Is Happiness A Choice?
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I'm with Pin... I believe in determinism. Every outcome is the result of every simultaneous stimulus at the time and the previous state of the "system". If we could determine the state of everything and plug it into a computer, we could predict the future. It's impossible for your mind and body to ignore the previous state of everything that influences it, and it steers us.
That being said, I make "choices." Am I free of causality? No, but the path I'm on has led me to embrace ideas such as meditation, positivity, and being there for others, and these things bring me happiness. I can't make anyone else choose this path, and there are infinitely many influencing factors which can change things.
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Happiness is not a choice but your own attitude towards different things and circumstances is a choice. You can choose to view your life and world more positively. Positive thinking leads to more likely more positive outcomes. Attitude is everything.
Mental health issues like I've (depression) is not a choice thus I can't just "push some magical button" in my mind and just become happy just like that, but I can try to change my view of the world and myself.
No one is happy all the time, feelings and emotions can vary a lot depending on the day or week. Not everyone has a choice (freedom) in their life either but that doesn't mean there isn't anything you can do. You can always do something even if it's tiny baby steps!
We can choose to think differently which can help to get more fulfilling life aka "happiness".
Mental health issues like I've (depression) is not a choice thus I can't just "push some magical button" in my mind and just become happy just like that, but I can try to change my view of the world and myself.
No one is happy all the time, feelings and emotions can vary a lot depending on the day or week. Not everyone has a choice (freedom) in their life either but that doesn't mean there isn't anything you can do. You can always do something even if it's tiny baby steps!
We can choose to think differently which can help to get more fulfilling life aka "happiness".
Infjente
Hot Fuzz
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I agree.
Had me thinking we must actually "choose" positive thinking all the time without realizing it. If we removed denial as an optional choice, we would be totally perplexed by negative thoughts?
Infjente
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Yes! This is so important! The actual outcome is what really counts <3
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Yes! <3
Well, empirically (not necessarily theoretically, though, i.e. Many Worlds, etc) the world isn't deterministic by quantum mechanics, etc. However, our brains may be deterministic. Still, one could easily imagine a future where we augment our brains with quantum mechanical uncertainty-involving devices. Even today, we could introduce genuine unpredictability into our decisions: I could decide chocolate/vanilla ice cream based on a quantum measurement, and nobody could predict my choice. However, it's possible someone could've predicted THAT I made that decision to go to that measuring device, based on past states of my brain.
Even so, free will has to involve both causation of the future outcomes (exercising will) and the ability to do otherwise given the past (that the will be free), and it's a subtle metaphysical question whether even after quantum indeterminacy, that holds. The do-otherwise part is obviously there, but there may be no genuine 'will' i.e. perhaps there is no sense in which the particles actually cause the future.
(It has come to my attention that a lot of thinkers may be a little cavalier about dismissing that the apparent randomness of quantum mechanics precludes this kind of causal determination by the will, whatever that is.... that doesn't strike me as obvious; the randomness is a matter of unpredictability given empirical information about the past, and is no claim AFAIK that the particles aren't causally determining the future at a given point where quantum decoherence takes place.)
Even so, free will has to involve both causation of the future outcomes (exercising will) and the ability to do otherwise given the past (that the will be free), and it's a subtle metaphysical question whether even after quantum indeterminacy, that holds. The do-otherwise part is obviously there, but there may be no genuine 'will' i.e. perhaps there is no sense in which the particles actually cause the future.
(It has come to my attention that a lot of thinkers may be a little cavalier about dismissing that the apparent randomness of quantum mechanics precludes this kind of causal determination by the will, whatever that is.... that doesn't strike me as obvious; the randomness is a matter of unpredictability given empirical information about the past, and is no claim AFAIK that the particles aren't causally determining the future at a given point where quantum decoherence takes place.)
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Puzzlenuzzle
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Short answer is no, long answer is yes.. or vice versa. hehe. not entirely sure!
