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Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 6:13 pm
by Vraith
I think there are some fascinating agreements and contradictions between that and the Stoics...and also to parts, especially the Kant part, of the OP.
A Stoic...a "sage" one, a state somewhat like enlightenment...is happy in all situations/contexts/circumstances.
And virtue is both necessary and sufficient for happiness.
It isn't a pursuit, achievement, goal that gets happiness.
It is a way of living [always virtuous, and in accord with nature-here-and-now...that seems to reach towards both the Kant and the Eight-fold Path]
Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 4:31 am
by Avatar
Fist and Faith wrote:If something has to happen in order for you to be happy, then it's the wrong approach.
Exactly. Because once that thing has happened, you'll get over being happy, and something else will have to happen. And so,
ad infinitum.
--A
Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 3:45 pm
by hierachy
Sometimes I think that I'm sad and then I realise that I'm happy and it's like oh right
Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 11:11 pm
by Holsety
Holarchy wrote:Sometimes I think that I'm sad and then I realise that I'm happy and it's like oh right
Dude.
Duuuude.
I'm so f-wording not blazed right now.
Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 6:47 pm
by Vraith
Article came up, has some links in it to studies, that relate to this topic.
Though folk might be interested.
Snips from it, points on mistakes of a smart guy who is unhappy [mistakes lots of people make] :
The first blunder was in trying to figure out if he was happy. When we pursue happiness, our goal is to experience more joy and contentment. To find out if we're making progress, we need to compare our past happiness to our current happiness. This creates a problem: the moment we make that comparison, we shift from an experiencing mode to an evaluating mode.
The second error was in overestimating the impact of life circumstances on happiness. As psychologist Dan Gilbert explains in Stumbling on Happiness, we tend to overestimate the emotional impact of positive life events. [/quote
The third misstep was in pursuing happiness alone. Happiness is an individual state, so when we look for it, it's only natural to focus on ourselves. Yet a wealth of evidence consistently shows that self-focused attention undermines happiness and causes depression.
The final mistake was in looking for intense happiness. When we want to be happy, we look for strong positive emotions like joy, elation, enthusiasm, and excitement. Unfortunately, research shows that this isn't the best path to happiness. Research led by the psychologist Ed Diener reveals that happiness is driven by the frequency, not the intensity, of positive emotions.
www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-grant/does- ... 76701.html