COR3001 Big Questions: Happiness and Suffering

After completing my first term at SMU, I've gained a lot of new and well-rounded knowledge. There's no better time to consolidate what I've learned than now. In this post, I’ll be focusing on the module Big Questions: Happiness and Suffering. This post is divided into three main sections: a summary notes of the module, my personal experience with the instructor's teaching style, and how I've applied the lessons from this module in real life.

Disclaimer: This post reflects my personal experience with the module during the term from August to December 2024, as taught by this specific professor.

Timeline

Week 1: What is Happiness?

Pre-reading:

Are We Happier Today Compared to the Past?

• Yes: Societal progress in equality and access to material comforts.
• No: Modern life is filled with distractions, and nostalgia often paints the past as better.
• It Depends: The answer varies depending on the standards and measures we use to define happiness.

The Evolution of Happiness Terminology

• In the past, happiness was tied to luck, fortune, and survival (e.g., live or die).
• Ancient terms like eudaimonia (flourishing) were used to describe deeper fulfillment.
• Today, the word "happiness" might be less appropriate, often replaced with terms like "well-being" as a broader concept.

IPSOS Happiness Survey Insights

• Happiness often correlates with income, education, and employment.
• However, the relationship between societal development and happiness is more complex—these factors don't tell the full story.
• Many people underestimate societal happiness levels.

Key Drivers of Happiness

• Highly satisfied people report feeling loved and connected, with less focus on material wealth.
• Less satisfied individuals often cite financial struggles or poor economic and social conditions.

Paradoxical Trends in Reported Happiness

• Despite challenging events like pandemics and wars, reports of happiness sometimes increase.
• Advances in technology (e.g., remote work opportunities) may play a role in sustaining happiness during crises.

The 'Lying Flat' Movement

• Some reject the relentless "rat race" of modern life, questioning the pursuit of happiness through traditional success.
• However, in Singapore, such a phenomenon is less likely, as many still hold onto hope for upward mobility.

Singapore's Happiness Paradox

• Singapore ranks high in happiness within Asia but struggles with issues like high suicide rates, poor mental health, and social isolation among the elderly.
• There might be biases in how happiness is measured.

The Role of Social Policies in Happiness

• Effective social policies can foster happiness, but they are not the sole contributors.
• As Joe Pinsker suggests, a happy population might also drive the creation of good policies.

The Complexity of Happiness Today

• We live in an increasingly noisy and diverse world, where answers to happiness vary significantly. To explore this, we looked at three distinct approaches to understanding happiness.

Hedonic Happiness As Pleasures - Thomas Hurka

What is Hedonism?

• Definition:
  • Happiness is defined as the summation of pleasures minus sufferings.
  • It focuses on ensuring that the flow of experiences is pleasant enough — a sequence of positive experiences.
• Hedonic Perspective:
  • It’s not just about experiencing conscious pleasures. To sustain happiness, all four forms of pleasure must be considered.
  • Governments often view hedonic pleasure as a clear and impactful way to promote happiness, though whether it leads to other forms of pleasure remains uncertain.

Dimensions of Pleasure in Hedonism

• Pleasure-that: Directly tied to a specific event or experience (e.g., laughing at jokes during stand-up comedy).
• Subliminal Pleasure-as: General feelings of well-being that aren’t tied to a specific cause (e.g., waking up on the "right side of the bed").
• Pleasures can be localized (you can identify their source) or non-localized (you cannot).
1. Types of Pleasures:
   • Pleasures-That: Tied to specific events or activities.
   • Simple Pleasures: General, untied sensations of feeling good.
   • Extensiveness: The range or scope of the pleasure experienced.
2. Conscious and Subliminal Pleasures:

Psychological Hedonism and Feeling Good

• Core Idea: Psychological hedonism suggests that all our desires ultimately aim at achieving pleasure, even if indirectly.
• Debunking the Simplistic View:
  • We don’t always aim for pleasure directly; instead, pleasure often follows the fulfillment of other desires as a natural aftereffect.
  • Pleasure reinforces desires—it’s something we want but not always our immediate goal.
• Author’s Perspective:
  • There’s no inherent hierarchy of pleasures. All pleasures provide a "positive buzz," and if their intensity is equal, their value should be considered equal as well.

Emotional State View vs. Hedonism

• Hedonism: Happiness is about the flow of pleasant experiences.
• Emotional State View: Happiness is a psychological condition, a basic emotional orientation to feel a certain way.

Stoic Happiness As Emotional Condition - Daniel Haybron

The Stoic Perspective on Happiness

• Definition of Happiness:
  • To be happy is for one’s emotional condition to be favorable on the whole, encompassing emotions, moods, and mood propensities.
  • Happiness involves much more than just "feeling happy"—it is a deeper, more comprehensive state of well-being.

Core Aspects of Stoic Happiness

1. The Inner State of Flow:
   • Stoicism emphasizes an inside-out approach to happiness, focusing on cultivating an internal state of flow and harmony.
   • It reflects the idea of simply being—an alignment with one’s true self and a state of inner calm.
2. Elements of Happiness:
   • Attune: Experiencing inner calm, confidence, and a carefree demeanor.
   • Engage: Living with vitality and joy, symbolized by a jaunty gait.
   • Endorse: Showing outward signs of happiness, like a smile.
3. The Richness of Life:
   • Happiness is about feeling fully yourself—energized, alive, and deeply settled at peace.
   • Life is enriched by regular moments of laughter, which are vital for emotional well-being.
4. Nonconscious Dimensions:
   • Happiness isn’t just about conscious feelings; it also includes nonconscious aspects, such as emotional conditions and mood propensities that influence how we perceive and respond to the world.

Eudaimonic Happiness = Core Projects - Will Storr

Defining Eudaimonic Happiness

• Aristotle’s Perspective:
  • Eudaimonic happiness is living in a way that fulfills our purpose and aligns with virtue (arete), rationality, and the pursuit of excellence.
  • Happiness isn’t about hoping for a better future; it’s about being actively engaged in meaningful processes.