First of all, ..at least to me, I think how we view and define the term 'happiness' has radically changed past 1-2 century/ies. Now, it has more of a capitalist idiotic influence. I mean there is always someone telling us that we need something, or to do something in order to be happy.
For me happiness is a term that more correlates with feeling content rather than joy. Feeling content simply means that I have made choices that give me inner peace whereas joy comes and goes, and is often related to instant gratification. (Of course you can feel joy from contentment but pure contentment, at least for me feels more peaceful).
So, from that I guess I can say that happiness often correlates with 'you reap what you sow'. Your feeling of contentment towards it will tell you if you are/aren't sowing according to your being or higher being.
Choosing to be happy by smiling through the shit, not dwell on it, etc etc .. that often will backfire... Reappear in your life and make you see that you actually haven't dealt with it. I used to do it.
My ex boyfriend was one of those that chose 'not to dwell on things', shrug it off, and to just be positive. Oddly, he was the most haunted smiling individual I have ever encountered. He never actually dealt with his problems because he simply didn't acknowledge them which resulted in that his insecurities reappeared into situations, and in turn that insecurity made situations something that they weren't. Therefore, sometimes our acts of choosing to be happy can cover our faults and our weaknesses meaning, that instead of working on them or through them they will continue to backfire and reappear through our lives.
Honestly, though, this is something I think everyone struggles with as we only have our own perspective. So.. If we were to not acknowledge our faults, what makes us unhappy and understand why then we truly cannot know happiness because if we don't understand it or acknowledge it, it will reappear.
Choosing to be happy by shrugging everything off and always having that attitude towards things might correlate with the difference between instant gratification and patience.
What I mean, is that instant gratification of just shrugging it off gives us a certain control, or power whereas introspecting and evaluation the things means that we don't necessarily feel in control of it, and can at times feel overwhelmed with the gravity of the... whatever is making us unhappy.
However, once we give in to the chaos of our inner turmoil then that can lead us to making choices that we are content with and in return reap happiness.
Having one of those days, or series of unlucky events, yes, you put a smile on and just deal with it. Sure, laugh at it, smile, find the silver lining, make self deprecating jokes, irony of it.. whatever floats your boat as long as you do not count that as a factor that measures your happiness as its unrealistic.
I mean, how can anyone go through life without gathering good and bad experiences. How can we even appreciate feeling joy without having felt the negatives? How can we even deal with major negative events if we don't face the minor ones?
This is one of the reasons for why I tend to view one of those days, or series of unfortunate events as blessings in disguise. Because, the potential to learn and grow when those occur is there, and without them I don't think I or anyone else would be equipped to actually deal with major things like.. death.
It's just how it is... you reap what you sow, and sometimes you just reap random bs blessings in disguise, or random bs.
Therefore, for me.. you can never choose to be happy just like an individual with depression doesn’t chose it. We don't chose the cards we are dealt with but we chose how we react to it, or our attitude towards it. So.. in essence the person isn't necessarily happy but the person might still be proactive in improving her/his life, and in that rabbit hole is where you might find resolutions, or some form of happiness.. or a form of contentment.
For me, choosing happiness is: helping others, seeing that life and all its random bs works for us in the end; accepting the problem, willingness to improve it ..while still being determined to always getting back up.
Screw viewing the glass half full or half empty.. just view the glass as temporary..one in a million glassess for every situation in your life, and just like every other glass it is bound to leak, or overfill.. but in the end your choices will either fill it up, drown it, empty it.. or whatever you want to do with you glass.
First of all, ..at least to me, I think how we view and define the term 'happiness' has radically changed past 1-2 century/ies. Now, it has more of a capitalist idiotic influence. I mean there is always someone telling us that we need something, or to do something in order to be happy.
For me happiness is a term that more correlates with feeling content rather than joy. Feeling content simply means that I have made choices that give me inner peace whereas joy comes and goes, and is often related to instant gratification. (Of course you can feel joy from contentment but pure contentment, at least for me feels more peaceful).
