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/lit/ - Literature

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2756118 No.2756118 [Reply] [Original]

Is happiness attainable, /lit/?

>> No.2756124

I think it's weird that "happiness" is supposed to be the goal in life. Why?

>> No.2756136

i find happiness in a bowl of soup

>> No.2756144

>>2756124
That's not true of everyone, though.

Every now and again someone will post that retarded John Lennon quote about happiness on Facebook that makes me homicidal. I hate when uneducated people try to be profound.

>> No.2756140

>>2756124
What else is there to live for?

>> No.2756148

Hapiness is something you feel
not something you get.

>> No.2756151

>>2756140
you're already living. the question is answered, idiot.

>> No.2756152

>>2756124
why wouldn't it be? I think it's weird that getting a job and having kids is supposed to be our goal in life when it should be whatever makes you happy.

>> No.2756153

>>2756124
Maybe contentment is a better word. Its a positive outlook on life, making it desirable. Think of childhood, or even infancy, with all needs taken care of.

>> No.2756156

>>2756144
Oh man, I know the quote. Facebook is a cesspool of vapid shit and is up there with the worst things to happen this century (you know, besides war and famine and disease and shit like that).

>> No.2756158
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2756158

only if these are dubz

>> No.2756161

>>2756152
I don't know where you're pulling this idea from, but that is obviously not what most people think. American education system strikes again.

>> No.2756162

>>2756148
Yea but usually the environment shapes what you feel and often we like to think of ourselves as masters of our environment (some more than others).

>> No.2756166

yes and once you find it it never goes away

>> No.2756170
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2756170

Nope.

>> No.2756179

Its approachable, at best

>> No.2756190

No, let's seriously talk about this. Why do people think "happiness" is some attainable and long-lasting state, like enlightenment or something of that nature? It is an emotion just like disappointment, excitement, or anger. Why would anyone want to be happy all the time? That's like being on drugs erry day, and braindead.

>> No.2756203

>>2756190
Your final goal in life is something that is self sufficient. You do everything in your life that will directly or indirectly contribute to you achieving that goal. It cannot be something like wealth, for instance, because you seek wealth so you can obtain goods or status.

What other than "happiness" do you seek for the sake of simply having it?

>> No.2756204

Attainable, but not sustainable. You won't be able to get that job, education or girlfriend and be forever happy.
The mind will go back to a neutral state after an un-/fortunate event, ensuring you will keep hunting for the happiness "high".

>> No.2756207

yes, of course.

>> No.2756212

Umberto Eco says that happiness is not a state of being, but a byproduct of something you like. Thus "trying to be happy" is a misnomer because it's not something attainable like "being rich" or "being a musician."

So you have to find the things that make you happy and do them, then be happy because of it. Then do them again, and so forth.

>> No.2756211

>>2756203
exactly it's a fantasy, but not realistic or practical. emotional states fluctuate. deal with it, nerds.

>> No.2756216

>>2756211
what

>> No.2756225

If we were to build virtual worlds and create our own paradise, where reality is only a chore that we must deal with in order to prop up our virtual wolrds, would that TRULY be a sin?

>> No.2756227

>>2756190
>That's like being on drugs erry day, and braindead.
That's exactly it, except not braindead. You can still do stuff while you're happy, though it is not required.
There are different degrees of happiness though. There are fleeting forms just like with sadness, but also a deeper state like depression, except for happiness.

>> No.2756231

>>2756190
>That's like being on drugs erry day, and braindead.

I was on drugs "erry day" and still got a first in my MSc.

>> No.2756253

>>2756225
A sin in the eyes of whom? Nothing is immoral, my friend.

>> No.2756259

>>2756231
But now you feel the need to validate yourself on an anonymous image board. Shit's gone down the drain, son.

>> No.2756267

>>2756259
If I felt the urge to "validate" myself, I would post the URL of my company along with a list of drugs I still regularly enjoy.

>> No.2756285

>>2756267
I'm loling hard. Please keep posting.

>> No.2756289

No.
I got my dream job, that I had been coveting for the past 4 years, last week. First there was a short wave of exhilaration that lasted for a few hours. Thoughts like"this changes everything... this is what I've always wanted...there could be no better outcome...no more spending whole nights on 4chan" passed through my head. Then there were 48 hours of being upbeat, and playing The Kinks and Beatles out loud.
After 2 days a certain hollowness set in, I started which was browsing 4chan again and generally feeling like shit knowing that the best thing that had happened to me couldn't make me happy.
I feel like an angsty teenager despite being 22. Maybe I need help.

>> No.2756290

>>2756285
>I'm loling hard.
Are you clapping too?

>> No.2756294

>>2756289
Ignore he >which was

>> No.2756299

>>2756294
*the
Fuck, what is wrong with me.

>> No.2756301

happiness is fleeting, before happiness there is suffering, after you attain happiness there is suffering

>> No.2756311

being beautiful is better than being happy

>> No.2756312

>>2756289
That's why I'm a neet, living a life of hedonismand leeching off the state.

>> No.2756315

I'm happy the majority of the time.

>> No.2756321

>>2756290
Sure. :)

>> No.2756318

>>2756315
You're being drugged.

>> No.2756322

>>2756118
in homer's the odyssey(or some such spelling)
odysseus is sent through 2 decades of emotional and physical torture, attempting to return to his wife penelope. in the end, he acquiesces that which he sought. even if it takes two decades of obstacles, happiness is attainable

>> No.2756325

>>2756322
What you're talking about is exhilaration.

