This article explores what happiness is and whether it is determined by biochemical factors such as hormones or has deeper connections to social and environmental factors. It discusses whether hormone levels, such as serotonin, can be an objective measure of happiness and whether national happiness can be measured through a happiness index.

Introduction

We often ask ourselves. Am I happy? And the society we live in also asks us: “Are you happy?” It is no exaggeration to say that humanity today is living in pursuit of happiness. But what is happiness? In Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, happiness is defined as “subjective well-being,” meaning that it’s an emotion you feel within yourself, whether it’s immediate joy or long-term satisfaction with the way your life is going. If happiness is a subjective emotion that you feel within yourself, can it be measured? And can it be quantified?

Can chemical hormones determine our happiness?

In Chapter 19, “And They Lived Happily Ever After,” in Part 4, “The Scientific Revolution,” of Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, he offers a variety of perspectives on happiness. One of them is the “chemical happiness” view, which suggests that happiness is determined by our biochemical systems. In Sapiens, biologists argue that our minds and emotions are governed by our biochemical systems, just as social scientists point to socio-economic factors such as wealth and political freedom as determinants of happiness. And if happiness can be determined by levels of biochemicals like serotonin, they argue that thresholds don’t matter much in determining happiness: if a person has an average level of serotonin, then an external stimulus will only temporarily change that level, but it won’t make that person happier because it won’t change their average level of serotonin. In Sapiens, a person with an average serotonin level of 8 is happier than a person with an average level of 5, and a person with a lower average level will always feel depressed, no matter how much positive stimulation they receive. This is illustrated by the analogy of having a friend with a positive, upbeat mindset and another friend with a negative, irritable mindset.
Yuval Noah Harari’s argument leads us to the question: can happiness be quantified? And whether we can use that number as an objective measure. Typically, people think of hormones as a way to quantify happiness. In this article, we’ll discuss the question of “can happiness be quantified” from the perspective of “chemical happiness” – the idea that biochemicals like hormones determine happiness. But first, we need to revisit how chemical happiness is defined. If we say that happiness is influenced by biochemicals, as Eugene Noah Harari says in Sapiens, we arrive at another question. Do our hormones determine our happiness, or do our feelings of happiness determine our hormone levels?

Serotonin and happiness

Generally speaking, those who claim that happiness can be quantified through hormones say that hormones determine happiness. Therefore, the question of whether hormones determine happiness or happiness determines hormones is a very important one. In fact, this debate is crucial for treating conditions like depression. If hormones can determine happiness, then it’s possible to treat psychological conditions like depression by administering biochemicals like hormones. Biochemicals such as serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin are widely recognized as determinants of happiness. Serotonin, in particular, is one of the many neurotransmitters in the brain that plays a crucial role in regulating emotions by balancing autonomic nerves and hormones. It is often referred to as the “happiness hormone” because when it is released, it calms the mind and body and gives us a sense of well-being. By regulating dopamine, which is responsible for pleasure, and noradrenaline, which is responsible for anxiety and stress, serotonin helps to keep our emotions balanced and not one-sided.
Known as the happiness hormone, it”s important to understand how serotonin plays a role in stabilizing the mind and body before we can claim that it determines happiness. If people felt happier on average when they had more serotonin, then we could say that serotonin is the hormone that determines happiness. However, just because there are differences in serotonin levels between happy and unhappy people doesn’t mean that serotonin determines happiness.
A 2007 study experimentally confirmed that people with depression have statistically lower serotonin levels than people without depression. It also showed that serotonin deficiency is linked to symptoms such as anxiety and insomnia. However, these findings don’t mean that serotonin determines happiness. A 2016 study compared mice without receptors that inhibit serotonin release to mice with receptors that do. Mice without the receptor have higher levels of serotonin in their brains, and the researchers found that they exhibited fewer behaviors associated with anxiety and depression symptoms. In addition, the multinational pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company found that increasing the amount of “serotonin” significantly reduced depressive symptoms in depressed patients. This led to the development of the drug Prozac, which treats depression by increasing serotonin levels. Based on these results, it could be argued that serotonin determines happiness, as depression can be controlled by increasing the amount of serotonin. However, these experiments didn’t look at whether increasing serotonin levels increased happiness, but rather how much depression was reduced. So, does feeling less depressed mean you’re happier? Happy people are less depressed, but not being depressed doesn’t necessarily mean you’re happy. In other words, depression can be a measure of happiness, but it’s not the only measure of happiness. In fact, not all depressed people show changes in serotonin levels. This is because, statistically speaking, depressed people have lower serotonin levels, but not all depressed people have lower serotonin levels. This means that serotonin levels alone cannot be used to determine happiness: low serotonin levels may be less able to reduce depression, but this does not mean that a person is unhappy, and high serotonin levels do not mean that a person is happy. Furthermore, not all depressed people have low serotonin levels, so we cannot say that the amount of biochemicals such as serotonin determines happiness.

