Dr. Arthur Brooks argues that biological urges evolved for survival and reproduction, not happiness. Chasing what feels urgent—raises, relationships, drugs, affairs—rarely delivers lasting contentment. Real happiness requires acting against these impulses.
I want to be happy, and I have an urge to do these things. So therefore, if I do these things, I'll be happy. And then we kind of wonder why doesn't work out, you know, hey, man, I. I got the raise and the bonus and the relationship, and I'm still not satisfied. What's wrong with that? Right? And, you know, all these things keep happening to me, and I don't like them. Why? That doesn't seem right. And I wanted to go sleep with that person and take that drug, and I thought it would make me happy because I had an urge to do so, but it made me unhappy. That's wrong. What's wrong with me? The answer is your biology is your biology. You have to go against your biology. You have to go against Mother Nature if you actually want to be a happier person. You're getting positive and negative emotions as a way to stay alive and thrive and get mates and get your food and not to be happy. You know, Mother Nature doesn't care if Coleman's happy. There's no proclivity in nature to be happy at all. It's to survive and pass on Your genesis. Being happy, that's what you want. That's a divine task, not an animal task.
