The Theme of Happiness in Oliver Sacks's The Lost Mariner

To live a meaningful life, memory is not required. A general definition of “meaningful” is living a life with purpose, which influences the behaviors of a person and guides their decisions. Purpose creates meaning. Purpose is goals in life or the actions that make them happy. Happiness does not require memory as it is a momentary feeling. Isolated actions are meaningful on their own, memory does not dictate their meaningfulness, happiness does. In other words, life’s purpose is to be happy; happiness makes for a meaningful life, not memory.  “Meaningful” should have a more personal sense, as we intrinsically value things differently. “Meaningful” to one person could be raising a family while another person may believe it is more meaningful to be successful in their career and amass wealth. People are motivated by different ideas because our different values cause different actions to make us happy. All living things expire, life is a temporary consciousness, to begin with, whether we have memory fundamentally does not matter due to this. When we die, our consciousness disappears, and our lives are forgotten. If memory is required for meaning, moral life is thus meaningless as we are all forgotten in the end. Life is only as meaningful as we make it; we assign it meaning in our moments of happiness. Having memory is not what makes us human, the ability to feel happiness does. Humans are animals capable of feeling happiness beyond physical sensations. Meaningful lives only need the happiness we create in our passing moments, memory is not required as happiness is still felt without it. 

Happiness is usually a long-term emotion and pleasure is the branch from happiness used to describe short-term satisfaction. However, when positive emotions are felt mentally over physically, these emotions are fleeting happiness. Happiness is ethereal.  It is possible to feel short-term happiness when desires are not involved. Desires are physical and when they are satisfied, dopamine is released. When happiness is felt, it is mental, and serotonin is released. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter for happiness while dopamine is the neurotransmitter for pleasure. These are different as they are driven and released due to different actions. Pleasure provides an immediate reward; it cannot be fulfilling and cause contentment while happiness is more delayed and can create contentment. Happiness is sustainable, but pleasure is not. Happiness is an internal state of being that inspires inner peace or contentment. Pleasure is not sustainable; it needs more, it is the pursuit of physical sensations.

“The Lost Mariner” details the story of Doctor Oliver Sacks and his observations on his patient, Jimmie G., who suffers from severe alcohol-induced Korsakov’s syndrome, causing him extreme short-term memory loss. Dr. Sacks initially concludes, in an abrupt matter, that Jimmie G. is incapable of living a meaningful life. This conclusion is not correct which Dr. Sacks observes as the story progresses. Jimmie G. can feel inner peace in moments he finds himself praying in church, tending to the garden, or enjoying the company of his aged brother.  This inner peace creates feelings of happiness for Jimmie G., as his demeanor changes and he becomes calmer after enjoying these experiences though he cannot recall them. Dr. Sacks, seeing this, believes Jimmie G. is still capable of living a rich, or meaningful, life. 

Dr. Sacks’ initial analysis was that of an exclusive humanist. They have skepticism about transcendence. Transcendence is the contentment reached through happiness. They believe in having evidence for their views through science which follows an empiricist evidentialist approach. This is an approach that follows evidence from our beliefs through the ways in which we interact with our world.  Transcendence is not a concept in which we can explain through this approach as it is a feeling. Empiricist evidentialism does not account for the transcendence Jimmie G. experiences and Dr. Sacks, following this belief, does not take this into his initial analysis, making it incomplete or inaccurate by default.

Dr. Sacks, after watching the way in which Jimmie G. interacts with his world and how he feels happiness, begins to understand that memory is not essential for a meaningful life and changes his analysis. Ironically, though Jimmie G. does not remember those he interacts with if he did not know them before the age of 19, and he cannot form deep connections, he still has a profound effect on others seen through Dr. Sacks’ progression and change in core beliefs. Dr. Sacks goes from disbelief in transcendence to understanding that science, having explanatory gaps, just cannot correctly account for it. Transcendence transcends science as it is simply an experience beyond physical sensations, or yourself. It is subliming. By Jimmie G. finding such beauty in nature and faith in God, we see romanticism adapting as Dr. Sacks’ new core belief. He goes from valuing the mind to valuing the soul. These experiences tap into one’s soul. This is better explained as

“A man does not consist of memory alone. He has feeling, will, sensibilities, moral being- matters of which neurology cannot speak” (34).

This is once again showing the limits of science as explanatory gaps are reached; feelings of happiness are an example of these gaps. Jimmie G. creates meaningfulness in his life when he finds purpose through God, gardening, and connecting with his brother. The purpose of life, though life is innately meaningless, is assigned meaning through happiness. Jimmie G. lives through isolated actions and temporary moments in time. We see how his interactions with his world allow him to feel happiness. We know that he experiences happiness and not pleasure. Pleasure is short-term and immediate and though Jimmie G. only experiences the world as “short term”, he maintains inner peace after these moments of purpose. This transcendence is once again, the contentment reached through happiness. It is sustainable and felt long term the body has released serotonin because of feeling happy so though the mind does not remember, the soul does. This allows for Jimmie G. to have a meaningful life. He is able to still have a purpose as he experiences an internal state of being that inspires inner peace or happiness. Jimmie G. shows that memory is not required for a meaningful life.