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Evolution of Nervous Systems

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The Biology of Happiness

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality of Life Research ((BRIEFSWELLBEING))

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Abstract

This chapter starts by discussing the question of what type of organisms can be happy, concluding that it rests with the capacity to experience feelings, which also implies a capacity for consciousness. Within vertebrates, this feature is presumably limited to amniotes (i.e. reptiles, birds and mammals). Feelings evolve because they allow for a more flexible and adaptive behaviour. They have two primary values—positive and negative—aimed at respectively, instigation and avoidance. Happiness is a question of positive feelings. The brain employs the principle of a ‘common currency’; i.e. the net sum in terms of positive and negative outcomes is calculated and used to motivate towards appropriate behaviour. Humans may have the capacity to be both the most happy and the most unhappy of any species. A main problem is that human feelings evolved in a Stone Age setting can easily cause problems in the case of a modern lifestyle.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, PO Box 4404, Nydalen, 0403, Oslo, Norway

    Bjørn Grinde

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  1. Bjørn Grinde
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Correspondence to Bjørn Grinde .

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Grinde, B. (2012). Evolution of Nervous Systems. In: The Biology of Happiness. SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality of Life Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4393-9_2

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