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After getting philosophical one evening I came to the conclusion that 'bleak, scary and just plainly shit' is the default state of any particular person's mood
by baq 3y ago
After getting philosophical one evening I came to the conclusion that 'bleak, scary and just plainly shit' is the default state of any particular person's mood and this is how the whole humanity evolved. Happiness and bliss are what you're chasing after, not what you're supposed to be - if you're permanently happy, you've diverged from the mean and either are an exception or overdue for a mean reversal.
That is in itself a rather bleak and scary outlook but I least I feel honest with myself. The human species won by being full of sad people, some of who fought the environment to be slightly happier for a while.
- schrectacular 3y agoI have a feeling you might enjoy this conversation: https://www.econtalk.org/a-users-guide-to-our-emotional-thermostat-with-adam-mastroianni/ https://www.econtalk.org/a-users-guide-to-our-emotional-ther... You are not alone in that path of thought. I think that yes, happiness is fleeting, but I tend to think something like satisfaction or contentedness is within reach for many people. Because people aren't going around being actively sad I don't think either. It seems like most folks (and research backs it up) are "getting by" so to speak. Not elated but also not constantly mopey or whatever. Anyway I think it's a deep and interesting introspective path you've taken.
- lazide 3y agoAnother thought - feelings/emotions are always relative; and will show up on a distribution naturally. Even in the trenches of WW1 there were smiles sometimes.
- int_19h 3y agoWhat did the human species win?