So, from that I guess I can say that happiness often correlates with 'you reap what you sow'. Your feeling of contentment towards it will tell you if you are/aren't sowing according to your being or higher being.
Choosing to be happy by smiling through the shit, not dwell on it, etc etc .. that often will backfire... Reappear in your life and make you see that you actually haven't dealt with it. I used to do it.
My ex boyfriend was one of those that chose 'not to dwell on things', shrug it off, and to just be positive. Oddly, he was the most haunted smiling individual I have ever encountered. He never actually dealt with his problems because he simply didn't acknowledge them which resulted in that his insecurities reappeared into situations, and in turn that insecurity made situations something that they weren't. Therefore, sometimes our acts of choosing to be happy can cover our faults and our weaknesses meaning, that instead of working on them or through them they will continue to backfire and reappear through our lives.
Honestly, though, this is something I think everyone struggles with as we only have our own perspective. So.. If we were to not acknowledge our faults, what makes us unhappy and understand why then we truly cannot know happiness because if we don't understand it or acknowledge it, it will reappear.
Choosing to be happy by shrugging everything off and always having that attitude towards things might correlate with the difference between instant gratification and patience.
What I mean, is that instant gratification of just shrugging it off gives us a certain control, or power whereas introspecting and evaluation the things means that we don't necessarily feel in control of it, and can at times feel overwhelmed with the gravity of the... whatever is making us unhappy.
However, once we give in to the chaos of our inner turmoil then that can lead us to making choices that we are content with and in return reap happiness.
Having one of those days, or series of unlucky events, yes, you put a smile on and just deal with it. Sure, laugh at it, smile, find the silver lining, make self deprecating jokes, irony of it.. whatever floats your boat as long as you do not count that as a factor that measures your happiness as its unrealistic.
I mean, how can anyone go through life without gathering good and bad experiences. How can we even appreciate feeling joy without having felt the negatives? How can we even deal with major negative events if we don't face the minor ones?
This is one of the reasons for why I tend to view one of those days, or series of unfortunate events as blessings in disguise. Because, the potential to learn and grow when those occur is there, and without them I don't think I or anyone else would be equipped to actually deal with major things like.. death.
It's just how it is... you reap what you sow, and sometimes you just reap random bs blessings in disguise, or random bs.
Therefore, for me.. you can never choose to be happy just like an individual with depression doesn’t chose it. We don't chose the cards we are dealt with but we chose how we react to it, or our attitude towards it. So.. in essence the person isn't necessarily happy but the person might still be proactive in improving her/his life, and in that rabbit hole is where you might find resolutions, or some form of happiness.. or a form of contentment.
For me, choosing happiness is: helping others, seeing that life and all its random bs works for us in the end; accepting the problem, willingness to improve it ..while still being determined to always getting back up.
Screw viewing the glass half full or half empty.. just view the glass as temporary..one in a million glassess for every situation in your life, and just like every other glass it is bound to leak, or overfill.. but in the end your choices will either fill it up, drown it, empty it.. or whatever you want to do with you glass.
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ThomasJ79
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Often it happens when one isn't trying to seek it, but from reflecting in the present a experiencing a sense of human well being and flourishment. Should we seek it? Would we want to be merely happy all the time? I don't think I would. How would I know what happiness is if I weren't familiar with unhappiness, right?
Understanding certain truths about reality I think make happiness a naive end goal in an of itself, but I can't deny that it is important or somewhat desirable. I think acceptance, understanding, and contentedness would be more desirable, but this is up to the individual.
I personally find seeking happiness in the modern sense is more like those shallow self help endeavors that lead to unsatisfying dead ends. It is better to minimize those kinds of attachments and desires and expand beyond this to the totality of human existence.
Understanding certain truths about reality I think make happiness a naive end goal in an of itself, but I can't deny that it is important or somewhat desirable. I think acceptance, understanding, and contentedness would be more desirable, but this is up to the individual.
