A-Level Essay On What Influences Biology; Biology Or Behavior? For Free Use

Happiness in human beings is drawn from both environmental experiences and biological constitution. Every human being chases happiness though it is elusive due to our biology and environment. As Hansen affirms, “50% of our happiness is genetic”, it translates that happiness is derived from genetics and other factors like behavior. Pert asserts that “having the confidence to believe that almost anything is possible can translate into being able to heal.” The power of believe can be the answer to happiness and avoiding the distress. Each environmental experience battles with the biological nature of a human being to either lead to happiness or suppress it, so happiness is largely determined by our behavior rather than our biology.
On the other hand, our biological composition also plays a critical role in determining the level of happiness in our lives. Pert points out that the "many cells of the body contains these molecules that we've been mapping." Genetic structure of DNA has an influence on how humans perceive and experience happiness. After millions of years of evolution, the human brain has sifted experiences which have altered its structure to have a higher affinity to happiness while suppressing despondency as Hansen observes, “real challenges in your neural networks are made by your experiences in happiness, worry, love and anxiety.” The amygdala has evolved to suppress happiness in man by magnifying simple situations and interpreting them as dangerous which normally deprives a person of deriving happiness out of them. The Amygdala response to the environment may be for the quest of survival but it leads to the pressure that dwindles happiness in man. The brain, therefore, houses a villain whose response to environmental experiences deny a person the opportunity to focus on positive experiences that bring happiness. However, Hansen's research proves that we can fight against negativity bias with our behavior through deliberately prolonging and creating experiences that will shape our brains for the better
Biologically, there are hormones and other biochemical in our neural networks help the brain relax and avoid depression. On the contrary, Hansen observes that “negative experiences make the amygdala even more sensitive to the negative.” It, therefore, becomes a delicate balance for an individual to balance if he/she has to remain happy. The human receptors are structured to relay information to the central neural system for action and amygdala singles out the negative information that is likely to lead to unhappiness. A person should, therefore, condition himself/herself to avoid being sad by “pulling weeds” as Hansen illustrates and neuroplasticity. Emilya affirms biology is not the ultimate determinant of happiness by stating that, “how it will act doesn’t mean the cell follows the same path that its DNA says it should.” Therefore, an individual can train the body to focus on activities that increase serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin to continue being happy.
In behavioral perspective, humans can train their brain to be happier even in the most unlikely of situations. Pert states that, “we would seriously entertain theories about the role of emotions and emotional suppression in disease and that we'd better pay more attention to emotions with respect to health.” The brain can be trained to ignore the small insignificant sources of danger that could affect happiness and focus on the environmental experiences that lead to happiness which improves the health of an individual by avoiding depression.
Concisely, biology and behavior work together to guarantee humans happiness but a person has a choice of being happy or unhappy by training his/her brain on how it responds to situations. To sum up the aforementioned key contributors in happiness, I believe environment and behavior play bigger role in achieving happiness in man than biology. However, the biological factors are flagrantly significant contributors to happiness though through behavioral training they can be manipulated to the advantage of the individual.