Core Principles of Eudaimonia

1. Meaningful Engagement:
   • Eudaimonia is rooted in pursuing a meaningful and worthwhile project—a core endeavor that brings purpose to life.
   • This involves reflecting on whether life transformations, like Marie Kondo’s philosophy, have been beneficial and contributed to personal growth.
2. Well-Being Beyond Pleasure:
   • Eudaimonia emphasizes rationality and virtue, rather than mere hedonic pleasure.
   • Unlike hedonic well-being, which doesn’t correlate with gene expression, eudaimonic happiness has been shown to positively influence gene expression.
3. Biological and Psychological Connections:
   • Eudaimonia promotes well-being that goes deeper than emotions. For instance:
     • Lonely individuals face higher risks of inflammatory diseases and reduced antiviral responses, as loneliness triggers the brain to equate social isolation with danger.
     • Eudaimonic happiness counters these effects by fostering a sense of purpose and connection.
4. Living a Worthwhile Life:
   • At its core, eudaimonic happiness is about looking back and saying, “My life was worthwhile and meaningful.”
   • It’s the culmination of engaging in projects that not only bring fulfillment but also create a lasting sense of purpose and efficacy over one’s endeavors.

Key Takeaways

Week 2: What is Suffering?

Pre-reading:

3 Approaches to Understand Suffering

Negative Affective Construal - Antti Kauppinen

Defining Suffering

• Short Meaning: An undesired, unpleasant experience.
• Suffering as Negative Affective Construal (SNAC):
  • To suffer is to perceive and construe one’s situation as negative in a pervasive manner, leading to felt aversion or attitudinal displeasure toward it.
  • Suffering involves a negative transformation of how one perceives their situation as a whole.

Key Characteristics of Suffering

1. Unpleasant and Intrinsically Bad:
   • Suffering is inherently undesirable and provides a pro tanto reason to relieve it.
   • Examples include pain, hunger, exhaustion, loss, lack of future prospects, and lack of meaning.
2. Subjectivity:
   • Suffering is strongly subjective, determined by the individual’s perspective.
   • It is not within our power to define whether someone else is suffering; the determination lies in their perspective and experience.
3. Valanced Practical Construals:
   • Emotions are valanced—positive or negative—and influenced by personal concerns and goals.
   • Suffering reflects a mismatch between what a situation seems to call for and what it actually allows.
4. Pervasiveness and Intensity:
   • Suffering need not depend on the intensity or importance of the negative affect.
   • Grief and depression are not sources of suffering but ways of suffering.

Types of Suffering

1. Attitudinal Suffering:
   • Caused by emotional states like depression or grief.
   • Involves pervasive, negative thoughts and feelings about one’s situation.
2. Sensory Suffering:
   • Rooted in unpleasant physical experiences, such as pain or discomfort.
   • It is a specific hedonic quality of attitudinal suffering caused by sensory inputs.
3. Social Suffering:
   • Results from political, economic, or institutional power structures.
   • Examples include the impacts of war, famine, or systemic violence.

Criteria for Suffering (SNAC)

1. Perceiving a Situation as Negative:
   • Recognizing that the situation calls for change.
2. Desiring Change:
   • Feeling a desire for change, whether to alleviate an unpleasant state or restore a previous condition.
3. Believing Change Is Impossible:
   • Feeling that the desired change is outside one’s control.

Examples and Perspectives

• John Hick:
  • Suffering occurs when one violently or obsessively wishes their situation were different.
  • This aligns with felt aversion toward one’s circumstances.
• Behavioral-Experiential Perspective:
  • Medical research on suffering prioritizes alleviating physical pain, often missing the broader emotional or attitudinal dimensions.

How to Relieve Suffering?

• Relief is achieved by altering the affective construal, not necessarily by changing the source of suffering.
• For instance, Stoic approaches suggest shifting beliefs or background concerns to adapt to adverse situations.
• Practical solutions include therapy, medication, or social support for changing one’s emotional or attitudinal state.

Praxis Theory of Suffering - Janice Morse

Definition of Suffering

Suffering is an emotional and physical struggle, where individuals navigate their pain through two key states: enduring and emotional release. These states represent distinct coping mechanisms and trajectories toward healing.

Enduring vs. Emotional Release

1. Enduring:
   • A state of emotional suppression used as a protective mechanism.
   • Purpose: To maintain control and function despite the pain.
   • Characteristics:
     • Appears emotionless or detached.
     • Focused on the present moment.
     • Requires less energy than openly expressing emotions.
     • Individuals “endure” because they cannot afford emotional release at that time.
     • “You can’t do your best” in this state.
2. Emotional Release:
   • A state where emotions are openly expressed, facilitating healing and seeking support.
   • Purpose: To decompress, process the pain, and move toward acceptance.
   • Characteristics:
     • Filled with sadness and emotional vulnerability.
     • Visible signs include a drooping expression or tears.
     • Emotional release can lead to reformulating the self and finding closure.

Trajectory of Suffering

Morse outlines a trajectory that individuals may follow during suffering:

1. Catastrophe: The onset of suffering, marked by an overwhelming sense of loss or disruption.
2. Shock: An initial, numbed response to the catastrophe.
3. Denial: A refusal to accept the reality of the situation.
4. Loss of Control ('Scream'): A moment of breaking down as the reality becomes undeniable.
5. Endure: Transition to suppression of emotions as a coping strategy.

The trajectory demonstrates how individuals cycle through stages, leading to enduring or emotional release depending on their context and needs.

Contextual Influence on Suffering

• The situation and context partially determine whether a person suppresses or releases emotions.
• Pathways:
  • Recognition: Leads to enduring (emotional suppression).
  • Acknowledgment: Leads to emotional release.
  • Acceptance: Moves individuals beyond suffering as hope emerges.

The Role of Emotional Release in Healing

• Emotional suffering acts as a healing agent, necessary for individuals to decompress and begin the process of acceptance.
• While enduring provides temporary protection, emotional release allows individuals to:
  • Reformulate their self-concept.
  • End the cycle of suffering by integrating the experience into their identity.

Why Suffering Cannot Be Eliminated

• Suffering changes individuals permanently—it becomes a part of their identity.
• While suffering can be alleviated, it cannot be fully removed because the experience leaves a lasting imprint on the individual.

Suffering in Context

• Hospitals: Identified as spaces where most suffering occurs, given the prevalence of pain and illness.
• Empathy can be harmful for individuals in the enduring state, as it may push them toward emotional release before they are ready.

Comparison with Kauppinen

Morse’s theory differs from Kauppinen’s perspective on suffering:

• Morse’s concept of enduring can occur subconsciously, whereas Kauppinen emphasizes suffering as a subjective, conscious experience (SNAC).
• Emotional suppression in Morse’s framework contrasts with Kauppinen’s focus on attitudinal or sensory suffering.