I personally find seeking happiness in the modern sense is more like those shallow self help endeavors that lead to unsatisfying dead ends. It is better to minimize those kinds of attachments and desires and expand beyond this to the totality of human existence.
I think it's worth analyzing this further, not tying it too much to metaphysical free will, and at least discuss what it might mean with more compatibilist flavored renderings. That is, for instance, if "choice" refers to rational decision-making, which refers to making decisions in a way consistent with reason (which means sometimes, one can or has to make a decision that is not compelled by the reasons, e.g. if one likes both vanilla/chocolate equally but does want ice cream, it's rational to pick one even if by arbitrary means).
Here, my attitude is that some things are truly consistent and inconsistent with one's nature, and others are more variable. It might simply be a fact about your neuro-whatever that if you eat strawberries, you experience excruciating displeasure, and for all practical purposes at least, that tends to be some points against doing it.
However, I do tend to think that there are few intrinsic reasons to be happy about anything in particular. That one's neuroanatomy is built a certain way does not necessarily mean there's a good reason for it, it might just be that way because it can.
So I do tend towards a worldview that doesn't go *looking* for things to criticize, but I'm kind of uncompromising, even idealistically so, on the few truly intrinsic no-nos e.g. I really think it's very hard to justify being "content" with being put in a torture chamber for absolutely no reason....
Here, my attitude is that some things are truly consistent and inconsistent with one's nature, and others are more variable. It might simply be a fact about your neuro-whatever that if you eat strawberries, you experience excruciating displeasure, and for all practical purposes at least, that tends to be some points against doing it.
However, I do tend to think that there are few intrinsic reasons to be happy about anything in particular. That one's neuroanatomy is built a certain way does not necessarily mean there's a good reason for it, it might just be that way because it can.
So I do tend towards a worldview that doesn't go *looking* for things to criticize, but I'm kind of uncompromising, even idealistically so, on the few truly intrinsic no-nos e.g. I really think it's very hard to justify being "content" with being put in a torture chamber for absolutely no reason....
just me
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I think of degrees of unhappiness and circumstances, mainly because of one person I know, but the variances of unhappiness are there. Sometimes it may take years to get through it, but this one person I know has sadness every way they turn.
Step aside, Aristotle. We say happiness is a choice. I have mostly felt that way to a degree. However, I think of a young athlete with a six pack that pole vaulted in high school, that started looking really bodacious. She was a winner, but she had to practice and condition herself to be so. Few have the gift of winning without hard work. She conditioned herself to be a winner; to do what she did easier the more she tried. We may choose to be happy, then our spouse tells us they don't love us any more. Pretty high degree of negativity there. Should we allow that to conquer us? Should we feel down thirty plus years later? I hope not. Scars don't have to remain painful.
Happiness is not something we have every minute of the day in this world. We must condition ourselves to better face the unhappy times and try to let them go when we can. I think it is a work of life. We may become better at it as times goes by. We should learn to stand up against that which is pulling us down. It has no right. Don't expect to be understood.
Some folk seem to be happy just with things. There is a degree to that seems acceptable, as some of us may even collect things we like or learn about. If a person is only happy with a new car, a new diamond, high status, and such? They have their reward.
I think we must choose to condition ourselves to better accept life circumstances in a more positive way. This!
That which we cannot be happy with? Hunt it down and have a long or short talk with it, or shun it. A negative times a positive is a negative.
Stand up to it, or be consumed by it.
Step aside, Aristotle. We say happiness is a choice. I have mostly felt that way to a degree. However, I think of a young athlete with a six pack that pole vaulted in high school, that started looking really bodacious. She was a winner, but she had to practice and condition herself to be so. Few have the gift of winning without hard work. She conditioned herself to be a winner; to do what she did easier the more she tried. We may choose to be happy, then our spouse tells us they don't love us any more. Pretty high degree of negativity there. Should we allow that to conquer us? Should we feel down thirty plus years later? I hope not. Scars don't have to remain painful.
