The cost of happiness

Forums: Philosophy, Happiness
Email this Topic • Print this Page

Quote: To be happy is to be more gullible. Happy people tend to think less concretely and systematically; they are less persuasive. A happy person is less likely to discern looming threats...

The more you value happiness, it turns out, the more unhappy you will become...

http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2011/10/16/the-dark-side-happiness/KZLUM1rKqMqhEGGO6yelmI/story.html

To me, happiness means good health, good food, uninterrupted sleep, reliable car, no money worries, all my needs satisfied, and interesting new projects.

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Discussion • Score: 4 • Views: 3,164 • Replies: 23

No top replies

@Rickoshay75,

Are you disagreeing with the quote, and posting it for discussion because you disagree?

1 Reply

@vikorr,

vikorr wrote:

Are you disagreeing with the quote, and posting it for discussion because you disagree?

Not disagreeing with it, just that I have my own perception.

0 Replies

@Rickoshay75,

In that case :
I would have said :

Quote:

To be happy is to be more gullible

"To be happy is to be more open"

Quote:

Happy people tend to think less concretely and systematically

Happy people tend to be less suspicious and more trusting (which aren't the same thing)

Quote:

they are less persuasive

They are rather content and don't have to get everyone on their side, nor manipulate people...and winning isn't everything to them

Quote:

A happy person is less likely to discern looming threats...

the less suspicion and greater trusting thing again.

Quote:

The more you value happiness, it turns out, the more unhappy you will become...

I don't know where they got this from...perhaps they interviewed people who don't have it, and therefore crave it, and drew a warped conclusion from that.

1 Reply

@vikorr,

There's a difference between happiness and being ignorantly blissful but I;m not sure what it is.

2 Replies

@Rickoshay75,

Rickoshay75 wrote:

There's a difference between happiness and being ignorantly blissful but I;m not sure what it is.

happiness lets you understand the world the way it is , with regret at times

blissful ignorance , is fantasy , ignoring the reality of the world around you

0 Replies

@Rickoshay75,

You certainly don't have to be 'blissfully ignorant' to be happy

..although sometimes ignorance can be better - but that certainly isn't a rule.

1 Reply

@vikorr,

vikorr wrote:

You certainly don't have to be 'blissfully ignorant' to be happy ..although sometimes ignorance can be better - but that certainly isn't a rule.

actually I think the best happyness comes from understanding the world around you , because then you understand what you have is hard , very hard , to come by

2 Replies

@north,

Oh I agree...I was thinking more of 'if your partner strayed just the once' kind of scenario. Many people still live happy marriages in ignorance of such....though, I guess a very decent percentage are also unhappy or bored, or both.

0 Replies

@north,

north wrote:

vikorr wrote:
You certainly don't have to be 'blissfully ignorant' to be happy ..although sometimes ignorance can be better - but that certainly isn't a rule.

actually I think the best happyness comes from understanding the world around you , because then you understand what you have is hard , very hard , to come by

You're right about learning everything the hard way, but that doesn't necessarily bring happiness, only cold hard acceptance.

1 Reply

@Rickoshay75,

Or appreciation.

0 Replies

@Rickoshay75,

I suspect your principle that "The more you value happiness...the more unhappy you will become" is correct (I should look at your link before talking, I guess). It seems that when one ATTACHES (an important Buddhist concept) to the notion of happiness one is easily disappointed. Indeed, one becomes chronically disappointed (dukkha) because one lives according to an ideal, a state of chronic "hope" in contrast to reality. That rarely works out in my experience. Living life with acceptance is so much easier and, according to Nietzsche, it is the height of adjustment. Regarding one past life he recommends the prescription Amor Fati (love your destiny--meaning the reality of how things have turned out).

1 Reply

@JLNobody,

...ain´t that a beauty that time to time we come to agree on something J !
I love probability and statistics ! Wink

0 Replies

@Rickoshay75,

"I'd rather be an optimist and a fool than a pessimist and right."
Albert Einstein

3 Replies

@coolcubed,

Einstein, what did he know?

0 Replies

@Rickoshay75,

Quote:

To me, happiness means good health, good food, uninterrupted sleep, reliable car, no money worries, all my needs satisfied, and interesting new projects.

...and you think that´s not asking allot ?... Rolling Eyes

1 Reply

@Fil Albuquerque,

Fil Albuquerque wrote:

Quote:
To me, happiness means good health, good food, uninterrupted sleep, reliable car, no money worries, all my needs satisfied, and interesting new projects.

...and you think that´s not asking allot ?...

I didn't say I expected to get it, just that was my goal.

0 Replies

The cost of happiness

$15.37 before tax

1 Reply

@djjd62,

djjd62 wrote:

The cost of happiness

$15.37 before tax

A pint or a fifth?

0 Replies

@coolcubed,

I'm guessing it'd be easier to have that mentality if you're a genius

0 Replies

The cost of happiness

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know