Trauma and Memories - Coetzee & Rau

Definition of Trauma

• Trauma is the intense memory of suffering that leaves a lasting, overarching impact on individuals.
• It represents the deep damage done to a person, often becoming a defining part of their identity or experience.

The Role of Memories in Suffering

• Negative Memories: Memories of suffering can be (re)lived, intensifying the pain and keeping the individual trapped in cycles of suffering.
• Trauma as Constructed: Trauma is not just an objective experience; it is shaped by how memories are processed and perceived.

Collective Suffering

• Suffering can also take on a collective dimension, arising from shared experiences and a collective consciousness.
• In collective suffering, individuals bring their own pieces of trauma, creating a shared space of pain and understanding.

Approaches to Relieving Trauma

• Society’s approach to trauma often involves unproductive behaviors, such as trauma dumping.
  • Trauma Dumping: Sharing suffering excessively or seeking to mirror others' pain to establish equality in suffering (e.g., “It’s bad for you, so I want to suffer too to meet you at equal grounds”).
  • This practice reflects a sickening societal tendency that exacerbates rather than alleviates suffering.

Key Takeaways

Week 3: Historical Take on Happiness & Suffering

Pre-reading:

The Pursuit of Happiness in History

1. The Nature of Happiness

• Humans are not born with innate happiness; it is something pursued and cultivated over time.
• The pursuit of happiness has been a central theme across cultures and eras, often tied to suffering, divine will, and societal structures

2. Ancient Perspectives on Happiness

• Herodotus and the Greeks:
  • Solon noted that “divine is altogether jealous and prone to trouble us.”
  • Croesus’ reflection: “No one who lives is happy.”
  • The relentless pursuit of happiness may paradoxically make it harder to achieve.
  • Unpredictability of Life:
    • The Greeks believed happiness was tied to good daimon (a lucky guiding spirit).
    • Only those who successfully navigated life until the very end could be deemed truly happy, making happiness feel like an RNG (random number generator).
• Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicureans, Stoics:
  • They viewed happiness as the highest good that should not be left entirely to chance.
  • Aristotle argued that a person with virtue could still suffer greatly and considered calling such a person “happy” perverse.
  • Paradox: As a happy person gains happiness, their potential suffering from its loss also increases.

3. Christian Influence

• Happiness was redefined as “blessedness” (makarios):
  • One could be happy even while mourning, weeping, or starving, due to the promise of divine comfort and spiritual growth.
  • Happiness became associated with death and the promise of heaven, where the saved would “get drunk on God.”
  • Augustine declared true happiness unattainable in life, framing the pursuit of happiness as a form of punishment.
  • Doctrine of Hope: While life on Earth was about suffering, hope for eternal happiness in heaven kept people motivated.

4. Enlightenment: Secularizing Happiness

• Happiness became a human right:
  • People were entitled to good feelings and pleasures in life.
  • This shift led to secular attitudes and the rise of consumer cultures.
• Moral Obligations and Guilt:
  • Suffering was seen as wrong and something to be alleviated wherever possible.
  • The failure to be happy became a personal failure, leading to feelings of guilt.
  • Prof. “Gaslighted by happiness”: People were blamed for not achieving happiness despite structural barriers.
• Radical Societal Change:
  • Rousseau argued that unhappiness called for a radical restructuring of society.
  • The French Revolution sought societal happiness but often led to extreme measures like the guillotine.
  • Attempts to enforce happiness often resulted in failure, highlighting that forcing happiness is as impractical as forcing freedom.

5. American Perspective: Freedom to Pursue Happiness

• The U.S. Declaration of Independence established the “freedom to pursue happiness”:
  • Governments provide the basic conditions (civil liberties, peace, security, rule of law), while individuals find their own paths to happiness.
  • However, the word “pursuit” implies a chase often marked by hostility and dissatisfaction.
  • Alexis de Tocqueville observed that Americans frequently change paths out of fear of missing the shortest route to happiness.

6. Philosophical Insights: John Stuart Mill and Beyond

• Mill argued that happiness as a goal often remains elusive:
  • To achieve happiness, one must focus on external goals and meaningful pursuits.
• Flow and Purpose:
  • Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s research on flow shows that engaging in purposeful, challenging activities for their own sake leads to higher satisfaction and well-being.
  • Happiness often emerges from a long-term journey of planning, sacrifice, and dedication to goals that hold intrinsic value.

The Illusion of Happiness in the Age of Consumer Capitalism

1. Folklore and the Roots of Material Rewards

• Traditional stories valued virtue, discouraging the pursuit of fortune for its own sake or at the expense of others.
• Rewards for virtue often included material wealth, with gender distinctions: heroines gained relationships, while heroes gained wealth.
• Modern narratives, like Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness, shift focus to individuals doing “whatever it takes” for family, blending virtue with material success.
• “Happily ever after” became closely tied to material wealth as a reward for good choices.

2. Consumer Capitalism and the Pursuit of Happiness

• Consumer capitalism is a political-economic system where consumer interests dictate policies and market strategies.
• Easterlin Paradox: Higher income correlates with happiness only up to a certain point, after which hedonic adaptation diminishes satisfaction.
• Social comparisons and rising aspirations make “happily ever after” an unattainable, ever-receding goal.
• Combining eudaimonic and hedonic happiness, capitalism personalizes subjective well-being (SWB) as an individual pursuit, resistant to external judgment.

3. Advertising: The Engine of Desire

• Advertisements create demand by saturating social lives with narratives of desire and fulfillment.
• Early ads followed the AIDA model (attention, interest, desire, action), but now focus on evoking feelings associated with brands.
• Brands promise satisfaction, symbolizing intangible desires (e.g., Cadbury Gorilla or I am Mercedes-Benz campaigns).
• Advertising cultivates discontent, pushing individuals to aspire to unattainable lifestyles.

4. Commodities, Persona, and Self

• Material goods became essential for shaping identity: “To be the person I want to be, I must have these things.”
• The cycle of desire, aspiration, and display reinforces dependence on commodities to perform societal roles.
• Individuals adapt to market-driven personae, where social roles require curated symbols (e.g., serious cars for bankers).
• Achieving one’s fullest potential (“Self”) now requires money to assemble appropriate personae, linking identity to material wealth.

