The theory of happiness (or the 4 hamburger model) is a seductive argument that combines the search for pleasure and the search for meaning. To be happy more often, it would be necessary to identify activities that bring immediate positive emotions and a probable benefit for the future. It’s one of the most famous happiness teachers who tells us that!
In 2003, Harvard professor Tal Ben-Shahar was arguably the first teacher to offer a course in happiness for his students. Influenced by the work of researchers in positive psychology, such as Martin seligman Where Daniel Gilbert, this Israeli psychologist explained that, like foreign languages, cooking or sewing, happiness can be learned.
In his bestseller Happier (Learning Happiness, one of my bedside books for years), it offered an alluring approach to different types of “happiness” possible. Based on four easy-to-understand archetypes, it has gone on to become famous as the “hamburger theory”.
Happiness is not getting to the top of the mountain, nor climbing the wall to reach the top, it is living the experience of climbing.
Tal Ben Shahar
For Ben-Shahar, permanent happiness is an illusion that inevitably leads to failure and disappointment. He therefore recommends considering happiness, not as a goal to be achieved, but rather as a journey to be made throughout one’s life.
The 4 archetypes of the theory of happiness
Ben Shahar offers four archetypes that help us become aware of our behaviors in everyday life when faced with the eternal question of happiness. According to his ability to harmonize pleasure and meaning, each of us corresponds mainly to one of these four profiles (even if it also has certain characteristics of the other three).
The four profiles described below are:
- The hedonists for which immediate pleasure takes precedence over future profits.
- The ” metro-work-sleep ”Whose activities aim for future profits but provide little pleasure.
- The nihilists, who find neither pleasure nor meaning in their way of life.
- The blessed, which flourish in the present while preserving the future.
Seriously ask yourself the question: which of these four burgers are you going to consume?
The tasty but unhealthy burger: the hedonistic archetype
The first hamburger is certainly delicious, but it only contains toxic nutrients (bad fats, too much salt, added sugar in ketchup and bread, etc.). So, when you taste it, you appreciate it but we are likely to regret it. The benefit is immediate, but it masks future harm.
It is the greedy consumer who takes pleasure in devouring his burger, but who will one day suffer the consequences. L’hedonistic wants to enjoy the pleasures of the present moment without worrying about the harmful consequences of his actions.
The healthy but tasteless burger: the metro-work-sleep archetype
The second archetype of this theory of happiness is a vegetarian burger, without flavor, admittedly composed of healthy ingredients but which do not provide no feeling of pleasure in terms of taste. Eating such a sandwich is almost a chore!
It is the “metro-work-sleep” consumer, in a hurry and careful, who carefully avoids making the wrong choices for avoid unfortunate consequences in the future. Suddenly, he is ready to sacrifice himself by giving up any immediate satisfaction.
Worst burger: the nihilistic archetype
As we are hungry, we set our sights on the first fast food to come. We order a burger that not only tastes bad but is also bad for your health. We have it all wrong!
It’s the depressed consumer which no longer has an interest or motivation that accommodates immediate harm and future negative consequences. On the pleasure and satisfaction side, he gave up and he no longer believes in it. It is level zero in this theory of happiness.
The ideal burger: the archetype of happiness
The fourth and final burger is both delicious and perfectly balance nutritionally. It is a gastronomic and dietary marvel, the ideal experience which combines immediate pleasure and benefit for the future.
Often happy people have learned to combine positive emotions that they can live in the present to a fulfilling lifestyle over the long term.
Based on this ideal burger, the happiness theory by Ben-Shahar illustrates the desirable marriage between Epicureanism (in the modern sense) and the eudemonism of Greek thinkers. Pleasure and the search for meaning would not therefore necessarily be incompatible!
