posted
Do we define happiness as merely not being sad? For instance, when I was young I used to get tooth aches and would always think people who didn't have em to be in a state of bliss. So right now I don't have a tooth ache. Am I happy? I don't know...
I think that no matter what the human brain will always crave and want as we'll inevitably take for granted those things after we get them. The promotion? The big house? The nice car? The super-fast internet connection? We'll use take em for granted...the normal state of things. Thus, we're always reaching for happiness but never reaching it. Except when we think something real bad is going to happen and it doesn't. Then we're happy. But how long does that last?
So maybe all we can hope for is to be content in life.
Posts: 722 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
I had an answer but you deleted my "make me" comment, despite its just being a joke, and when I finally click "Add reply" for my real answer, I was blocked, so I guess I won't bother rewriting that now.
Posts: 1138 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
cheiros, see my post and the_Somalian's reply in his/her other thread re: movies. I think he accidentally deleted the whole thread, and yours along w/ it, when he was trying to edit it, and then reposted.
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Fair enough. I shall do my post tomorrow then (It's 4 in the morning here and I'm finally feeling the effects of tiredness sorry). Hopefully this thread is still up on the front page tomorrow.
posted
The Epicureans held that pleasure was the greatest good. However, they did not define pleasure as the sensual delight that they are often given a reputation for. Indeed Epicurus defined pleasure specifically as an absence of pain.
"When we are released from pain, the mere sensation of complete emancipation and relief from uneasiness is in itself a source of gratification. But everything that causes gratification is a pleasure (just as everything that causes annoyance is a pain). Therefore the complete removal of pain has correctly been termed a pleasure. Epicurus consequently maintained that there is no such thing as a neutral state of feeling intermediate between pleasure and pain; for the state supposed by some thinkers to be neutral, being characterized as it is by entire absence of pain, is itself, he held, a pleasure, and, what is more, a pleasure of the highest order. A man who is conscious of his condition at all must necessarily feel either pleasure or pain. But complete absence of pain Epicurus considers to be the limit and highest point of pleasure; beyond this point pleasure may vary in kind, but it cannot vary in intensity or degree."
I think if we define happiness as a pleasure, and sadness as pain, we can say that any time we are completely without sadness we must be in the highest state of happiness. But happiness, as Epicurus's argument for pleasure continues, cannot be found just by avoiding all pain. "Those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful." So if we seek to pursue happiness by the things you've listed Somalian, material things, ambitious accomplishments, etc. one of the consequences is that we will never find our 'highest happiness' because we make our happiness contingent on the possession of things that we are not able to obtain. Epicurus continues "nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure." So if we are toiling and going through daily minor annoyances (like a job) to gain these pleasures, we have to ask ourselves if the gain to happiness is greater than the amount of pain we are enduring. The best thing to do, it seems, is to toil only enough so that the basic needs are met physically, because if you are toiling away, enduring all this pain, you aren't gaining much happiness after your basic needs are met.
So if we can agree that being happy is as close to a common goal in life as anyone can ask for; then it seems that one legitimate way to be happy is realize that if you strive for things that will require of you more sadness in long run, than they will return happiness; it might be better not to strive after them. I won't pretend to know of myself what things are worth it and what aren't. If you sit down and consider what is worth it to you, maybe you won't feel like you're 'just settling' for something lesser when your ambition pushes you farther, but can be happy instead with what you have.
Posts: 349 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
Happiness transcends the absence or release from pain, and it certainly transcends mere pleasure. To me it's a state of contentment and peace and even deep joy that comes from truly lasting sources. Now, some of those lasting sources can be seemingly ephemeral, such as a beautiful autumn day. But when you look at that pretty day as not just an isolated day, but as an example of a world with constantly renewing beauty, it isn't so transitory after all.
I'm tired, not sure if this is making sense. Anyway, to me a major source of happiness is gratitude. When I look for the good things in my life and feel truly grateful for them, I'm much more likely to be happy.
I thought Belle's "in sickness and in health" post was a great example of happiness in the face of a big fat major life-threatening trial. I can't put words in her mouth to know if she would say she is experiencing happiness right now--I'm sure if I were in her shoes I'd be saying "I'll be happy when the cancer is gone." But her post just said to me "I'm happy in my marriage."
So I guess that's kinda how I see life. Do we ever get to be 100% happy? Well, there may be moments or seasons that we are overall quite content. But I believe we can find happiness even in the middle of some of the worst times. Various things can bring happiness: expressing creativity, recognition for a job well done, feeling fulfilled in a career or volunteer position. But the greatest happiness comes from loving human relationships.
We have to work towards happiness. And like Audeo/Epicurus say above, we need to make sure we are working "smart." Material things are not going to make us happy, only more comfortable. We are never going to have a life where all the hard stuff gets magically taken away, so if we want to be happy we need to make sure that we have enough lasting sources of happiness in place to get us through the rough spots.
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Happiness is tied to desire, and desires drive us. As a disposition, joy is more steady and constant. A disposition is something for the long haul. More settled and less focused than desires, dispositions are general tendencies that move us in predictable ways.
posted
I've developed a strange definition of happiness. For me, it amounts to "I could die right now, and not feel cheated."
I think I've been that happy... oh, two or three times now? So I'm fairly certain there is something more to achieve than merely being content with life.
Posts: 1368 | Registered: Sep 2002
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