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Position:Home>Philosophy> Happiness...?Question:The question is at the end. Please read before answering, thank you. What is happiness? 1. Happiness seems to exist. Let's assume it does. 2. There could be no God, no meaning to life. Life could be absurd. 3. A theory on the nature of happiness must include all circumstances. That is to say that if life is absurd, it still has to describe what happiness is. 4. This theory will also, by necessity, describe what happiness is when life is not absurd. This theory can not be changed by mere sake of belief. 5. One such theory of what happiness is when life is absurd is as follows. Happiness is begotten from the ignorance of life's absurdity. This is to say that to be truly happy, one must be able to forget the meaningless of life and exist in a doubtless state. Call this state bliss. 6. Religious persons or those with faith are no different. They are in a self induced state of doubtlessness. Call this spiritual bliss. What do you think? Is there logical flaws in this theory? Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: The question is at the end. Please read before answering, thank you. What is happiness? 1. Happiness seems to exist. Let's assume it does. 2. There could be no God, no meaning to life. Life could be absurd. 3. A theory on the nature of happiness must include all circumstances. That is to say that if life is absurd, it still has to describe what happiness is. 4. This theory will also, by necessity, describe what happiness is when life is not absurd. This theory can not be changed by mere sake of belief. 5. One such theory of what happiness is when life is absurd is as follows. Happiness is begotten from the ignorance of life's absurdity. This is to say that to be truly happy, one must be able to forget the meaningless of life and exist in a doubtless state. Call this state bliss. 6. Religious persons or those with faith are no different. They are in a self induced state of doubtlessness. Call this spiritual bliss. What do you think? Is there logical flaws in this theory? Smart thinking. If I have understood your point, it means that we need to believe in the meaningfulness of life to be happy... one way is to have faith in God and the other way is to ignore the apparent absurdity of life as it seems logically. I agree with that so far as it goes, but I would like to add the following. Faith in God by itself can not guarantee happiness.... one may all the time worry if one's faith is as good and strong as another's and whether one is pleasing God as much as possible and necessary or not. Similarly, one who takes the route of ignoring the apparent absurdity of life, would be continually reminded of it as and when failures occur in life or unfavorable events take place. In both cases, the issue that comes up is "I" or the Ego. The answer to the above issue perhaps lies in forgetting oneself either through profound faith in God so much so that you can leave everything to Him or through a realization that we are meaninglessly killing ourselves by giving too much importance to ourselves... happiness lies in forgetting oneself rather than in caring for oneself. Hope that makes sense. a happpens is what you make it jest as long as it makes you very happy To feel free to express one's self to a person is a prerequisite to happiness and confidence. there is less chance of misunderstanding an open book than one that is closed. I don't know about flaws. I do know that I disagree with this theory, although I could be misunderstanding it. Happiness is the result of living a life of integrity and genuine service to others. If we have integrity, we live with confidence and joy and regret nothing we do. When we serve others, we live in confidence and joy and always have meaning and purpose. Life can be absurd or not, depending upon our perspective. Absurdity is irrelevant to living a life of integrity. Integrity is integrity and is in itself valuable to the one who practices it. That the absurdity of life is irrelevant to living a life of integrity and service to others is blissfulness. You could say that. To live a life of integrity and service to others is not to say that we don't recognize the absurdity of things. It's merely irrelevant. Like everything in life--it's a choice. Here are some happy life quotes. Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. Buddha --------------------------------------... People don't ever seem to realize that doing what's right's no guarantee against misfortune. William McFee --------------------------------------... If you're going through hell, keep going. Winston Churchill --------------------------------------... Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. George Bernard Shaw --------------------------------------... Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Martin Luther King, Jr. --------------------------------------... Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumines it. Martin Luther King, Jr. --------------------------------------... Challenges come so we can grow and be prepared for things we are not equipped to handle now. When we face our challenges with faith, prepared to learn, willing to make changes, and if necessary, to let go, we are demanding our power be turned on. Iyanla Vanzant --------------------------------------... We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them. William Arthur Ward --------------------------------------... Life is a bridge. Cross over it, but build no house on it Indian Proverb --------------------------------------... It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil. If they would only expend the same amount of energy loving their fellow men, the devil would die in his own tracks of ennui. Helen Keller --------------------------------------... If we are really to live at all we must put our convictions into action Margaret Sanger --------------------------------------... My life is my message. Gandhi --------------------------------------... Life is an art we are required to practice without preparation, a score that we play at sight even before we have mastered our instruments Lewis Mumford --------------------------------------... Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be waiting for us in our graves--or whether it should be ours here and now and on this earth. Ayn Rand --------------------------------------... Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. W.J. Bryan --------------------------------------... Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever Gandhi --------------------------------------... There has been much tragedy in my life; at least half of it actually happened. Mark Twain --------------------------------------... The human spirit needs to accomplish, to achieve, to triumph to be happy. Ben Stein --------------------------------------... How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these. George Washington Carver --------------------------------------... Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller --------------------------------------... The three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for. Addison --------------------------------------... Maybe this world is another planet's hell. Aldous Huxley --------------------------------------... To the woman who complained that riches hadn't made her happy, the Master said "You speak as if luxury and comfort were ingredients of happiness; whereas all you need to be really happy, my dear, is something to be enthusiastic about. You don't know, so stop pretending. Admit your ignorance, and listen: You're unhappy because you seek more, and try to become more. BUT, IF you stop demanding anything, and remain as you are.... then, you'll be happy. Whenever I am faced with a question, I always use the same measuring stick to verify the answer. That is the Law of Attraction as presented by Jerry and Esther Hicks. If you are not aware of it, you can easily research it online. Also don't be so sure that your theory cannot be changed by mere sake of belief. As a matter of fact, belief matters a lot. ie. One wants abundance but believes that his family or caste is born to experience permanent poverty and permanent suffering due to some other belief in karma. Now it is always possible that this example person could have a conversion of belief, but the chances are mighty slim. Either way, the theory is flawed logically. If you make the effort to verify this and by some unlikely flook still find you have questions or doubts on the subject, I can be emailed. This effort needs to be connected to your outside world. Merely journeying with your present memories might not get you where you would like to go because of resistance. Happiness is feeling arise / generate due to the result of some action (thought, words, & deeds) based on the contacting objects/persons, place & time when it is harmonious.If it is inharmonious the sadness is the result.Both happiness or sadness arises by spending of life energy where as the blissness result in the increase/ enrichment of life energy(soul). Your question is so simple & good but definition & explanation are to much confusing. |