what makes you go

[joao93]

I wake up in the morning because I have to go to school from 6am to 6pm.

[spooker]

let's not bullshit ourselves--people aren't happy, they will never be happy. men are not constructed to feel happiness. one moment of happiness contains within itself the seeds of its own demise. life is not guided by principles. people get up because their bodies make them get up, just following biological programming. knowing that men will never be happy, society has cleverly constructed several competing value systems that will keep us moving, that convince us that the present unhappiness doesnt matter--capitalism, religion, making babies, social work, etc etc. So many people say that the key to "happiness" is to focus on and pursue something greater than yourself, and this is what they are referring to. Of course we will never actually be happy, but these systems keep us running; in the end, we will not arrive anywhere, its just the process of pursuit that's important

[seighten]

you know, spooker, ive had that same thought before in two different instances and ways of understanding it

[spooker]

[Chuck]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2c5_1186424273

[Baker]

let's not bullshit ourselves--people aren't happy, they will never be happy. men are not constructed to feel happiness. one moment of happiness contains within itself the seeds of its own demise. life is not guided by principles.

So not true, I don't even know where to begin. Life is absolutely guided by principles.

Those that act dishonestly or in a way to harm others will keep their own company. Those that act honestly and treat others with respect will keep their own company. It is difficult, but if you manage to be in the second group, you are vastly more happy.

Unhappiness is sort of like a disease caused by the way unhappy people think, to be quite honest.

knowing that men will never be happy, society has cleverly constructed several competing value systems that will keep us moving, that convince us that the present unhappiness doesnt matter--capitalism, religion, making babies, social work, etc etc.

Capitalism isn't a belief system, capitalism is a physical process that is part of the universe. You don't even need humans to have capitalism. It exists in bacteria and every life form.

Life forms that do not extract MORE energy than they expend DIE. ALL of them.

Religion ...

To me (<-- the disclaimer), religions are a pre-packaged "off the shelf" set of beliefs for people who can't figure out right from wrong for themselves.

It's the starter kit. Everywhere in the world, there are people that need that because they are not wise enough to figure it all out for themselves.

Once you can, you don't need the training wheels any more. There are right and wrong ways to treat others and your environment, no religion required.

So many people say that the key to "happiness" is to focus on and pursue something greater than yourself, and this is what they are referring to

Well, I agree with you on that one. Any kind of happiness based on finding some way to distract yourself from the world is some sort of false happiness ... any true happiness has to be one where you deal with the world head on.

Of course we will never actually be happy

I would correct you and say "You don't mean 'we', you mean 'you' won't be happy" .. but you cannot even know that.

we will not arrive anywhere, its just the process of pursuit that's important

How can you know that with certainty?

Something I recently have thought about, not so different than what you have been thinking I guess, is that I see a lot of cynical and sarcastic people in this world.

Talk about a disease!

Cynicism and sarcasm are the poisons of failure and futility ... a self-fulfilling prophecy. Cynical and sarcastic people are GOING to be unhappy. It is also self-defeating. They could spend time learning about their world or sorting thru the inner mysteries of life, but that attitude is one of hopelessness and no one drinking from that bottle is ever going to be happy or learn anything because they won't make the effort.

We live in a world that does exist (why does there have to be a universe? We're lucky!) and anyone who passes judgment on that fortunate fact and calls it a bad place is already off to a bad assessment.

How can the world be a bad place? It's the only place we know of where life exists? Some formula to estimate habitable planets estimate only 3-100 planets in the whole galaxy. How can we be in a bad place if places like this world are so rare?

I think there are 2 sources of negativity. First, people not understanding the world and thinking it works in an irrational and cruel way -- when it doesn't (on a large scale). And second, anyone who believes the former is going to believe the only outcome is failure because they think things are pre-engineered to produce a bad result (not true at all).

Usually, the people who think we live in a bad world just don't know enough history. If you want to see a bad world, look 50 or 100 or 200 years ago. In contrast, the modern world will look remarkable!

/End of 1000+ word post

[Magn3tar]

I wake up so I can kiss people's asses all day at work.

[Solecord]

I wake up so I can kiss people's asses all day at work.

... and then pucker up and kiss mine when I own you on the weekends

[spooker]

lol life is guided by principles. and the iraq invasion is about democracy. AHAHHAAHAH~!H!!~!!!!!!!!

[Baker]

lol life is guided by principles. and the iraq invasion is about democracy. AHAHHAAHAH~!H!!~!!!!!!!!

I don't care too much about Iraq, I was responding to your "no one can be happy thing."

You've been to Afghanistan and seen how things are in other parts of the world. How many of the people you met had all their teeth?

Those people have, relatively -- meaning compared to you or I, at least have some reason to feel that they are not doing as well as others in the world.

But most people in this country, are vaccinated, have most of their teeth, are educated. To say that one can not be happy living in a wealthy country where our problems are not usually related to health and survival is rather disappointing.

There are people in the world with real problems. My mom is a doctor who works with the mental health of people in prison, on parole and others that are trying to straighten out some really messed up lives who grew up in very bad environments.

Self-honesty is important to feeling well, can you honestly say you have a bad life or that the world has not treated you well?

[gulliver-trans]

Happy shmappy. Did anyone define happiness?

A cynic is just a dude who recognizes that people act out of selfish or self-interested or self-whatever motives. So what? Though the def. has perhaps changed, or at least the connotation, it remains a valid perspective.

Once you can, you don't need the training wheels any more. There are right and wrong ways to treat others and your environment, no religion required.

And that's why most people abandon their religion after 5 years...

[spooker]

i think peoples mental constitution decides whether they're happy as much as whether they have health insurance. i also think among external factors, community strength is often overlooked here. i personally am always happier in poorer countries

[Baker]

Happy shmappy. Did anyone define happiness?

A cynic is just a dude who recognizes that people act out of selfish or self-interested or self-whatever motives. So what? Though the def. has perhaps changed, or at least the connotation, it remains a valid perspective.

Yeah, cynicism is what happens when someone FIRST discovers people mostly act on self-interest. It seems sad at first because everyone has different expectations than that.

Once you get past that, you can see there is a lot of good in the world.

I think cynicism is a stage, I went through it and everyone does. Most people are nice and well meaning people. I think saying the world sucks is sort of a disservice to people that try to make a world a better place.

i personally am always happier in poorer countries

I'm always happier when something very bad in my life is narrowly averted, heheh The reminder of things that suck keeps people happy.

I swear that people whose lives or occupations involves dealing with less fortunate people are always happier than most other people.

I think a lot of the "woe is me" stuff in this country (and elsewhere!) are when pampered people with no problems are sitting around bored (like Slashdot.org, for example) complaining about how terrible everything is.

/A personal pet peeve of mine

[gulliver-trans]

Why compare yourself to people in "3rd world" countries when you can compare yourself to people right here at home - your actual competition.

[TehChozenTwo]

Due dates for AP homework and the internet gets me up in the morning.