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I knew a guy who I always thought was basically the opposite of clinically depressed - I thought of him as "clinically happy". In some ways I was a bit jealous

I knew a guy who I always thought was basically the opposite of clinically depressed - I thought of him as "clinically happy". In some ways I was a bit jealous of how he never seemed to let things get to him. But on the other hand, he would let certain aspects of his life fall apart in ways that seemed to me his perpetual good humor perhaps didn't allow him to address. If he had felt a bit more discomfort I think he would have taken a different path from time to time and ultimately wound up in a better place overall.

program_whiz 7y ago
Totally get what you're saying, have known people like that. But then it begs the question -- end up in a better place for what reason? If being "in a better place" wasn't going to improve how he felt internally, why bother? I think its hard for us normies to understand people like that, because its so obvious how it would be "better" to have more money, stability, etc, but perhaps the definition of enlightenment is to be truly happy regardless of circumstance. If that's the case, is there really a reason to do those things (if it truly won't change your internal state in any way)? Like if you knew that no job or money you made would ever lead to any fulfillment of any kind, and you would be equally happy without the job / money, would you still do it, just because its a "better situation" (how we define better is again tricky here)... This is extreme, but there's an old zen koan about a teacher who tells his servant to leave him alone while he drinks tea, as his house burns down. He then walks back to see it burned down, and no one can understand why he did that, and he says something like "I was enjoying my tea". The house was as meaningless as if someone had said "if you don't come quick a leaf will blow off your patio" -- totally meaningless and of no impact to your present mood.
- razorunreal 7y ago
  I think our emotional responses exist to guide us towards good decisions. If you take a reinforcement learning system and you always give it positive reinforcement, it will not learn much of anything. I guess I'm saying your enlightenment is irrelevant if it's not improving your survival.

program_whiz 7y ago

Totally get what you're saying, have known people like that. But then it begs the question -- end up in a better place for what reason? If being "in a better place" wasn't going to improve how he felt internally, why bother? I think its hard for us normies to understand people like that, because its so obvious how it would be "better" to have more money, stability, etc, but perhaps the definition of enlightenment is to be truly happy regardless of circumstance. If that's the case, is there really a reason to do those things (if it truly won't change your internal state in any way)? Like if you knew that no job or money you made would ever lead to any fulfillment of any kind, and you would be equally happy without the job / money, would you still do it, just because its a "better situation" (how we define better is again tricky here)... This is extreme, but there's an old zen koan about a teacher who tells his servant to leave him alone while he drinks tea, as his house burns down. He then walks back to see it burned down, and no one can understand why he did that, and he says something like "I was enjoying my tea". The house was as meaningless as if someone had said "if you don't come quick a leaf will blow off your patio" -- totally meaningless and of no impact to your present mood.

razorunreal 7y ago
I think our emotional responses exist to guide us towards good decisions. If you take a reinforcement learning system and you always give it positive reinforcement, it will not learn much of anything. I guess I'm saying your enlightenment is irrelevant if it's not improving your survival.