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philosophy and religion » happiness

bluet's avatar
15 years ago
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bluet
what makes you happy?

an abundance of chocolate makes me happy :)
 
15 years ago
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dru
The Art of Subconscious Illusion
Very beginning of Spring time. Dark blue clouds, thunder, heavy rain droplets.

Moist soil with green grass starting to sprout up. Starting to see the color in trees come back.
bluet's avatar
15 years ago
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bluet
this thread was meant for philosophy and religion, by the way :\
lucas's avatar
15 years ago
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lucas
i ❤ demo
fixed. :)
bluet's avatar
15 years ago
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bluet
another thing that makes me happy is lucas <3
Étrangère's avatar
15 years ago
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Étrangère
I am not a robot...
wait...have you been saying my in place of me purposefully?
bluet's avatar
15 years ago
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bluet
> wait...have you been saying my in place of me purposefully?

oops...
Étrangère's avatar
15 years ago
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Étrangère
I am not a robot...
"fuck clothes" haha YEAH
DaGr8Gatzby's avatar
14 years ago
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DaGr8Gatzby
Drunk by Myself
a Fat buddasack.
Étrangère's avatar
14 years ago
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Étrangère
I am not a robot...
warm sunshine on bare skin
bluet's avatar
14 years ago
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bluet
Getting mail. Étrangère <3
Fsmart's avatar
14 years ago
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Fsmart
getting close to done with my thesis
kitty's avatar
14 years ago
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kitty
never will
long, comfortable hugs
asemisldkfj's avatar
14 years ago
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asemisldkfj
the law is no protection
sigh, that sounds really good
phi_'s avatar
14 years ago
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phi_
... and let the Earth be silent after ye.
Happiness is 6 drunk/stoned people crammed into a 93 Toyota Tercel driving around in the rain arguing at the top of their lungs about fiscal policy and individual rights while looking for tacos.

... sigh. I miss Kansas.
nny's avatar
14 years ago
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nny
M̮͈̣̙̰̝̃̿̎̍ͬa͉̭̥͓ț̘ͯ̈́t̬̻͖̰̞͎ͤ̇ ̈̚J̹͎̿̾ȏ̞̫͈y̭̺ͭc̦̹̟̦̭̫͊̿ͩeͥ̌̾̓ͨ
I am going to go with... without darkness there cannot be light. If it wasn't for the hardship and sorrow that accompanies life happiness would have no flavor.

So what makes me happy is surviving all the crap and getting to experience those moments that aren't crap.
bluet's avatar
14 years ago
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bluet
Riding my bike on a hot summer night.
Fsmart's avatar
14 years ago
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Fsmart
nny... "without darkness there cannot be light"

so we tell ourselves that pain makes us better off. how often do we ask survivors if they are happy they experienced the holocaust?
asemisldkfj's avatar
14 years ago
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asemisldkfj
the law is no protection
I agree with both of you. without any suffering life would be boring. but when I say suffering I mean things like death, accidents, etc. and not things that are realistically preventable like the holocaust or slavery or something. it's a tough line to draw though.

take cancer. it happens naturally. should we prevent it or does that detract from suffering and somehow therefore happiness? similar to what fsmart said, you don't ask someone if they are happy a loved one died of cancer. but on the other hand, the perspective on life you gain from going through something like that is invaluable.

maybe what you gain from suffering isn't necessarily happiness, but the perspective necessary to be happy after the suffering. where does happiness initially come from? is some initial suffering necessary to create the perspective to be happy, or can you be happy without ever experiencing or knowing of suffering? tough question.

imagining a world absent of suffering seems bland and boring. but I don't think that is a realistic goal. an arguably more realistic (and worthy) goal, I think, would be to prevent all realistically preventable suffering. but then what happens when death becomes realistically preventable?
nny's avatar
14 years ago
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nny
M̮͈̣̙̰̝̃̿̎̍ͬa͉̭̥͓ț̘ͯ̈́t̬̻͖̰̞͎ͤ̇ ̈̚J̹͎̿̾ȏ̞̫͈y̭̺ͭc̦̹̟̦̭̫͊̿ͩeͥ̌̾̓ͨ
I'm not saying people can't be broken. There's limits to what any person should endure. As Aristotle put it, "Everything in moderation." I am a firm believer that people have their limits, positive and negative. Different for each of us, but I've seen people snap. I think we all have. At a certain point negative stuff can stop being healthy. The holocaust would certainly be an extreme case of that. But, love without loss would not be a human experience, and in my opinion would be a pale shadow of the experience.

