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Are We Living in a Post-Happiness World?

nytimes.com

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Re: Are We Living in a Post-Happiness World?

#51

The author did not do a good job of spelling out the differences in the two types of happiness. In fact, she didn't even address them by their proper names (hedonic and eudaimonic). Identifying the two and really digging in on their differences would probably have made for a more interesting article - and certainly a more enlightening one. Just saying "people are unhappy, don't confuse unhappy with unjoyful" isn't en…

While I stand by your desire for more nuance in the discussion, I'd be wary of assuming one theorization of happiness, and it's attendant conceptual divisions, is the only theory of happiness. While the hedonistic and eudaemonic conceptions come down to us from tradition for good reason, it seems somewhat presumptuous to call these categorizations the "proper names" for the kinds of happiness. Since it's a humanistic…

> it seems somewhat presumptuous to call these categorizations the "proper names" for the kinds of happiness

Maybe so, but all kinds generally fall into one or both of these kinds (there's grey area as there always is). My point though was to show that the author didn't even scratch the surface in examining what happiness is and because of that the article just seemed like filler.

Re: Are We Living in a Post-Happiness World?

#52

The author did not do a good job of spelling out the differences in the two types of happiness. In fact, she didn't even address them by their proper names (hedonic and eudaimonic). Identifying the two and really digging in on their differences would probably have made for a more interesting article - and certainly a more enlightening one. Just saying "people are unhappy, don't confuse unhappy with unjoyful" isn't en…

> (spelling?) You were probably thinking of "kitschy", but "corny" would fit your intended meaning better. Though I agree that it's actually not corny at all.

Thanks! :)

Re: Are We Living in a Post-Happiness World?

#53

SPOILERS BELOW (Love, Death and Robots) There's an episode of Love, Death and Robots called Zima Blue, where a robot that scrubs the tiles on the side of a swimming pool is progressively upgraded over many years by engineers until it becomes a fully conscious android. It then obsessively pursues the meaning of life through ever larger art projects, some reaching planetary scale. It eventually concludes it has found t…

That was such a great episode. But one thing I hate about the philosophy, on the surface of it, is the cynical belief that you have to be simple or stupid to be happy. This is so patently un-true. In the immediate moment, maybe you can be happier but it becomes a short path to ruin for most people.

Although I do love the idea of how Zima constructed his own version of heaven and relegated himself to it. I just hate how he had to become unconscious to do so.

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