← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · neoclassical
Thread ID: 18384 | Posts: 3 | Started: 2005-05-25
2005-05-25 03:19 | User Profile
Happiness ââ¬â A Modern Cliché? A 100% subjective essay by Ãâ¦dne ÃËsleby
In these modern times we live in a likely scenario to occur might be someone asking ââ¬Âwhat is the meaning of life?ââ¬Â, and getting ââ¬Âhappinessââ¬Â as a reply. To day there is such a big emphasis on being happy. We have movies regarding the subject and commercials are almost exclusively about happiness. About every commercial there is tells you that you will be happy as soon as you buy their product. Hell, we even have books on the subject of how to achieve the magnificent state that happiness is. Our constant obsession with happiness is very much reflected from photographs. When someone is to take a portrait of someone itââ¬â¢s important for us to smile and look happy, in order for others to see how happy we are. Happiness has become something prestigious.
What is happiness? The happiness that is being preached by media is about being content. When you are happy you are satisfied with your life, and how it has turned out. You have climbed to the top of Maslowââ¬â¢s pyramid of needs. The stereotype happy man today is someone with a good career, thus having a pretty good income of money. Not too much, but enough to have a nice holiday every now and then. You have a loving and faithful wife that is your one true sole mate. Also you have 2 kids, one boy and one girl that you live together with preferably on the countryside. Now, this man is according to the myth happy, but I care to disagree. The moment you declare your happiness, you have nothing to strive for anymore. Both my self and books regarding psychology agrees to humans being designed to focus more on antipathies, to find negative aspects of your life and to get rid of them. And thus it is in manââ¬â¢s nature to struggle, to fight against one self and to become a better man. We are not meant to be content, we are meant to improve our selves. This might be intellectually, physicly or even through status from ones peers. I prefer the two first suggestions, as I disagree with having the right material possessions makes you a better man. Because that is what status is in modern society, although that is a slight digression from the topic discussed. What I am trying to articulate is that ââ¬Åhappinessââ¬Â is a false virtue. In fact itââ¬â¢s a non-existant virtue. It is not natural to feel a constant happiness as this one of many modern societyââ¬â¢s myths claim. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote ââ¬Åaim your arrows the skyââ¬Â. If you aim your arrows towards the sky (something you most definatly should since itââ¬â¢s in our very nature) you can not be happy. The moment you are happy, you will put the bow and arrow down, and justââ¬Â¦ be.
I want to make it perfectly clear that I do believe in short-term happiness. I am not someone who believes that man is made to live in eternal misery. What I do believe in is short moments when one experience euphoria due to things as seeing beautiful nature, being kissed by your partner or perhaps getting complimented by someone you admire very much. What Iââ¬â¢m saying is that this is not something that is long lasting, something we are constantly told it should be.
We donââ¬â¢t need to travel many years back in time to see a world where happiness occurred in rear moments, and would eventually pass on as one saw faults that needed to be corrected or opportunities that needed to be grabbed. This is also evident through the use of photographs. Dig up a photo of your great grand parents, and see how grave they will look. This is because there was no happiness. Life was a struggle, something it most definatly should be! You had no time to wander around the farm searching your interior as to why you were not feeling ââ¬Åhappyââ¬Â all the time.
To day life is not so much a struggle anymore, as it is a game. If you really want to you can refuse to take part in society, and live life on an asylum somewhere. The western world has become too comfortable. We live in material abundance, something witch is not healthy for mankind.
We have everything we need, and thus we strive for something man made and non-existant: happiness. Naturally we are severely disappointed when we sometime in our 30s will realize that we have never experienced long lasting happiness. Many will come in to a state of crisis where they are desperate at finding true happiness. Some take drugs that give euphoria, others travel the world in searching for it, while other again thinks that family life is vital for finding the infamous key to happiness.
If modern society is obsessed with achieving happiness why is it that teenagers growing up to day are called the Prozac Generation? The modern man is miserable. It is a fact that every single person on this earth knows someone that has problems with his or her psyche. Now, you might say that this is not a modern problem. You will perhaps claim that this was the case also before psychotherapy became mainstream. I however believe this to be a modern problem that is due to the material abundance that the western world is suffering from. Our excessive money, resources and television sets are slowly killing us. They are killing our will to aim for the sky, and thus destroying us as well.
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2005-05-25 04:30 | User Profile
I think that for many people (including myself) at least one aspect of happiness -- let's call it personal fulfillment -- comes from past accomplishments and from having future goals to strive for. It's a snowball effect. With each new goal set and eventually attained, one becomes increasingly happy, self-confident, and motivated to meet the next challenge.
2005-05-25 13:16 | User Profile
Good commentary, Neo.
I'd have to say that "happiness" (whatever that means) will never be attained by accumulation of material goods and money. The pursuit thereof will certainly bring many to misery and dysfuntion.
I'd also say that true happiness definitely is not abundant in the modern, multicultural mess of a world that we find ourselves in today. I think happiness is freedom from dependence on government.....depending on too many things outside of your control can make you feel very small.
This society is way too complex to breed happy people.