The short answer is yes. Now let’s explore the details.
Typing can bring happiness in two main ways:
Short-term joy: Typing itself can be a source of happiness if it’s set as a goal. For example, a gaming community on NitroType.com found joy in improving their typing skills. Members felt excitement, progress, and a sense of belonging, making typing a direct trigger for positive emotions.
Long-term fulfillment: Typing helps achieve bigger goals that lead to happiness. A writer might not enjoy the act of typing but finds fulfillment in creating stories. Similarly, an office worker may not love typing but values the productivity, communication, and income it enables, contributing to their overall satisfaction.
In essence, typing can bring happiness either by being the goal or by helping achieve other meaningful goals. The key lies in finding joy in the process, the results, or the broader purpose of typing.
According to psychologists and neuroscientists happiness and being happy – is a habit. While happiness arises from positive experiences, frequently experiencing and physiologically reinforcing pleasant emotions makes them more ingrained as a recurring state over time. Just like any other habit, happiness becomes easier to experience when triggered by consistent cues.
Why keyboards can be effective triggers for happiness:
Studies across the world show that happiness is often a habit, and habits rely on triggers. It is easier to reinforce a habit if there is a physical trigger or cue that we can engage with. For this reason, a keyboard becomes a perfect candidate, even more effective than a touchscreen or touchpad, since it allows for direct physical contact and input.
If we consciously decide to associate the keyboard with achieving our goals, it can become a multi-sensory trigger for happiness. Many people have computers with keyboards readily available, making it a highly accessible tool.
Scientific research has demonstrated that our senses play a crucial role in triggering memories, habits, and actions. When we use a keyboard, we activate not only our visual memory but also our tactile (touch) memory, which is deeply embedded in our nervous system and has a direct connection to our brain.
The simple act of pressing keys on a keyboard might even be inherently entertaining or satisfying, similar to how children find pleasure in playing with bubble wrap or fidget toys – both of which tap into our tactile senses.
In essence, keyboards excel as potential triggers for happiness because they are ubiquitous, engage multiple senses (particularly touch), and can be easily associated with achieving goals – whether those goals are work-related, creative, or simply pursuing a sense of progress and accomplishment through activities like gaming.