>> No.2756324

HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES? HAPPY PIG OR SAD SOCRATES?

>> No.2756326

>>2756322
>implying she made him happy

>> No.2756328

>>2756324
happy pig, please

>> No.2756333

>>2756326
overall point being he attained what made him happy

>> No.2756335

>>2756322
Refer to this guy>>2756289
Working hard and finally achieving something you sought doesn't make you happy

>> No.2756337

>>2756312
Put your trip back on, Sunhawk

>> No.2756339

>>2756335

working hard may not create happiness, but that would be more accredit to the nature of human temperament. some say working is good for the soul--however whether or not the reference is to joy or happiness is unclear

>> No.2756340

>>2756333
He attained what he desired, doesn't mean he'll be happy.

>> No.2756341

>>2756322
>Happyness: obtainable if you have sex with a nymph, defeat a cyclops, visit hades and have the favors of Athena
>Also being the Tony Stark of Peloponnese (A genius, rich, strong and handsome) helps too

>> No.2756342

>>2756118
Yes. I've been happy many times. But it's not some next level you can unlock and then from there on never regress into the less pleasant emotions.

You can train yourself to be more happy more often though.

>> No.2756349

>>2756340
and im not disagreeing. but as you said, its not certain leaving the possibility to both outcomes

>> No.2756350

>>2756190

Because when you haven't been happy for the last six years of your life - when you don't remember what it even feels like to be happy - it sounds like a pretty good bargain

>> No.2756351

>>2756339
Your original point was that he toiled to achieve his goal which means he'd be happy. I was providing a case where achieving something you have strived for doesn't equate happiness.

>> No.2756353

>>2756341
and i was under the impression classic literature was no longer being read. of course the obstacles being relative to the person

>> No.2756356

I wonder what kind of responses tis question would draw on reddit.

>> No.2756384

Speaking from experience, it's attainable, but sustaining it for any length of time longer than a week or two is near impossible.

>> No.2756396

>>2756118
Sure, be a sort if mystic rake with hedonist tendencies like Dean Moriarty. Did the trick for me. For a while.

>> No.2756416

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology

^ that is what u want to study

>> No.2756413

Happiness = Virtue

>> No.2756479

>>2756396
I don't think Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassady) was very happy.

>> No.2756492

Speaking from my life experience, there is no such thing as happiness, as we understand it in our Western culture.

>> No.2756513

As long as your thoughts aren't shitty and negative then you can be happy. Hell, at least be content with what you have and count your blessings. Even if you're depressed you have to have SOMETHING in life you can think about and smile at. Even if it's a fleeting memory of a girl you liked or a fond moment with a friend or a pet. Something that makes you happy because it happened at all.

>> No.2756537
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2756537

"All you got to do is jump"
~Aladdin

>> No.2756566

>>2756537
I've been living life to the fullest /lit/ and I've realized it's not that worth it.
So now I'm planning to become a reclusive once again and keep on drinking to oblivion.

>> No.2756973

It obviously depends on what you define as happiness, which obviously differs from person to person. Sorry OP, I wish it was that simple too.

>> No.2758361

>>2756513
That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

>> No.2758370

My meditation teacher told me that you don't go out and "get" happiness; you simply choose to be happy.

>> No.2758372

>>2758370
I can see what he means, but that's still pretty dumb. Also, what the flying fuck is a 'meditation teacher?"

>> No.2758373

I agree with the following quote from John Locke:
"A sound mind in a sound body, is a short but full description of a happy state in this world."

In short, if you lower your expectations and extinguish
all trifling desires, you can be very happy. Reading literature is a great step in the right direction, too. Since it should impart to you at least a bit of wisdom.

Check out this pretty page of New York Review book releases:
http://www.read.seas.harvard.edu/~kohler/z/nyrb.html

>> No.2758375

>>2758372
Why do you think it's dumb?

I took a one-hour meditation class at my university. It significantly changed my life.

>> No.2758380

>>2758375
Because it's a chemical reaction that you don't consciously control.

>> No.2758387

When I was like 14 I was suicidally depressed. Not going to bore yall with details but my depression was moderately justifiable, at least in the eyes of a 14 year old.
Anyway, I had a heart to heart with my step dad at some point in that time. I cant recall exactly how the conversation went but at some point I said something about wishing I could just be happy instead of having this sinking feeling blablabla stupid emo "I'm empty void", etc...
To that my step dad said "Only stupid people are happy ALL the time." Really changed my outlook on life, in more ways then one.

Anyway, I thought that was relevant.

>> No.2758390

>>2758387
I suppose it is, not exactly profound or anything, though.

>> No.2758410

>>2756124
It feels good man.
It depends, I think you have to reason out what makes you happy. Based off of morals and life experiences/wisdom, people have totally different perceptions of what brings happiness and what happiness itself is. As for whether it is attainable, I believe so, although my version of happiness has to do with fulfillment. You aren't necessarily joyous constantly; you have to feel sadness and anger. But you are happy with yourself and at peace with your life and your choices.

>> No.2758411

>>2758390
well it kind of is if you consider everything that goes with it. Eternal happiness is now a negative, there for not as important, therefore not something to be even sadder about not having.

well, ok maybe not profound but it struck the right cord for me at the time. I'm also not exactly from a family of philosophers so I'll personally give it credit anyway.