5. The Illusion of Happiness

• Advertising manufactures desires for specific identities, yet ignores how money is to be earned through hard work.
• In the 21st century, the illusion of money as a tangible entity may emerge as the greatest falsehood, underpinning the illusory pursuit of happiness.

Towards a Social History of Suffering: Dignity, Misery, and Disrespect

Positional suffering highlights how social structures determine individuals' "deservedness" to suffer, reinforcing cycles of dignity, misery, and disrespect.

1. The Privileged Perspective
   • Those in privileged positions often ask, “Are we happy now?”, reflecting their ability to distance themselves from suffering.
   • This privilege enables people to impose suffering on others, perpetuating cycles of misery.
2. Context of Suffering
   • Oppression Olympics: A competition to invalidate others' suffering by comparing it to worse scenarios, e.g., “You think you’re suffering? There are people who have it far worse!”.
   • Suffering can create bonds among minorities, fostering solidarity amid shared struggles.
3. Positional Suffering
   • Suffering is shaped by one’s social position, often determined by birth or circumstances beyond individual control.
   • Society plays a hidden game, assigning varying levels of dignity and respect based on class and position:
     • Those at the bottom of the social ladder receive minimal respect and care, perpetuating their suffering.
     • Meritocracy adds to this dynamic, where failure in societal "games" justifies treating people with lower standards.
   • Disrespect manifests not only as overt disdain but also through subtle, everyday actions, like ignoring who cleans up after us or dismissing their needs.
4. The Role of Dignity, Misery, and Disrespect
   • Dignity and Self-Worth: Some derive their sense of self-worth by inflicting misery on others, creating a hierarchy of suffering.
   • Disrespect: A constant subjection to misery, rooted in positional suffering. It reinforces inequality and dehumanizes underprivileged groups through neglect or subtle acts of disregard.
5. The Underclasses
   • The underprivileged, often referred to as the underclasses, are commonly disrespected and subjected to systemic suffering.
   • Society’s lack of empathy for these groups reproduces their misery, further entrenching social hierarchies.

Week 4: Public Lecture - 'The Science of Happiness' by Sonja Lyubomirsky

A Brief Intro of the Speaker

1. The Nature of Happiness

• Happiness is scientifically referred to as subjective well-being (SWB), encompassing both cognitive evaluations and affective experiences.
  • Cognitive: Being satisfied with and in your life.
  • Affective: Positive emotions like joy, interest, and peacefulness.

2. Why Happiness is a Good Thing

• Personal Benefits: Happy people tend to be more productive, creative, and resilient. They enjoy stronger social bonds, more stable marriages, and superior physical health.
  • Studies show that women who look genuinely happy in yearbook photos are more likely to have good marriages decades later.
  • Happiness correlates with higher incomes by age 37.
• Causality:
  • Marriage contributes to happiness, but happier people are also more likely to get married.
• Health Benefits:
  • Positive emotions like enthusiasm and serenity boost immune health.
  • Happy people engage in healthier behaviors like eating well, exercising more, and drinking or smoking less.
  • Scientific Proof: In a cold virus study, happier volunteers injected with rhinovirus were less likely to develop a cold or experienced shorter durations of illness due to stronger immune systems.
• Professional and Academic Success:
  • Happy individuals are more productive at work and in school.
  • In experiments, doctors induced to feel happiness scored higher in creativity tests compared to those in neutral moods.

3. The Pursuit of Happiness: Can We Become Happier?

• Yes, through Deliberate Practices:
  • Acts of kindness.
  • Practicing gratitude.
  • Visualizing the best possible future.
  • Engaging in extraverted or open behaviors.
  • Adopting a mindset of living life like it’s their “last month” (though this may seem counterintuitive).
• The Role of Fit:
  • Positive practices are most effective when they align with one’s personality, goals, strengths, and cultural background. The higher the fit, the greater the impact on happiness.

4. Scientific Interventions and Experiments

• Experiment 1:
  • Studied the "proper dosage" of gratitude by varying the frequency of writing blessings.
  • Optimum dosage: Writing blessings once a week showed the greatest impact.
• Experiment 2:
  • Focused on acts of kindness.
  • Findings: Happiness lasts longer when people engage in acts of kindness for others rather than focusing solely on themselves.
• Beyond Happiness:
  • Gratitude motivates people to become better individuals, eat healthier, and stay motivated over time (e.g., during a school year).
  • Acts of kindness reduce pro-inflammatory gene expression, enhancing immune health.
  • Kind acts create a sense of connection, competence, and deeper meaning in life.

5. Happiness and Social Connection

• Feeling socially connected is a key determinant of happiness.
• According to Chris Peterson: “Other people matter.”
• Acts of kindness and gratitude foster social bonds, leading to longer-lasting happiness.

6. Challenges: Hedonic Treadmill

• The hedonic treadmill or hedonic adaptation explains how happiness diminishes over time. People adapt to positive changes, leading them to seek new sources of happiness continuously.

Conclusion: The Science of Happiness

Happiness is not only beneficial but also achievable through small, intentional actions. Practices like gratitude and acts of kindness not only boost happiness but also improve health and foster social connections. Ultimately, caring for others is central to leading a happy and fulfilling life.

Week 5: The Promise of Happiness & Suffering

Pre-reading:

Context: Social Compact and the Role of Politics in Happiness

What is a Social Compact?

• A social compact represents the implicit or explicit agreement among members of society about the rules, norms, and values that govern their coexistence.
• Key characteristics:
  • Winners and losers: The social compact benefits some while disadvantaging others.
  • Trade-offs: Individuals may trade freedom for safety or other societal benefits (e.g., policies like Build-to-Order (BTO) flats tied to marriage, bans on chewing gum, prioritizing jobs for citizens, the death penalty for drug offenses, and restrictions on gay marriage).
  • Rules of the game: It establishes the societal framework, including rewards and punishments, and justifies who deserves resources and privileges.
  • Despite its inherent imperfections, the social compact is the price individuals pay to belong to a functioning society.

Why is Politics Necessary?

• The challenge of consensus: Achieving complete agreement is difficult, as societal values and priorities differ across groups. Politics addresses these differences through compromise and decision-making.
• Functions of politics and political institutions:
  • Facilitate difficult decisions: Politics creates a platform for resolving contentious issues.
  • Represent desires: Political institutions gather and represent the diverse needs, opinions, and aspirations of society.
  • Adaptation: As societal values and circumstances change, politics adjusts the social compact to reflect these shifts.

