WHAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF HAPPINESS?
AND OTHER (UNANSWERABLE?) QUESTIONS
DISCUSS!
Is
happiness the absence of pain or grief, or can one be “happy” even while
experiencing a loss?
Someone
is kind to me, and I’m happy. Someone is mean to me, and I’m not happy. Does
happiness depend on circumstances or is happiness a state of mind that doesn’t
necessarily alter as circumstances change?
Is it
possible to be “happy” when it’s not all about me? When I somehow make other
people’s lives better, or take care of someone less fortunate, or more helpless
(babies, for example)?
It
doesn’t make me “happy” that I have to clean my own toilets. It would make me
“happy” if I had a maid. On the other hand, I’m “happy” I have running water,
flushing toilets, a nice house, good food to eat. Compared to 80% of the
world’s population, I’m a millionaire. Is happiness relative?
It
doesn’t make me “happy” that I have to clean my own toilets. However, I’m
“happy” when the job is done and my house is clean. Is happiness a sense of
accomplishment for having done something productive? This is an analogy. We
could be talking about any project.
Which
makes you “happier”—the planning (anticipation) of something, or the actual
doing of something? When the planned event is over, are you still “happy,” or
do you need now something else to plan for and look forward to? Would you still
be happy if you never had something to look forward to?
Single,
in search of the perfect partner. Married, fantasizing about what it would be
like to be single. Is it the pursuit of something and not the apprehension that
makes us happy?
Eating
makes me “happy,” but eating too much makes me gain weight. I don’t feel happy
when I gain a few pounds, so I stop eating at a certain point. Am I “happier”
eating or refraining from eating? This is an analogy but I’m not exactly sure
what I’m analogizing.
What is
the opposite of happiness? Put another way, is happiness an emotion? A state of
being? A choice?
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Comment: The above questions I started generating after a conversation with a friend about the topic led to no answers and even more questions. We promised to continue the conversation over a bottle of wine or two next time we got together. Which we did (sort of). Let's keep the conversation going, shall we?
This morning, a podcast that I started listening to recently (Question of the Day, with James Altucher and Stephen Dubner, the latter of Freakonomics fame), addressed similar questions, only better. I link it here. It's Episode 35, "Fleeting Happiness," if you need to do a search.
