Final answer:
Captain Beatty in 'Fahrenheit 451' believes that happiness and occupation come from mindless entertainment, security, and the absence of challenging or discomforting ideas. Basic needs, liberty, health, balance in life, and resilience are also highlighted as key components of happiness, which are not fulfilled in the book's dystopian society.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Captain Beatty in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, keeping people happy and occupied requires providing them with mindless entertainment, a sense of security, and removing any potential source of discomfort or dissent, such as books and the ideas within them. The society in Fahrenheit 451 ensures that people are inundated with superficial pleasures, like interactive television and fast cars, which effectively distract from deeper thought or dissatisfaction. This approach to happiness minimizes individualism and intellectualism, reflecting the fear that complex ideas can lead to unhappiness and discord. The idea is to keep people's lives simple and undisturbed by the complexities and inequities of reality.
The philosophies highlighted in the passage emphasize the importance of basic needs like food, shelter, and social interaction. However, they also suggest that having a say in one's governance (liberty and happiness), experiencing good health and balance in life (work, recreation, education), and the ability to cope with adversity are crucial for overall satisfaction and wellbeing. These ideas contrast sharply with the dystopian society in Beatty’s world, which fails to address these deeper psychological and physiological needs for a truly contented life.