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How to Live a Happy Life (2016)

ox.ac.uk

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Re: How to Live a Happy Life (2016)

#71

Post by hansor »

jmstfv wrote: post #56

How do you define happiness in the first place? Is it a bliss, joy, pleasure, an ecstatic state of mind, the satisfaction of one's desires, or the absence of them? All of the above? Perhaps none of them? Personally, I define happiness as being content with where you are right now - you wouldn't want to be in any other place, in any other time, in any other state of mind. You're happy here, right now. You have your in…

>How do you define happiness in the first place?

By measuring level of dopamines, and other neurotransmitters in brain when person claims to be happy. Easy and precise.

Re: How to Live a Happy Life (2016)

#73

Post by mdorazio »

hansor wrote: post #71
jmstfv wrote: post #56

How do you define happiness in the first place? Is it a bliss, joy, pleasure, an ecstatic state of mind, the satisfaction of one's desires, or the absence of them? All of the above? Perhaps none of them? Personally, I define happiness as being content with where you are right now - you wouldn't want to be in any other place, in any other time, in any other state of mind. You're happy here, right now. You have your in…

>How do you define happiness in the first place? By measuring level of dopamines, and other neurotransmitters in brain when person claims to be happy. Easy and precise.

That would make heroin addicts the happiest people on earth. Seems like a flawed measure.

Re: How to Live a Happy Life (2016)

#74

Post by marssaxman »

timoth3y wrote: post #4
alecbz wrote: post #2

> you could be joyful but think your life is worthless I find this hard to believe. At a certain point I think a lack of meaning in your life is going to make you day-to-day unhappy, whatever you’re spending those days doing.

>> you could be joyful but think your life is worthless > I find this hard to believe. Albert Camus developed the philosophy of Absurdism around a very similar idea. A gross oversimplification is that in the grand scheme of things, logically and objectively our lives have no meaning, but our brains are wired to need meaning. The solution is to create that meaning for ourselves even while acknowledging that meaning is…

> The solution is to create that meaning for ourselves even while acknowledging that meaning is a delusion.

I have not been able to manage this trick. How do you make yourself act as though you believe something when you already know it could never be true?

Re: How to Live a Happy Life (2016)

#75

Post by wantlotsofcurry »

archevel wrote: post #61
mbrodersen wrote: post #7

It’s actually quite easy: simply lower your expectations until your life is better than you expected. Sounds like a joke. But is it really?

I agree, but I think you need hope in order to be happy. I.e. happiness is the combination of high hopes and low expectations. Without high hopes you could just be anticipating things to get worse which tends to lead to anxiety and just a general glum outlook on life. Hoping things will be better tomorrow, but expecting things to get worse is a subtle but important mindset shift.

As my mom says: Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

Re: How to Live a Happy Life (2016)

#76

Post by ahevia »

darepublic wrote: post #68
kashyapc wrote: post #58

There's a reason why Kahneman famously gave up[1] on happiness research, because of our muddled thinking about it. Instead, he argues (which I fully agree with) that we should focus on reducing misery . As a society it is far more difficult to agree on "maximizing well-being", but "minimizing suffering" is an objective we can all agree on as a measure of policy. And he says, setting "reduction of misery" as an object…

Reduction of misery may also entail reduction of happiness

Could you elaborate how?

Re: How to Live a Happy Life (2016)

#77

Post by jmstfv »

jmiskovic wrote: post #65
jmstfv wrote: post #56

How do you define happiness in the first place? Is it a bliss, joy, pleasure, an ecstatic state of mind, the satisfaction of one's desires, or the absence of them? All of the above? Perhaps none of them? Personally, I define happiness as being content with where you are right now - you wouldn't want to be in any other place, in any other time, in any other state of mind. You're happy here, right now. You have your in…

> “Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want” Poetic, yes, but doesn't agree with my experience. Anticipation brings excitement and a certain taste of happiness. I would say my 'happiness level' rises closer I am to the goal, and drops fairly quickly after obtaining the goal. If I wanted to maximize someone's happiness over time, I'd try to keep them in state where they are…

> Anticipation brings excitement and a certain taste of happiness.

It does bring excitement and joy, but this feeling is rather - you constantly have to chase it.

> If I wanted to maximize someone's happiness over time, I'd try to keep them in state where they are almost achieving their set goals for as long as possible.

There's a risk of burning out, so I'd be careful with that.

Re: How to Live a Happy Life (2016)

#78

Post by punk_ihaq »

kashyapc wrote: post #58

There's a reason why Kahneman famously gave up[1] on happiness research, because of our muddled thinking about it. Instead, he argues (which I fully agree with) that we should focus on reducing misery . As a society it is far more difficult to agree on "maximizing well-being", but "minimizing suffering" is an objective we can all agree on as a measure of policy. And he says, setting "reduction of misery" as an object…

This goes by "negative utilitarianism" and I love David Pearce's writings on the subject, including The Hedonistic Imperative.

[1] https://www.hedweb.com/negutil.htm

[2] https://www.hedweb.com/hedethic/tabconhi.htm

Re: How to Live a Happy Life (2016)

#79

Post by archon1410 »

ahevia wrote: post #76
darepublic wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reduction of misery may also entail reduction of happiness

Could you elaborate how?

I think the reference might be that some versions of suffering focused ethics entails positions like antinatalism in the short term, and the extinction of suffering capable life as a great good in the long term.

considering the great amount of miserable, unworthy lives (factory farmed animals, heavily abused and tortured humans, etc) that exist and will likely exist even in some amount in even the "utopian" far future, it's reasonable for someone who doesn't think this all this can be counterweighed by any amount of pleasurable lives to consider permanent extinction as good.

and of course in the short term, suffering focused ethics may entail antinatalism as your children can't suffer, be abused, abuse animals, eat factory farmed meat if you just don't have children.

Re: How to Live a Happy Life (2016)

#80

Post by qgin »

throwawayboise wrote: post #22
non-cotton wrote: post #19

Do you want a happy life, or a worthwhile life? I think they're probably correlated, but I don't think you can guarantee one without risking the other. In that light, optimizing for happiness seems like the wrong move.

How do you define worthwhile?

When you feel like whatever difficulties or pain you face are worth it.

For example, if you work hard every day at something that reduces the suffering of others, it can be worthwhile, even if in the moment it’s painful.

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