'If happiness is not the aim of politics, then what is?': Rorty versus Foucault

Personal comment: Understanding the reading can be quite challenging without some background knowledge and context about the 'Old Left' and 'New Left.' Here's a quick breakdown of their stances to provide some clarity before diving into the article.

Rorty (Old Left)

• Vision and Hope
  • Advocates for loyalty to a "dream country" – an aspirational vision of what society could become.
  • Believes in uniting people around shared ideals and moral ambitions to inspire progress.
• Role of the State
  • Views the state as a potential architect of happiness and facilitator of social change.
  • Supports working within the system to reform institutions and align them with collective values.
• Approach to Politics
  • Optimistic and constructive approach to political renewal.
  • Focuses on reform rather than rejection, emphasizing cooperation with political institutions.
• Key Belief
  • Progress is possible by balancing the reality of current conditions with hope for a better future.

Foucault (New Left)

• Critique and Resistance
  • Argues that institutions are not neutral or independent but perpetuate hidden political violence.
  • Advocates for exposing and unmasking systemic oppression embedded in institutional structures.
• Role of the State
  • Views the state as inherently manipulative and dysfunctional, obstructing happiness and justice.
  • Believes in resisting and dismantling entrenched power dynamics rather than cooperating with the system.
• Approach to Politics
  • Critical and deconstructive stance on traditional political frameworks.
  • Promotes localized, grassroots movements to challenge and counter systemic injustices.
• Key Belief
  • Real political work lies in fighting the hidden violence of institutions, not reforming them.

Happiness, Materialism, and Religious experience in the US and Singapore

Materialism and Suffering

1. Definition and Impact of Materialism:
   • Materialism involves seeking happiness through acquiring and possessing material goods.
   • In Singapore, a Chinese-majority society, success is often equated with ownership of possessions.
   • This leads to unrealistic high standards of living goals, which increase unhappiness due to the persistence of unfulfilled needs.
     • The gap between what people have and what they desire widens, causing greater dissatisfaction.
2. The Cycle of Materialism:
   • The relentless pursuit of happiness through material possessions leads to an endless and unsatisfying cycle.
   • People feel their lives are meaningless and boring without new acquisitions.
   • The joy of obtaining possessions is fleeting, creating constant disappointment and perpetually unfulfilled desires.
     • “All we need to be happy is yet one more material thing,” but this final acquisition remains elusive.

Religion and Suffering

1. Types of Religiosity:
   • Intrinsic Religiosity: A genuine commitment to faith and its teachings.
   • Extrinsic Religiosity: Using religion for self-serving purposes, such as status or personal gains.
   • Religion as Quest: Viewing religion as a journey of questioning and seeking meaning, often characterized by ambiguity and uncertainty.
2. Religion's Impact on Well-Being:
   • Religiosity can enhance subjective well-being (SWB) by providing:
     • Social Support: Connection with a community or “gang of members.”
     • Personal Connection to the Divine: Particularly meaningful during challenging times.
   • Religious teachings that emphasize joy in giving, sharing, and sacrificing foster long-term joy and purpose.
3. Religion as Quest and Life Satisfaction:
   • In Singapore, no significant relationship was found between life satisfaction and either extrinsic religiosity or religion as quest.
   • One possible explanation is that happy people may have a greater tolerance for ambiguity and acceptance of uncertainty.
   • Suffering, in contrast, may result from a lack of inner spiritual fulfillment or a sense of disconnection from deeper meaning.

Comparison Between the US and Singapore

1. Happiness and Materialism:
   • US respondents report higher happiness levels and are less materialistic compared to Singaporeans.
   • Singaporean adults are generally unhappier, partly due to higher materialistic tendencies.
2. Religious Experience:
   • The US scores higher on both extrinsic and intrinsic religiosity.
   • Singapore scores higher on religion as quest, suggesting a cultural focus on questioning and spiritual exploration rather than commitment or self-serving purposes.

Conclusion: Suffering Through Materialism and Religion

• Materialism: The insatiable cycle of acquiring possessions creates dissatisfaction and suffering, as happiness from material goods is short-lived and perpetually elusive.
• Religion: While religiosity can provide solace through social support and spiritual connection, its impact varies based on the type of religious experience and cultural context.
• Ultimately, the lack of fulfillment, whether material or spiritual, underscores the ongoing struggle to find lasting happiness amidst modern societal pressures.

Singapore: A Happy State of Mind?

Social Indicators of Happiness in Singapore

• Singapore is ranked the happiest place in Asia by the World Values Survey and the Happiness Index.
• However, happiness levels differ based on gender, income, and ethnicity.

The Evolving Relationship Between Materialism and Happiness

• Previously: Materialism was effective in driving happiness.
• Currently: There’s growing doubt about whether material success alone leads to happiness.
  • The government is left questioning: If not materialism, then what?
  • Many citizens feel disillusioned, wondering why they continue to work hard every day without a sense of fulfillment.

Why People Came to Singapore

• Immigrants were drawn to Singapore to achieve:
  • Stoic happiness: Acceptance of life’s realities.
  • Eudaimonic happiness: Flourishing through safety and stability.

Trade-off Between Freedom and Happiness

• The pursuit of safety in Singapore often involves sacrificing some personal freedoms, creating a tension between individual liberty and the collective happiness and security.

Week 6: Public Lecture - 'Cultivating Inner Wisdom, Love, and Integrity in the AI Age' by Nikki Mirghafori

A Brief Intro of the Speaker

1. The Universal Desire for Happiness

• Wanting to be happy is a basic and universal human wish, yet many pursue it in ways that lead to unhappiness.
• Modern challenges:
  • Economic growth does not equate to happiness.
  • Mental health issues are prevalent, especially among Gen Z, with high rates of loneliness and suicide.
  • The relentless chase for success, money, and power often traps people in the "hedonic treadmill," leaving them unfulfilled.
  • Comparison and societal pressures steal joy and deepen stress.

2. Understanding Suffering and Its Root Causes

• Buddhism teaches that life is not purely suffering (dukkha), but it contains both suffering and joy.
  • Dukkha symbolizes life's hardships, an uncomfortable, bumpy ride.
• Suffering arises from clinging to impermanent things and craving what cannot last.
  • Analogy: Holding tightly to a rope causes pain (rope burn).
• Root causes of suffering:
  • Greed: "More is never enough."
  • Hate: Comparable to holding a hot coal meant for someone else.
  • Ignorance: Misunderstanding the nature of impermanence.

