The source of happiness

Today I would like to share some sections of the book “La source du bonheur est dans notre cerveau” (literally “The source of happiness is in our brain”) from Christian Boiron.

Through neuropsychology, he invites us to integrate a new scope with regard to happiness and how to avoid useless pain. Happiness depends on each of us, of our faculty to understand and express our inner self.

What is the difference between happiness and pleasure?

He explains the there is a fundamental difference between two. Happiness and pleasure are not only different because of the intensity, but from their constitution. We can be happy and suffer or we can have pleasure and be unhappy. The systematic search of the pleasure lead to misfortune, therefore the systematic search for happiness doesn’t exclude pleasure, on the contrary, it reinforces that and enables to savour it.

Happiness is deep by nature. This is what remains when we remove pathogenic believes that prevent harmony between the “thee brains” (we will see it after). Pleasure is a guide that enables human kind to survive, happiness is a guide that enables human kind to be fulfilled. Pleasure is specific to any animal species while happiness is specific to human kind.

Happiness works through knowledge, consciouness and science.

The 3 brains (see drawing below)

He identifies 3 brains

- The Reptilian which is the one for primary instinct, thirst, hunger, sexuality and survival against aggression.

- The Limbic, also called the intermediary, which is the one used for automatic learning process, namely conditioning.

- The Neocortex whichis the one for intelligence, logic and intuition.

Christian Boiron based this reflexion on the work of Jacques and Fanny Fradin.

They highlighted the fact that the state of emergency generated from instinct, seen as a defence from exterior sources, could find its origin in an interior conflict, when happen a dispute between the Limbic and the neocortical brains. That is to say between the social conditioning and the intelligence. The reptilian brain wouls send a signal, and we feel this state of emergency. Aggressiveness, anxiety or dejection can easily be identified… Identifying the cause of such “evil” would allow us to resolve it. The state of “non-conflict” or “non-stress” is the state of “action-activation” coming from the 3 brains that is what is called happiness by Christian Boiron.

The idea beyond rejecting any of our automatism or our primary instinct, we need to give space to intelligence defined by the neocortical brain. We have to live with our primary instinct and accept that we have been conditioned to a certain extent, then, we will find ways to use wisely the intelligence and reach true happiness.

SOURCE

La source du bonheur est dans votre cerveau de Christian Boiron

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Thanks for reading :)

Valentin