Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why does what any of these people have to say about happiness matter today?
Why will any reply to your question matter tomorrow?
Why did you reply then?
Happiness is a reward from our ancestors
41–50 of 89 posts
Re: Happiness is a reward from our ancestors
#42Re: Happiness is a reward from our ancestors
#43I think "content" is the English word the author is looking for - the first definition I see on Google from Oxford is "in a state of peaceful happiness" which seems like the intended long-term meaning - "a state", not a moment, and "peaceful", not surprise-driven. Beyond that, I'm a bit lost by where this is going - like the segue into confidence and building confidence by e.g. learning about roof building techniques…
"Content" is still a bit different, because it feels more layed back.
The funny part is that "gelukkig" (same word but in Dutch) litteraly means "lucky". I'm sure it's the same for German. But lucky and gelukkig have completely different meanings. I would say "happiness" still comes closer.
Now that I think about it, I don't think we have a word for "lucky".
Re: Happiness is a reward from our ancestors
#44Speaking of ancestors, I think it is unfortunate that so many are unaware of what they found to be true about happiness, and what happiness is, and what it isn't. I am not impressed by evolutionary psychology and its superficial and half-baked just-so stories. Biology and psychology can give us hints and signs about things which are then folded into any sound account of the human person, but it is just that: informat…
Aristotle seems to have been insidiously wrong on just about every topic. Why should his views on happiness be any different?
Aristotle wrote very widely. From the first description of octopus mating behavior to the first stab at formal logic ever, there are probably a lot of topics where he was wrong, but also a lot of other ones where he was right, where debate is still open or where his position was refined.
That his scripture was treated as canon by the christian church and not subjected to further scientific inquiry is one of the foundational stories of the modern science. That story is certainly not wrong though it lacks nuance. It is also where Aristotle’s bad rep is mostly from.
Aristotle‘s position on many topics is simply the first one uttered as far as we know. It is interesting because it is the start of a conversation, not because it is right or wrong.
Re: Happiness is a reward from our ancestors
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why will any reply to your question matter tomorrow?
Why did you reply then?
To hopefully make things clear: their question was an attempt to lead you to your own answer, whatever it may be.
Why do we care about what people said before? The same question applies to your own question now, why does it matter?
It apparently does matter, so perhaps it did matter, so perhaps it still does. Else why even bother asking now.
Re: Happiness is a reward from our ancestors
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yet other times the lack of that word denotes a different perspective on that subject. Short term or long term happiness isn’t differentiated in the untied states. I don’t think of happiness in terms of long or short term. Just as a temporary state that hopefully last a long time. Think of all the words we use to express love in English. In Chinese a word technically exists for love but it’s not used between people m…
Y'all are saying that because Americans don't have a single term for "long term happiness" and a separate term for "short term happiness," then that creates some kind of blindspot for Americans. We understand how to put multiple terms together to express nuanced ideas. > In Chinese a word technically exists for love but it’s not used between people more for things but even then it’s not the same word. This is a perfe…
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Re: Happiness is a reward from our ancestors
#47Speaking of ancestors, I think it is unfortunate that so many are unaware of what they found to be true about happiness, and what happiness is, and what it isn't. I am not impressed by evolutionary psychology and its superficial and half-baked just-so stories. Biology and psychology can give us hints and signs about things which are then folded into any sound account of the human person, but it is just that: informat…
Gross. This guy is pro-life, anti-gay marriage, and deeply embedded in religion, yet identifies as a "philosopher". He's the opposite of what we should be listening to.
Re: Happiness is a reward from our ancestors
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yet other times the lack of that word denotes a different perspective on that subject. Short term or long term happiness isn’t differentiated in the untied states. I don’t think of happiness in terms of long or short term. Just as a temporary state that hopefully last a long time. Think of all the words we use to express love in English. In Chinese a word technically exists for love but it’s not used between people m…
Y'all are saying that because Americans don't have a single term for "long term happiness" and a separate term for "short term happiness," then that creates some kind of blindspot for Americans. We understand how to put multiple terms together to express nuanced ideas. > In Chinese a word technically exists for love but it’s not used between people more for things but even then it’s not the same word. This is a perfe…
Chinese is a particularly bad example since as a language it builds concepts out of multiple smaller terms far more explicitly than English.
Re: Happiness is a reward from our ancestors
#49Speaking of ancestors, I think it is unfortunate that so many are unaware of what they found to be true about happiness, and what happiness is, and what it isn't. I am not impressed by evolutionary psychology and its superficial and half-baked just-so stories. Biology and psychology can give us hints and signs about things which are then folded into any sound account of the human person, but it is just that: informat…
Gross. This guy is pro-life, anti-gay marriage, and deeply embedded in religion, yet identifies as a "philosopher". He's the opposite of what we should be listening to.
That’s a very bigoted way to define „philosopher“. Philosopher’s job is not to tell things that you want to hear. Philosopher’s job is to challenge you.
Don’t get entrenched in your bubble, mate.
Re: Happiness is a reward from our ancestors
#50The title:
>Happiness is a reward from our ancestors
Followed by the subtitle:
>Long-term happiness only comes to those who emulate their successful ancestors
Did anyone else get a severe case of mental whiplash from that? I pretty strongly agree with the title in many ways (the now is built on the shoulders of the past), but holy cow I do not agree with that subtitle at all.
The rest of this reads like a pile of Sapir-Whorf combined with "works on my machine means it's correct".