3. The Path to Happiness: Generosity and Love

• Opposite of suffering’s roots:
  • Generosity (holding things lightly, with an open hand).
  • Love and compassion for oneself and others.
• Nirvana represents freedom and fearlessness, allowing non-reactivity and moral action without self-inflicted turmoil.

4. Inner Wealth: The Key to Lasting Joy

• True happiness stems from within:
  • Love, generosity, and non-clinging.
  • Acceptance of impermanence, imperfection, and the impersonal nature of life.
• Prioritizing well-being: Aligning values with actions reduces stress and brings peace.

Cultivating Love and Compassion

1. Compassion Practice:
   • Practicing compassion promotes happiness for yourself and others.
   • Self-compassion acts like air in the tires for life's bumpy roads.
   • Avoid seeking validation from others (e.g., social media likes) and nurture independent approval.
2. Loving-Kindness (Metta):
   • A step-by-step approach to cultivating goodwill:
     • Start with yourself.
     • Extend to loved ones, neutral people, and challenging individuals.
     • Finally, radiate it to all beings.
   • While unfamiliar, this practice fosters profound peace.
3. Scientific Insights on Self-Compassion:
   • Boosts motivation to repair harm and avoid repeating mistakes.
   • Encourages personal responsibility over blame.
   • Reduces self-criticism and cultivates resilience.

In Short

Practical Wisdom for a Fulfilling Life

• Align actions with values to avoid stress and unhappiness.
  • Reflect on priorities: "Am I living a life true to myself?"
• Relinquish cravings by loosening the tight hold on desires, finding contentment within.

The Broader Impact of Generosity

• Your actions can influence others, creating ripples of positive change.
• Wealth may bring comfort, but love, devotion, and inner well-being are the true sources of happiness.

By embracing love, generosity, and inner wisdom, individuals can find lasting happiness while contributing to the well-being of others and society as a whole.

Week 7: The Figures of Happiness & Suffering

Pre-reading:

The Concept of a Figure

1. Definition and Purpose:
   • A figure represents societal expectations at a point in time and reflects how perceptions evolve.
   • It serves as a framework for understanding how people navigate their identities within society.
2. Role Models and Identity:
   • We often replicate role models in life, asking ourselves:
     • “What do I need to be?”
     • “What should I become?”
   • Failure to align with these perceived identities can lead to a lack of confidence.

In the following readings, we will look into how the modern society configure Happiness and Suffering through the 'happy warrior' and disfigure Work and Pleasure through work figures.

Who is the Happy Warrior? Philosophy Poses Questions to Psychology

Philosophical Foundations of Happiness and Suffering

1. Bentham: Focuses on hedonic pleasure but fails to address the quality of happiness and suffering.
2. Socrates: Highlights the difference between mere pleasure and a meaningful life.
3. Aristotle:
   • Defines pleasure as awareness of one's own activity, which varies in quality depending on the activity.
   • Suggests that experiments assuming pleasure is simply hedonic are inadequate, given the complexity of human experience.

Challenges in Defining and Measuring Happiness

1. Kahneman's Question:
   • Asking "How satisfied are you with your life as a whole?" is difficult to answer due to the mix of life events.
   • It can reflect either a subjective state of satisfaction or a reflective judgment of one’s life.
2. The Happy Warrior (Aristotle):
   • "Happy" because he acts in accordance with virtues, despite experiencing more pain than pleasure.
   • His life is happy, full, and rich, even if it involves pain and loss.
   • Extreme calamities, however, can dislodge him from his ability to act well, making him unhappy.

Reflection, Emotions, and Their Role in Happiness

1. Reflection as Essential:
   • Socrates emphasizes the importance of the examined life: "The unexamined life is not worth living for a human being."
   • The author critiques psychologists for dismissing reflection as unnecessary for happiness.
2. Greeks and Romans on Emotions:
   • Positive feelings should stem from positive activities.
   • Negative feelings are valuable as they connect us to others' suffering and motivate action.
3. The Value of Emotions:
   • Both positive and negative emotions are essential as they can spur meaningful actions.
   • Ignoring grief with Stoic advice like "Everyone is mortal, you’ll get over it soon" leads to emotional illiteracy, fostering aggression and fear.
   • Mourning and positive pain are necessary to honor loss and grow emotionally.

The Happy Warrior

1. Industry’s Influence on Happiness:
   • Industries promote a simplistic and prescriptive view of happiness, selling the idea of a singular path to contentment.
   • Messages like, “If only you would... then you will be happy,” place the burden of failure solely on the individual if they cannot meet these expectations.
2. The Problem with Positive Psychology:
   • Positive Psychology, as part of the Science of Happiness, can resemble the happy warrior archetype by prescribing rigid frameworks:
     • PERMA Model: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Achievements.
     • Claims such as “50% of happiness is genetic” can imply that happiness is predetermined and reduce room for individual exploration.
3. Critique from Nussbaum:
   • Nussbaum warns against blindly following self-help books or happiness "recipes."
   • She advocates for a reflective and critical engagement with these ideas, encouraging individuals to think beyond prescriptive happiness formulas.

Society, Suffering, and Happiness

1. Risk and Suffering in Careers:
   • Choosing careers that minimize suffering may benefit individuals but harms society, especially if societal change requires sacrifices.
   • We should honor those who suffer for greater causes.
2. Government Responsibility:
   • Governments should respect the plurality of comprehensive doctrines held by citizens.
   • Laws must distinguish between physical distress that should be eliminated and imagined offenses, such as judgments about private behavior.

Conclusion

• Happiness and suffering are complex, requiring thoughtful engagement with emotions, actions, and societal structures.
• A life worth living is rooted in reflection, appropriate emotional responses, and a balance between individual well-being and societal progress.

The Theatre of Loss... Work

Work and Happiness

• Work as Flow:
  • Work becomes meaningful if it feels like "flow"—something you'd willingly do again, not just for money.
  • "If you're going to spend a lot of time working, you better love it."
• Burnout:
  • Paradoxically, high-paying and sought-after jobs are more likely to cause burnout.
  • This highlights the tension between societal expectations of success and personal well-being.
• Gratitude vs. Happiness:
  • For many, work is less about happiness and more about feeling grateful for having a job.

