To date, there is no definitive answer to the origin of mankind. Since the beginning of the record, human civilization has been divided into three stages: primitive civilization, sub-civilization and modern civilization.
No matter what kind of civilization, each has its own way of life, has its own yearning for its own life, but has a common goal, to live for happiness.
From the age of apes, hunting for food, to the modern era of intelligence, food and clothing, with the development and progress of the times, are human beings really happier than before?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >01 Were the ancients really unhappy? </h1>
In our understanding from childhood, we know that the living environment of the ancients is extremely difficult, lack of food and clothing, drilling wood for fire, and caves for home.
I believe that if you ask anyone now, whether adults or children, the living environment of the ancients will feel very bitter and unbearable.
But were the ancients really unhappy?
The movie "God Is Crazy Too" seemed to break my perception.
In a little-known tribe in Africa, there is a small group of Bushmans who also live a primitive life.
It is drought-stricken and water-scarce all year round, and is basically unsuitable for human habitation, but they are self-sufficient, relying on catching insects, digging up tree roots, hunting for food, and tenaciously surviving.
They work as a family unit, and adults don't have to go to work, so they don't have to worry about the level of the position and how much they earn. Children do not have to go to school, and they do not have to worry about whether their children are studying well or not, which cram school they go to.
They have no concept of the day of the week, what 996, 997, every day can sleep until they wake up naturally.
There is no concept of time, no competitive pressure, and no conflict of interests.
Adults never scold or punish children, do not speak evil words, and even sincerely apologize to the prey they hit.
Who's to say that such a life is unhappy?
Suddenly, one day, an empty Coke bottle that fell from the sky changed their lives.
Because they have never seen such a beautiful, transparent and hard thing, which can both whistle and grind snakeskin, and have many functions.
Everyone scrambles to own it and wants to own it exclusively, but there is only one Coke bottle.
For the first time, people felt unwilling to share it with others, and even fought for it.
Their original life of indisputable, calm and happy was broken.
Later, people decided that the bottle was an ominous thing, and the protagonist, Sisso, decided to take this thing that disturbed them to the end of the world and throw it away.
The twists and turns experienced through the sissel out of the desert and into modern society represent the collision of primitive civilization and sub-civilization.
Who's to say that subcultures are necessarily better than primitive civilizations?
Just take what you need, and the one that suits you is the best.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >02 Are modern people really happy? </h1>
In order to make the living environment simpler and better, modern people turn out to be more complex and indifferent the more transformed. The harmony of nature is destroyed and replaced by cities, roads, means of transport, and so on.
In the 21st century, science and technology have developed and resources are excessive. Not only is it as simple as eating and wearing warmth, but it is really a bit of a material thing.
Think about how many horses Yang Guifei ran to death in order to eat fresh lychees. But now, the fruits of the south and the north of the sky have everything, only you can't think of it, there is nothing you can't eat.
To go to a place, it used to take a month to get there, but now it only takes a few hours to get there.
Heaven into the sea, into space, once dared not dream of things, now can be easily achieved.
If you want to get any knowledge or information, just use your fingers and know the world's major events in a few seconds.
What is even more gratifying is that the improvement of the medical level, many incurable diseases in the past, can now be easily cured. In children, in particular, the fatality rate has fallen from 33 per cent to 5 per cent.
Modern society has inexhaustible energy and inexhaustible wealth, but are modern people really happier?
No sensation.
It's just that now people don't have to work hard, but everyone is shouting tired; lying in a comfortable bed every day, but can't sleep; the conditions are getting better and better, but the depression is getting more and more.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >03What is happiness? </h1>
Some people say that if you have money, you are happy; some people say that you are happy when you have power; and some people say that you are happy with health.
In fact, happiness varies from person to person, it does not lie in any of the objective conditions of money, power, health, family, etc., but only about whether the objective conditions are consistent with people's subjective expectations.
If your expectations are too high and you don't meet them, you will feel unhappy.
For example, if you want to own a Ferrari and someone gives you a used Audi, you won't be happy. If you want a tricycle and you get this tricycle, you'll be happy.
The so-called contentment and happiness means that you don't have so high expectations, as long as you meet your expectations a little, you will be very happy.
For example, the ancients, when they were hungry and hunted for food, were very happy, and they were very pure happiness.
Modern people, on the other hand, are hungry and have a variety of foods to choose from, but they don't feel much happiness because they are easily accessible.
For example, modern people bathe and sweat every day, if they let him not bathe for a year, it is worse than death.
But the ancients were born without the habit of bathing, so they did not think how uncomfortable it was not to bathe for many years.
Also, who can guarantee that the peasants who live on the hot earthen kang in the countryside will not be happier than the local tycoons who live in the sea-view houses?
Maybe the farmer did a day of farm work, drank some wine, lay on the hot kang head, very tired, and soon fell asleep.
And the local tycoon is lying on the big bed in the sea view room, still worried about how to raise funds tomorrow, turning over and over and unable to sleep.
There is no harm without contrast.
Modern people have more desires, so there is more suffering. Although the ancients said that the material was not so rich, they had simple thoughts and did not have those desires, so they were more happy.
So, is simplicity happiness?
Not quite. Some people are simple, but their hearts are not simple, and they are still unhappy.
In fact, whether ancient or modern, the real happiness is: know yourself and follow your heart.
Only by understanding yourself can you know what you want, how to get what you want, achieve the unity of knowledge and action, and ultimately achieve the purpose of happiness!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > summary</h1>
No matter how the world develops in the future and how civilization progresses, we just have to take care of ourselves, and the rest is left to "Crazy God!" ”