Analysis of The Hapiness Conspiracy and Fahrenheit 451

Happiness is a reprise from the many trials and turmoil of life, and so it is natural that we should actively seek it. Ironically though, in our naïve belief that we can somehow augment the amount of happiness in our world, we are actually making our world more depressing to live in. Both John F. Schumaker, in The Happiness Conspiracy, and Ray Bradbury, in Fahrenheit 451, argue that our myopic pursuit of happiness is actually counterproductive. The two authors attempt to persuade the reader that happiness is, and should be, an almost-serendipitous byproduct of a truly fulfilling life, and therefore should not be an explicit objective.

In his essay, Schumaker discusses how our lives have devolved to being merely means to an end. We do not find school or work, per se, satisfying, but rather, as necessary steps in order to be able ultimately, create an artificial sense of happiness. For the last several decades, consumerism, with the ephemeral yet satisfying feeling of joy associated with material wealth, has been on the rise, and our society has developed a voracious appetite for “ ‘how-to’ happiness books, articles, TV and radio programmes…happiness institutes, camps, clubs, cruises, workshops, and retreats.” However, as Schumaker points out, our attempt to create a bubble of supposed euphoria for ourselves has not only failed miserably, but it has also had the opposite effect. Despite the deregulation and increased variety of sex, “we make love less often and enjoy it less”; though we live far beyond our needs, we never have enough. Indeed, it appears the law of diminishing returns is in full effect when it comes to happiness. A family in Nigeria, the happiest country in the world, may live on a day-to-day basis, and so simple ...

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...ulous, and yet increasingly, people are trying to artificially prolong and create that fleeting feeling, failing to recognize that it is its evanescence that makes it so invigorating. Both Schumaker and Bradbury attempt to convince of this, arguing that it is truly the journey and not final destination that matters. We must live by the principle of jumping off a cliff and building our wings on the way down, as Bradbury often says, for if we fail to do so, then we are reduced to little more than pigs blindly gorging ourselves at a trough, on nothingness. Both writers urge us to reject the predilection prevalent in our society to seek phony happiness and entreat us to live lives that are not one-dimensional and stilted but rather multi-faceted and diverse, positing that only in such a life will we be able to experience, among a spectrum of other emotions, happiness.