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> perfect, permanent and unqualified happiness I would call that insanity. I have this theory of mine since spending time in drug circles. The drug users spen

> perfect, permanent and unqualified happiness I would call that insanity. I have this theory of mine since spending time in drug circles. The drug users spend time as well chasing "perfect, permanent and unqualified happiness". And with substances you can achieve the unqualified part. The perfect and permanent parts not really since tolerance comes into play. Anyway, my theory is that unhappiness is absolutely necessary. Happiness means you are content with what is. And you take action when you want to change to what could be, what you want. But if you are already happy then you don't want to change anything, so you don't do anything even if you absolutely should. There are a lot of things that tend to prove that unhappiness and its companion - the pursuit of happiness - are the most important motivators. Negative news, commercials, propaganda, populist discourse and so on.

raptorraver 5y ago
In human life there is and will be suffering. Escaping it won't make you happy. Accepting it and finding a purpose for your suffering can make you happy but it's quite a different kind of happiness that you see in movies.
- koide 5y ago
  Yes, I think that the word happy and happiness are wrong words. Acceptance or contentment are better words, but are not as attractive. If you think about permanent acceptance then you can actually see it happening. It's permanent euphoria what's unachievable.
Thursday24 5y ago
The eastern traditions encourage something called "Skilled interpretation". What's skilled interpreations? Picking causes that cause happiness, avoiding causes that lead to unhappiness. And to train the mind in such a way that if one indeed reaches a place of unhappiness, quickly rebalancing the mind to return to serenity, peace and happiness. Skilled interpreation is a continuous process to maintain serenity.
mdp2021 5y ago
> unhappiness ... necessary No, no, no, no, no. Deontic action is performed irregardless of contentedness. Unhappiness is not a requirement for motivation. Improvement of your suit is not impeded by the utter perfection of your armchair. And, optimal state and false diagnostics ("I fixed the issues by having the `test()` function just `return True`") are diametrically opposite. If the misunderstanding comes out of misunderstanding of concepts, this is why some of us insist on the importance of the awareness of language - the sheer elementary gain out it will be a "Careful with that word, Eugene".

raptorraver 5y ago

In human life there is and will be suffering. Escaping it won't make you happy. Accepting it and finding a purpose for your suffering can make you happy but it's quite a different kind of happiness that you see in movies.

koide 5y ago
Yes, I think that the word happy and happiness are wrong words. Acceptance or contentment are better words, but are not as attractive. If you think about permanent acceptance then you can actually see it happening. It's permanent euphoria what's unachievable.

Thursday24 5y ago

The eastern traditions encourage something called "Skilled interpretation". What's skilled interpreations? Picking causes that cause happiness, avoiding causes that lead to unhappiness. And to train the mind in such a way that if one indeed reaches a place of unhappiness, quickly rebalancing the mind to return to serenity, peace and happiness. Skilled interpreation is a continuous process to maintain serenity.

mdp2021 5y ago

> unhappiness ... necessary No, no, no, no, no. Deontic action is performed irregardless of contentedness. Unhappiness is not a requirement for motivation. Improvement of your suit is not impeded by the utter perfection of your armchair. And, optimal state and false diagnostics ("I fixed the issues by having the `test()` function just `return True`") are diametrically opposite. If the misunderstanding comes out of misunderstanding of concepts, this is why some of us insist on the importance of the awareness of language - the sheer elementary gain out it will be a "Careful with that word, Eugene".