That being said, I think the tragedy of our mortality is something none of us would feel bad about giving up. There is no benefit in the loss of a mind full of experiences, emotions, and contributions that bring value into our lives.
Étrangère's avatar
14 years ago
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Étrangère
I am not a robot...
Good post, nny.
maple's avatar
14 years ago
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maple
i like large datasets
hacking. traveling. great food. great sex. great friends. great food after great sex with great friends while on a traveling hackathon.
asemisldkfj's avatar
14 years ago
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asemisldkfj
the law is no protection
hahaha
nny's avatar
14 years ago
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nny
M̮͈̣̙̰̝̃̿̎̍ͬa͉̭̥͓ț̘ͯ̈́t̬̻͖̰̞͎ͤ̇ ̈̚J̹͎̿̾ȏ̞̫͈y̭̺ͭc̦̹̟̦̭̫͊̿ͩeͥ̌̾̓ͨ
Just don't try doing it all at the same time without throwing down a tarp first.
Étrangère's avatar
14 years ago
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Étrangère
I am not a robot...
somehow that mental image just got extremely graphic
Fsmart's avatar
14 years ago
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Fsmart
:) i like your comments ase and nny. I have been thinking a bit about this topic recently. i recently finished orson scott card's book the worthing saga. not to get into it too much but basically there is a world without pain or loss and worthing puts an end to that world by reintroducing loss. his argument is that without pain there can be no extraordinary people or choices. a boring pointless existence.

as a story-teller, i agree. as a human, i disagree. perhaps loss makes things still possessed more enjoyable by contrast. but i do not like any of the applications of this idea. is a rich man happy because the rest of the world is poor? are the living happy because everybody else is dead? are lovers happy because everybody else is loveless.

i like to think that i have many people i love in my life. do i need to experience the loss of one of them to really value them? a couple of weeks ago i went to the funeral of someone who was important to me as a teenager and retained some of that importance as an adult. i lamented her premature death, but i cannot say that i enjoy my still living friends more now.

as for happiness, i guess i think that mostly happiness is the result of a healthy body, mind, and environment. no part of suffering leads to happiness. though i think it commonly leads to the statement, "look how well off I am now. i should be happy."
lucas's avatar
14 years ago
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lucas
i ❤ demo
time for an econometric study.
nny's avatar
14 years ago
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nny
M̮͈̣̙̰̝̃̿̎̍ͬa͉̭̥͓ț̘ͯ̈́t̬̻͖̰̞͎ͤ̇ ̈̚J̹͎̿̾ȏ̞̫͈y̭̺ͭc̦̹̟̦̭̫͊̿ͩeͥ̌̾̓ͨ
It's been my experience, that with each loss of a person I care about, I lose a little more of the feeling of pain that is accompanied with it. That makes me very sad, and more than a little unsettled. People live their whole lives wrapped up in being whomever they are, or whomever they wish to be. But not everyone is as deeply missed as the next. I like to hope that something or some of the things that I do in my life, will persist after I am gone and be valuable to others. In that, I hope to capture at least a modicum of immortality. But, with each friend I lose, I feel as though I lose more and more of the things that made me value them, and my own life. That's not healthy.

But, I do find myself more and more appreciative of the fact that my immediate family is close ( though not always geographically ), and they are all still alive and healthy. And, just knowing that won't always be the case gives me pause ( to appreciate ) in the interactions I have with them. I have a number of friends who have held their close family in contempt, and seen them die far away and no longer a part of their lives. And, that's impacted them whether they will admit it or not.

I guess what I am getting at is, the experiences of loss associated with death, wear on you. And the older you grow the greater the losses will accumulate. And by the end of it all, I wonder how bitter and uncaring I will be. And that, is something that does scare me.
dannyp's avatar
14 years ago
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dannyp
dʎuuɐp
> what makes you happy?

i'm feelin' extra healthy today, happy.
asemisldkfj's avatar
14 years ago
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asemisldkfj
the law is no protection
good essay