Homo Economicus: Marrying Happiness and Work

• The Ideal of Combining Work and Happiness:
  • Society often promotes the idea that happiness and work should align.
  • While it’s not impossible to find joy in work, this societal expectation comes with challenges.
• Critical Questions to Reflect On:
  • Should we conform to social expectations about finding happiness in work?
  • If societal norms dictate that happiness is tied to work, does this constrain how we define happiness?
  • Is it inherently wrong to work without deriving happiness from it?

Broader Implications

• Societal Pressures:
  • The societal push to merge happiness and work warrants scrutiny, as it can impose unrealistic standards and limit individual freedom.
• Personal Honesty:
  • Individuals should honestly assess whether societal expectations align with their personal values and needs.

Week 8: Recess Week

Week 9: Mid-term Exam

The mid-term exam was a 1-hour, closed-book, in-class essay writing assessment conducted on SMU e-Learn. We were required to choose and answer one of two questions: one focused on the theme of Happiness, while the other centered on Suffering.

Personally, I struggled with the 'Analysis' component, which required a deep understanding and clear connections between the theories we learned and their real-life applications. One of the biggest challenges of the BQ mid-term exam was the time constraint, which made it difficult to elaborate on points effectively.

Week 10: Public Lecture - 'Bhutan's Pursuit of Gross National Happiness' by Kinzang Dorji

This public lecture surpassed my expectations in both content and the speaker's level of engagement. You can find a detailed overview of the content in the separate blog linked below.

Bhutan’s Unique Path to Happiness (GNH)

Attending the public lecture, Bhutan’s Pursuit of Gross National Happiness: Reflections, Challenges, and its Future, was an eye-opening experience that offered a comprehensive look into Bhutan’s unique approach to development. Presented by Kinzang Dorji, the Ambassador of Bhutan to various Southeast Asian nations, the lecture delved into the intricacies

Ooi Jian HuiOoi Jian Hui

Week 11: Happiness & Suffering in Pop Culture

Pre-reading:

Modern Pop Culture

• Globalization of Content:
  • Netflix has become more international post-COVID, offering diverse cultural content.
• Impact of AI:
  • Serves as a time-saving tool to enhance efficiency.
  • Helps users accomplish tasks faster and evaluate decisions effectively.
  • Requires individuals to adapt and use it effectively.
• Social Influence:
  • Pop culture is inherently social, shaped by the influence of people around us.
  • Individual preferences often reflect broader trends, enabling predictions of social behavior.
  • Pop culture fosters a sense of being understood, connecting personal and collective experiences.

Pop Culture's Role in Exploring Happiness and Suffering

• Pop culture reveals evolving trends in how happiness and suffering are perceived and experienced.
• It provides a framework to analyze shared societal norms and emotional responses.

Culture: A Mental Concept

• Understanding Intersubjective Realities:
  • Culture helps us navigate collective agreements about what is "real" and acceptable.
  • Social rules provide context for behavior, but when these break down (e.g., meeting a professor outside a lecture), discomfort arises.
• Shared Meanings:
  • Culture is inherently social, fostering shared understanding and collaboration.
  • Relationships and practices, such as SMU’s BOSS system, can become sources of cultural significance or even suffering.

Cultural Influence and Variations

• Grue's Experiment:
  • Demonstrates how culture-specific words reflect unique needs.
  • Example: Eskimos’ nuanced understanding of "white" aids survival and environmental interaction.
  • Perceptions, such as color, are shaped by cultural utility and worldview.
• Different Frames of Culture:
  • Shared: Creates commonality and fosters connection.
  • Enabling: Facilitates actions that would otherwise be challenging through cultural bonds.
  • Differences: Highlights distinctions that define identities but may also lead to exclusion of minorities.
  • Critical: Analyzes the representation of culture, explaining inequalities and power dynamics.
    • Memes, for instance, require cultural context to be understood and appreciated.

By examining pop culture and cultural dynamics, we gain insights into how collective experiences shape our understanding of happiness and suffering.

It's a Good Life? Adorno and the Happiness Machine

The Evolution of the Culture Industry

• Technology and Cultural Transformation:
  • Advancements in technology have fundamentally altered the culture industry.
  • Example: The advent of television was heavily influenced by the desire to consume pornography privately.
• Consumerism's Dominance:
  • Culture has shifted from traditional purposes to consumer-driven practices.
  • Television, once novel, has become a default purchase when setting up a home, driven by societal norms rather than individual thought.
• Art and Capitalism:
  • Artists today monetize their work, unlike the patronage system of the past.
  • This shift has commodified art, turning it into an industry where profit is prioritized over creativity.
  • Investors in art now view it as a way to generate financial returns, further commercializing artistic production.
  • This transactional dynamic has led to the creation of "recipes for success," where originality is secondary to meeting consumer demands.

Culture as Entertainment

• Predictability and Sensationalism:
  • Modern entertainment, such as feel-good films, relies on predictability to appeal to audiences.
    • Example: Titles alone often reveal what to expect, diminishing the need for critical engagement.
  • In contrast, earlier cultural works, like Shakespearean theater, encouraged deeper thought and reflection.
• The Effects of the Culture Industry:
  • The industry has become a "drug," desensitizing audiences and reducing their capacity for critical thinking.
  • Hedonic happiness, often short-lived and superficial, dominates the cultural output.
    • Example: Feel-good films are engineered to elicit emotional highs but lack lasting depth.
    • Exceptional films like 3 Idiots are rare, overshadowed by derivative productions that fail to innovate.
• Cringe and Overproduction:
  • Audiences often feel "cringe" toward works that blatantly reproduce familiar tropes without effort to disguise them.

Manipulation of Emotions

• Hijacking Wants and Emotions:
  • Success in the culture industry no longer relies on originality but on effectively tapping into consumer desires.
  • This manipulation reinforces the industry's focus on hedonic happiness, sidelining more meaningful or reflective forms of joy.

Reflection: The Future of the Culture Industry

Critical Questions:

'Food porn' or intimate sociality: committed celebrity and cultural performances of overeating in meokbang

The Phenomenon of Meokbang

• Cultural Context and Emergence:
  • Meokbang (eating broadcasts) originated in South Korea but has not gained similar traction in other countries.
  • Its popularity may reflect deeper societal issues, such as a culture of loneliness prevalent in South Korea.

