do from psychiatry. Mania can be accompanied by strong feelings of happiness and an absence of every positive feeling – so-called anhedonia – is seen in depression, schizophrenia, autism and addiction.