Happiness is not something we have every minute of the day in this world. We must condition ourselves to better face the unhappy times and try to let them go when we can. I think it is a work of life. We may become better at it as times goes by. We should learn to stand up against that which is pulling us down. It has no right. Don't expect to be understood.
Some folk seem to be happy just with things. There is a degree to that seems acceptable, as some of us may even collect things we like or learn about. If a person is only happy with a new car, a new diamond, high status, and such? They have their reward.
I think we must choose to condition ourselves to better accept life circumstances in a more positive way. This!
That which we cannot be happy with? Hunt it down and have a long or short talk with it, or shun it. A negative times a positive is a negative.
Stand up to it, or be consumed by it.
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Dado
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The substratum of our being is happiness, love, bliss. Everything that we do, every desire that we want to fulfill in this life is to get back into that state, to feel completed again. Problem why we can't achieve it is because we try to be happy by going after worldly materialistic stuff and then hold onto them but everybody knows that life is impermanent, which means that things cant stay the same forever and yet everybody lives their life like that ain't so. So, because we want to control life, we suffer. We want our body to always stay beautiful, young, healthy. We want to follow big ambitions, and while trying to fulfill them, we go throughout so much stress where eventually when we achieve them, we become disappointed because we thought that we will be really happy after we succeed but it turns out to be false. Problem was never outside of our selves, it was always inside, the pressure of accumulated negative emotions in our mind and body that we acquired while living life without ever properly embracing and resolving them in the right way. So key is to let go. Stop running after worldly objects, stop creating various philosophies, stop indulging in thoughts that only perpetuate those emotions that bring more suffering. Life is simple. Getting angry at someone an then thinking about it later again and again, only brings more and more suffering in your life. Becoming excited over various stuff which later only results in disappointment.
I like this one : "Joy At Last To Know There Is No Happiness In The World"
I like this one : "Joy At Last To Know There Is No Happiness In The World"
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ThomasJ79
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I've had some more reflection on this. I often ask myself, if I were on my death bed, what would I regret not doing? I don't mean bucket list things, but things that really matter and take years to reach, such as being a good loving father, husband, or person. You can limit this to 2-3 things, but the important thing is to limit your options so you have to choose. Then live by those life goals and make them happen. You know they are important because you have thought of them and dreamed of them. You just have to make it happen. Life is a dream that we awaken into and realize.
Most of us really just want the same few things in life. We want to love ourselves, be loved by others, and love others. Happiness is somewhere in there.
Most of us really just want the same few things in life. We want to love ourselves, be loved by others, and love others. Happiness is somewhere in there.
just me
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That is why they say God is love, or at least one of the reasons.
My GSD kept acting turtlewise today by the fences. There was another caught between my two fences and he wanted me to know. I freed him and we went about our day. He knows I don't hurt them from over the years, and knew he was in trouble. We showed love and/or compassion by helping free him.
We grow up wanting things, work and buy things, live and enjoy things, then start wondering what to do with it all as we near life's end. Our pets pass away and we cry. We miss them. Then, we get another one to love and share the love with. Life is all about love.
"Where your heart is, there will be your treasure." unquote
My GSD kept acting turtlewise today by the fences. There was another caught between my two fences and he wanted me to know. I freed him and we went about our day. He knows I don't hurt them from over the years, and knew he was in trouble. We showed love and/or compassion by helping free him.
We grow up wanting things, work and buy things, live and enjoy things, then start wondering what to do with it all as we near life's end. Our pets pass away and we cry. We miss them. Then, we get another one to love and share the love with. Life is all about love.
"Where your heart is, there will be your treasure." unquote
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Pin
"Magnificent Bastard" / Ren's Counterpart
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Let's join the military!
Pin
"Magnificent Bastard" / Ren's Counterpart
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I think that would serve an increasing number of American men well.
I've encountered too many downright pansies.
Pin
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Their extremely high neuroticism and BS acceptance.