Normalization and Exploitation

• Industry Dynamics:
  • Broadcasters (BJs) eat excessively on camera, often at the expense of their health.
  • Despite the exploitative nature of the industry, the way these broadcasts are presented normalizes specific notions of how "food should look."
  • This presentation shapes audience perceptions and expectations around food and eating.
• Audience Awareness:
  • Many viewers are aware of the exploitative aspects of the industry but remain indifferent or continue to consume this content.

Studying the Phenomenon

• Broader Implications:
  • Analyzing meokbang provides insights not only into the industry itself but also into human behavior and societal trends.
  • It highlights how cultural practices, like meokbang, both reflect and shape the social realities of the audiences who consume them.

Meokbang serves as a lens to examine the intersection of cultural performance, societal norms, and individual behavior. While it may appear as mere entertainment, it reveals deeper issues of exploitation, normalization, and social isolation.

What is isekai? How the Japanese anime genre in which down-and-out characters are transported into a new life is exploding in popularity

The Rise of Isekai: A Modern Phenomenon

• Definition and Popularity:
  • Isekai, meaning "different world," is a Japanese anime and light novel genre where ordinary or down-and-out characters are transported to fantastical realms.
  • The genre has gained immense popularity, becoming a dominant theme in anime and manga, particularly in the last two decades.
  • Its appeal lies in escapism, offering viewers the fantasy of a fresh start, often in worlds governed by simpler, more rewarding rules.

The Commodification of Isekai

• Industrialization and Overproduction:
  • The massive demand for isekai content has led to highly regular production schedules.
  • This industrialized process often results in a loss of quality and innovation, reducing many series to formulaic storytelling.
• Labor Exploitation:
  • The anime industry’s rapid output depends on exploitative practices, such as relying on unpaid interns or underpaid animators.
  • Despite its global success, many individuals involved in anime production face harsh working conditions and low wages.

Ethical Dilemma for the Audience

• Happiness vs. Suffering:
  • While audiences enjoy the high-quality escapism of isekai, they often overlook the suffering of those behind the scenes.
  • The joy derived from consuming anime contrasts starkly with the struggles of the workers who create it.
• Consumer Responsibility:
  • The question arises: Should audiences take responsibility for supporting fair labor practices in the anime industry?
  • As consumers demand higher-quality productions, they have little say in how those demands are met, often perpetuating exploitative systems.

Broader Implications of Isekai's Popularity

• Why It Resonates:
  • The genre reflects a collective yearning for escape from modern life's pressures, whether societal expectations, career frustrations, or personal failures.
  • Its stories often empower characters by giving them agency and control—something many viewers might feel is missing in their lives.
• Cultural Impact:
  • Isekai’s global success underscores the universal appeal of its themes, but it also highlights cultural differences in storytelling and audience expectations.

Isekai anime provides a unique lens to examine the duality of happiness and suffering. While it offers audiences an emotional escape, it also reveals the hidden struggles within the entertainment industry, urging us to reflect on the ethics of our consumption and its broader societal impact.

Week 12: Reconciling Happiness & Suffering

Fireside Chat with Eugenia Goh

As the module drew to a close, Professor George invited a guest speaker for a fireside chat. Eugenia Goh, a distinguished achiever both in university and her professional career, shared insights into navigating burnout in the workplace. A key takeaway from her talk was the reminder that while life is inherently challenging, it is up to us to release the negativity and find joy in the small moments of happiness.

Week 13: Self Guided Field Trip to Indian Heritage Centre

As part of the module, we were asked to embark on a self-guided learning experience at the Indian Heritage Centre (IHC). The visit involved exploring five galleries across two levels, each rich with cultural and historical artefacts that offer unique perspectives on the themes of happiness and suffering.

Week 14: Submission of the Final Paper

In summary, the final paper showcases students' understanding of the theoretical concepts of happiness and suffering and their application to real-life situations.

Format: Maximum 2,500 words.

The topics given are as below:

1. Topic 1: The Policymaker
   1. Develop and present philosophy and strategies for Singapore's Ministry of Happiness to enhance national well-being and address key socio-economic issues.
2. Topic 2: The Intellectual
   1. Highlight a critical topic on happiness and suffering for global leaders at the 2030 World Happiness Summit, supported by theoretical insights and compelling justification.
3. Topic 3: The Curator
   1. Justify why a chosen cultural work deserves the HCI Award for advancing understanding of happiness and suffering.
4. Topic 4: Free-Form
   1. Develop an original argument on a self-chosen topic to explore its significance in understanding happiness and suffering through theoretical perspectives.

While the topics vary between professors, all students are required to complete a final paper as the culmination of their journey in the Big Questions module. ✍️

Professor George Wong captivated us from the very first lecture. Initially, I expected the Big Questions (BQ) module to be what many call a "fluff mod," but Professor George completely changed my perspective.

His ability to analyze and break down complex papers was impressive and made the content much easier to follow. The pre-readings were often challenging to understand, but Professor George consistently distilled the core ideas into clear, digestible explanations. These moments of clarity felt like “eureka” moments, making the learning experience both fruitful and deeply satisfying.

Each lesson felt like an intellectual exploration of happiness and suffering through diverse perspectives. Professor George struck an excellent balance between the broad scope of these themes and their relevance to our everyday lives, making the discussions meaningful and engaging.

When it comes to assessment, I found Professor George to be a fair grader. The midterm can be challenging, especially if you’re not a proficient writer able to craft quality work under time constraints. However, the final paper offers a great opportunity to shine by connecting your personal interests to the theme of 'Happiness and Suffering.' This is a social science module, so success lies in thoughtful reflection and nuanced arguments. As long as you demonstrate depth of thought and critical engagement, you can expect a fair grade.

For class participation (CP), Professor George allows contributions both in-class and online. Here are some tips for securing a high CP mark:

• Engage with the readings: Read at least one of the pre-readings each week and ensure you understand it. Summarize the key points and note any questions.
• Speak up in class: Whenever Professor George asks, "Has anyone read the first (or second) paper?" take the opportunity to raise your hand and share.
• Collaborate in group discussions: Actively participate during group work and post your insights in the Telegram group chat.
• Respond to weekly questions: Make it a habit to respond thoughtfully to the weekly Telegram prompts.
• Go the extra mile: Take on any optional tasks or non-compulsory work he offers.

That's all! I hope you enjoyed my summary of the Big Questions: Happiness and Suffering module. Once again, this is based on my personal experience. As Heraclitus wisely said, "The only constant in life is change," so the curriculum might have already evolved by the time you read this. Please take this as a guide, not a definitive account!

Stay tuned for other studies