Happiness And Political Correctness – Part 2 in a short series (Part 1 – More, doesn’t lead to happier)

One reason more doesn’t make us happier, is the habituation factor. We get used to whatever level we’re at It’s like a set point on a thermostat. It’s the zone where we feel comfortable.

Someone from a very aggressive, confrontational environment will be used to a lot of conflict. If someone, from a more genteel background, saw their life they might wonder how they ever coped with all the stress. But to the person used to that kind of interaction, it’s just natural. They are conditioned for it and so it doesn’t have anywhere close to the emotional impact it would have on the other.

That’s why you can never truly judge or compare another. Because without their cognitive wiring you cannot begin to understand how they feel about something. People react to death in very different ways. Conventionally people expect a Widow, or Widower, to be devastated after the death of their Partner. And because of social pressure, they are expected to grieve. But having sometimes been the Confidant, in a number of these incidents, I know the actual reactions vary greatly. Some are pleased or relieved. Some are lost. And some just don’t know what to feel. But they feel a great pressure to meet certain expectations.

There was recently a popular TV drama on here in the U.K called Life On Mars. It was based on a young, modern Detective Inspector who was knocked unconscious by a car. He wakes up and finds himself a policeman in the 1970′s.

I think part of the appeal was it showed us a world that those of us in our thirties and over can remember to some degree, yet it was like a completely different world. His boss is a chauvinistic, hard drinking, chain smoking, no-nonsense copper. Women are only there for making the tea or for sleeping with. It’s a world free of political correctness.

Today television channels won’t or can’t broadcast many sitcoms from the seventies because they would be deemed racist.

Here’s an example from my past. I can vividly remember when I first moved from London, to Lowestoft, a small, slow moving town, to open my Health Club. I went to a Barber’s, when I still had enough hair to be worth cutting, and after a while I noticed the Barber sizing me up.

He paused and said, ‘You’re not local are you?’

When I confirmed his suspicion he asked where I was from. I told him and he paused before saying ‘I suppose you have a lot of them Darkies there?’

I nodded, dumbfounded. He then looked curious, bent in and asked, ‘What are they like?’

I was shocked, this was 1993. I couldn’t believe there were still people who spoke like that. But it wasn’t from maliciousness, more from curiosity.

In the fifteen years since that day, political correctness has gathered pace and momentum. 170 years ago in England slavery was abolished. According to the 1860 U.S. Census one third of the population in the fifteen states that hadn’t abolished slavery were Slaves. In other words they were legally viewed as lesser humans because their skin had habituated to intense sun rays.

Women have only been given the right to vote, here in the U.K for the last 80 years. Homosexuality was only legalised in the UK in 1967.

Yet today a racist, sexist or homophobic word could be reasonable cause for dismissal. That’s a huge change in social standards in a very short amount of time.

Today many would say that political correctness has gone too far. To the point where some people feel that it’s wrong to celebrate Christmas because it excludes non-Christians and many other ludicrous examples.

But what is behind this, is the Habituation Factor. In it’s original form, it’s an intention to care about the feelings of others. But thoughts and movements build momentum and take on a life of their own. And so people become more sensitive and what they once didn’t notice becomes a big deal.

In other words if you’re used to seeing someone as less worthy, then there’s no big deal to mistreating someone. But once you accept someone as your equal, every slight hint of inequality becomes jarring.

If you become happier, your standards for living get higher and so more minor things will begin to disturb your equilibrium. However you can’t go backwards. Once your consciousness is raised, you have to up your game to meet it’s standards or you’ll feel bad.

I think that’s why so many people feel stressed and unfulfilled today. Standards and level of consciousness have raised, but mostly we haven’t upped our game. At least not enough. That’s why I describe this blog as updating the human operating system.

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