Can happiness determine hormones?

Or, conversely, can we say that happiness determines hormones? If I’m happy, I’m less likely to feel depressed, and I’ll have higher levels of serotonin, the biochemical that regulates depression. Conversely, if I’m unhappy, my depression will increase and my serotonin levels will decrease. This is the argument that happiness can determine hormones. But if happiness determines hormones and hormones don’t determine happiness, one problem arises: why do treatments that increase serotonin levels alleviate depressive symptoms? Why do people feel happier when their serotonin levels temporarily increase? Depression is a disorder caused by changes in the brain’s ability to regulate emotions, and the exact cause of depression is still unknown. However, experimental studies have shown that biochemicals such as serotonin and dopamine play a role in alleviating depressive symptoms, and depression treatments that use changes in these hormones are in use. A temporary increase in serotonin levels may be one mechanism by which serotonin balances other hormones, such as dopamine and norepinephrine, to produce feelings of psychological well-being. So temporarily increasing serotonin levels can reduce depression, and even if the hormone itself doesn’t determine long-term happiness, it can reduce depressive symptoms by temporarily lowering mood. And if you continue to make these temporary changes until your hormonal balance returns to normal, you can consider your depression cured.

Can happiness be measured by hormone levels?

Even if hormones themselves don’t define happiness, we can still consider their influence as one of the factors of happiness. But can we use these hormone levels to objectively quantify happiness? In Sapiens, it was suggested that people with low serotonin levels are less happy than those with high levels, and that people with low serotonin levels will feel depressed even in the face of positive external stimuli. However, just because someone has lower average serotonin levels doesn’t mean that their life satisfaction or happiness is lower than someone with higher serotonin levels. Our society tries to quantify and objectively compare many things, and a prime example of this is how doctors diagnose disease. For example, when diagnosing cancer, doctors use objective numbers and statistical data to determine what stage the cancer is, what the chances of survival are, and how much treatment is needed based on how far it has spread and how fast it is spreading. While doctors can quantify a patient’s condition, patients may live longer or shorter than their diagnosis, depending on their individual circumstances. They may be treated more quickly. In the end, even if everything is quantified in objective terms, there are still variations based on the will of the individual and their surroundings, which means that we can only rely on statistical data. Just as not all depressed people have low serotonin levels, not all depressed people feel the same level of depression.
If a person with low serotonin levels tries to be happy in a positive environment, it’s possible that they’ll be happier than someone with higher serotonin levels. Conversely, if a person with high serotonin levels is in a negative environment, can we assume that he or she is happier? It would be difficult to objectively determine happiness based on hormone levels alone.

How to quantify happiness with the Happiness Index

So far, we’ve discussed the question of “can happiness be quantified” from the perspective of chemical happiness, and we’ve come to the conclusion that we can’t determine happiness based on the levels of biochemicals like serotonin alone. However, there are many other ways to quantify happiness besides biochemicals. The happiness index is one such example of how to quantify happiness based on a combination of these criteria. We often say that countries like Finland and Denmark have high happiness scores. In the 2022 World Happiness Report, South Korea ranked 59th out of 146 countries, with a score of 5.951 out of 10.
Quantifying individual happiness is controversial, but how can we quantify and compare the happiness of countries? One example is the National Index of Well-being (NIW), which was launched in 2006 by the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the OECD and the European Commission. This index assesses the quality of human life by considering various factors such as psychological well-being, ecology, health, education, culture, living standards, time use, and community activation. In this evaluation process, both subjective and objective factors are considered comprehensively, divided into monetary and non-monetary indicators. Of course, this index is not fully applicable to all countries, but as it considers both subjective and objective factors together, it can be said that it provides more reasonable results than determining happiness by each factor alone. By taking into account the various factors that affect happiness, such as economic wealth, health, physical appearance, biochemistry, and social status, the Happiness Index is able to quantify happiness. Although these metrics may not be perfectly applicable to every person or country, they provide a more or less objective way to compare levels of happiness.

Conclusion

The debate of whether hormones determine happiness or happiness determines hormones is like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg. However, when we look at the role of serotonin and its effects after prescription, we see that it temporarily reduces feelings of depression. This can alleviate depressive symptoms, but feeling less depressed doesn’t necessarily mean feeling happier. Therefore, it’s unlikely that a biochemical like serotonin is the sole determinant of human happiness. While it is impossible to quantify each of these various factors that determine happiness, if we consider them collectively based on statistical data such as economic wealth, health, social status, and biochemicals, we can quantify an individual’s happiness to some extent through the Happiness Index. Although these numbers may not be applicable to everyone, quantifying happiness and continuing to study it is necessary to develop a happier society.