The Hungry Philosopher

I’ve been watching kittens on social media, out of professional interest. At least that’s my story. Soft fluffy adorable kittens comfortably sleeping, and then lured with snacks into happy wakefulness. What an addictive spectacle of joy! The transformation from sleep to aliveness is like a celebration of rebirth and might explain the recent social media trend of kittens waking up by sniffing food which has nearly 39 million views on TikTok. I am particularly interested in this social media recipe for engineered joy because I’ve seen a version of it before in my design history research.

The 1950 Fall issue of the Cosmopolitan Magazine included an interview with industrial designer Raymond Loewy, famous for designing modern kitchen appliances, including the widely popular 1934 Sears Coldspot Super Six Refrigerator.  The magazine interview included 4 recipes from the designer’s kitchen. While the first three recipes, predictable in the designer’s aggressive self-promotion, offer recipes that require a refrigerator, the last provides a whimsical window into the designer’s personality.  I see the cook-engineer of gastronomic satisfaction, Loewy himself, as the connection between the first three recipes and the last recipe. Raymond Loewy’s Recipe Book guides us to design our own happiness in the form of cool modern desserts – and buy one of his designed products while we do so.

Here’s why watching kittens wake up to snacks, for me, a life adjustment consultant, is of professional interest. Fellow pet video connoisseurs will find a very familiar description in the fourth recipe, “a demonstration of complete happiness”…

“Another simple recipe for anyone interested in a demonstration of complete happiness in this world of ours. I use it quite often and find it refreshing:

Take a good-size live dog, fast asleep, preferably an Irish setter. Place gently, as close to its nostrils as possible, a large chunk of liverwurst. Sit back and watch.

Stage One: At each intake of breath the scent of the sausage slowly permeates the unconscious brain of the subject until it reaches the boundaries of semi-consciousness. Then the nostrils begin to quiver slightly.

Stage Two: Lashes begin to flutter, saliva oozes out, and breathing evolves into sniffing.

Stage Three: Subject suddenly realizes the reality of the dream and in a violent convulsion lunges at the morsel and swallows in one gulp.

Stage Four: The final stage is the most interesting one for the expert to watch as it greatly varies according to individual dogs. Setters ordinarily express their utter bewilderment by sitting up and staring bleakly – unable to decide what to do next. They remain there, unconvinced that such ecstasies exist outside the world of dreams.”

There is something worth reverse engineering about this personalized recipe for joy. Five ingredients stand out:

1. A relaxed state: The first ingredient of Loewy’s recipe involves a pet enjoying a safe, sleepy, restful state of ease. By choosing his sleepy dog to demonstrate an expression of happiness, he is defining happiness as an unintentional surprise. What interrupts a boring sequence of expected events and wakes you up to unexpected joy? Sensory pleasure. From a therapeutic standpoint feeling safe and relaxed, a non-traumatic state is essential in inviting an experience of happy surprise.
2. Attention to sensation: Stages one and two of Loewy’s recipe, prompted by placing a sausage in front of the dog’s nostrils show the importance of sensory information in feeling happy. Loewy describes senses awakening by desire, much like simplified “self-care” routines of incense, face masks, massages, tea, and pillows that soothe the body into a relaxed state.  Safety is maintained through the surprise. The dog does not wake up irritable,  jarred and fearful.
3. Action out of sensation: Stage three of the dog’s sudden leap into action prompted by the dreamy promise of liverwurst marks the direct transition from the unconscious to action without rational mediation. The dog “realizes the reality of the dream.” For Loewy’s pet Irish Setter, pleasurable fulfillment is not dependent on a rationally guided concept of liverwurst. The dog in a “violent compulsion” simply lunges to fulfill his dream. The dog does not overthink. When something surprisingly good happens, do you find yourself questioning and editing your happiness? If so, we might need to talk.
4. Understanding: Belatedly, stage four represents the search for understanding. Confusion appears as the dog efforts to validate the unplanned joyful experience. The dog’s doubt and confusion after being satisfied show happiness to be recognized after the fact of sensory fulfillment. Was that tasty happiness real? – The dog’s bewildered pause seems to be asking. Perhaps Loewy points to a taste of loss between belated pleasure and unaware pleasure, a feeling that happiness can only be constructed in hindsight, unintentionally. Here again, the dog does not overthink or get stuck in the quick arrival and loss of tasty satisfaction. It is done. It was good. A full experience untainted by conceptual expectations.
5. Witness: The most essential ingredient in Raymond’s recipe for happiness is himself, the chef-engineer of this scenario. He plays both the facilitator and the witness to joy. In watching the kitten videos, maybe we also vicariously and empathetically experience a moment of satisfaction, maybe it gives us permission to seek the same by design, maybe it reminds us that we can engineer acts of joy for others. Unlike pets, we can cook up our own recipe for happiness to be shared.  

In therapeutic terms, the first three stages of relaxation, attention, and action represented by Loewy’s Irish Setter show us the role of the body in the construction of happiness. The dog’s confusion and belated awareness of happiness describe the mind’s effort to validate and understand pleasure. The hidden ingredient, Raymond Loewy himself, represents the heart that witnesses and supports the evolving experience of unconscious pleasure and conscious reflection. The recipe’s last line serves the dish with a warning. Many of us, like the Irish setter, “remain there, unconvinced that such ecstasies exist outside the world of dreams.” We become frozen in a haze of joy experienced in the past as a dream. Loewy’s list of ingredients reminds us that whipping up happiness is not to be found out “there.”  It is at the tip of our nostrils waiting to be swallowed. We might imagine the sad confusion of the Irish setter in his swallowing without savoring, his dreamy consumption without mindful awareness.

            Try Loewy’s recipe, and cook up some happiness for yourself with the ingredients of safety, sensation, surprise, and company. As a part of the sensory-focused step two of the recipe for happiness, try one of his first three recipes:

“Take a pound of granulated sugar, ¼ lb. of butter, 2 pints of heavy cream. Place in copper pan, blend well, and let cook until it reaches the consistency of fudge. Add a tablespoonful of real vanilla extract and half cup of very strong coffee. Let simmer a while. In order to test the consistency, pour a drop on a buttered plate and feel with your fingers. It should be quite firm, but not hard – like chewy caramels. Sauce should be served rather hot over good vanilla or coffee ice cream.”

Sherbet

“Prepare a mixture of 1/3 apricot nectar, 1/3 tangerine juice, and 1/3 pineapple juice. Add plenty of good champagne, a dash of fresh lime juice and freeze in an ice-cream freezer. It is delicious.”