Happy Atheist Forum

Can you define happiness without using synonyms?
Is it tangible, attainable, real?
Just wondering what you think on a rainy day.

I'll give that one a go:

Happiness is an emotional state stemming from the gratification of overall needs - emotional and physical - in a situation where one feels safe and feels assured that there will not be a decline in the atmosphere of satisfaction for a good while (i.e., longer than people generally try to predict). Like all emotions it varies in intensity from individual to individual and situation to situation.

It is not tangible, it's part of an emergent property of the brain.
It is attainable, but it's also ephemeral.
It is real, it can be tested for and the state can be deliberately brought about in one's self and in others.

JillSwift wrote,

Quote[Happiness is an emotional state stemming from the gratification of overall needs - emotional and physical - in a situation where one feels safe and feels assured that there will not be a decline in the atmosphere of satisfaction for a good while (i.e., longer than people generally try to predict). Like all emotions it varies in intensity from individual to individual and situation to situation./quote]


Can you expand on overall needs? In other words, are physical needs more important than emotional? What emotional needs are most important?
IMHO, of couse the physical needs outwiegh the emotional, but surely some emotional needs are more pressing than others. For example, the need to "feel" safe outwieghs the need for self-actualization.
Cheers.

They say "Money can't buy happiness".

I'd like to do a scientific study of that hypothesis.

Give me a grant for $10 million, and I'll let you know if I'm happy.

Anyone wanna volunteer for the control group?

...

Ok, kidding aside.  It's tough to define, because it could be different things to different people.
For some, it's giddyness of being free from work.
For others, it may be working really hard (sans giddyness ;-)

Happiness for me is closely tied to being content.

I'll have to think more on this one... good topic,
JoeActor

I just bought I psychology textbook that I haven't read yet because I'm still finishing another book. I looked up happiness. There was no definition.

I did find an interesting idea. People tend to want their children to be happy. Maybe if you thought about how you want your friends and family to feel you might get some insight?

Regarding money, it seems that there is no correlation between wealth and happiness. They didn't have data for outliers though. My experience of being poor when I was a student leads me to think that not having sufficient wealth to cover basic things might make someone unhappy. Also from personal experience, once I could cover basics, I was happy. I have not noticed any difference in happiness that I can honestly attribute to income between being able to cover basics and a six figure income.

Another thing that interested me, people often feel happy after a windfall like winning the lottery but it passes quickly.

Last weekend was rainy also, I was at the cottage, the wind was blowing too hard to go fishing, so I poured a glass of scotch and gave this subject some thought.
Defining any emotion is all but impossible. As JoeActor rightly points out, happiness is defined differently by everyone, but here's my two cents.
I liked JillSwift's response regarding the gratification of needs, it reminded me of an article I ran across in Wikipedia re. Maslow's hierarchy of needs.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s ... y_of_needs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs)
Now before you scroll down the article and find that his research is flawed, let me be the first to say the subjects used is his research are far too narrow,  using gifted, well healed subjects necessarily biases the results.
That being said, acknowledging the bias toward the priviledged, the list of needs he provides, I believe, has a great deal of merit. There's no doubt that the hierarchy of needs he presents will require tailoring to suit every individual, indeed the
order may change from culture to culture, or the interest in one category of need may be significantly different from person to person, and, granted, will likely change for everyone throughout their lives. However, I see a fundamental truth in a
hierarchy of needs. Safety is more important than self actualization (to our happiness). In other words, the degree of safety we require to consider ourselves happy is much higher than the degree of self actualization we need.
If we can agree there exists a hierarchy of needs let me make this point next.  
Happiness is not dependent on these needs being met, as much as we must feel we have control over these needs being fulfilled. We need control to be happy.
For example, being out of immeadiate danger could be seen as being "safe", picture a survivor of a plane crash finding a piece of wreckage to get out of the weather. The survivor is safe, but likely far from being happy(being happy to be alive is valid but short lived happiness). In contrast to this, picture a pioneer clearing the land. What does he do but remove the trees, erect a fence, put up walls and a door. By exerting control over his environment, he is attempting to find lasting happiness.
With respect to the category of love/belonging, I see marriage as an attempt to exert control, to hopefully find long term stability and happiness.
The question arises, how much control do we need to be happy?  I believe the lack of control we can tolerate and still  consider ourselves happy, is inversely proportional to it's proximity to the base of Maslow's triangle. Very little lack of control is tolerable with regard to health, more chaos is acceptable within esteem or self-actualization.
So is happiness real? Is the control we crave an illusion?

The TRUE MEANING of LIFE is that HAPPINESS is subjective well-being, an INDIVIDUALLY REACTIVE STATE VARIABLE to howsoever favorable circumstances.

Quote from: "DIY 1138"Can you define happiness without using synonyms?

each one will define it in a different way
for me happyness is when I  feel nice, joyful and even content

Quote from: "MariaEvri"

Quote from: "DIY 1138"Can you define happiness without using synonyms?

each one will define it in a different way
for me happyness is when I  feel nice, joyful and even content

I think those are still synonyms.  I love the english language sometimes and sometimes I hate it.  It sucks because in order to learn the meaning of one word you need to look up the meaning of another.  I guess happiness for me is a result of overcoming an obstacle or a challenge.

What's so important about being happy?

The second you are content is the second you stop doing great things.  

Quote from: "DIY 1138"Can you define happiness without using synonyms?

Sure.

Quote from: "DIY 1138"Is it tangible, attainable, real?

Sometimes.

 

Quote from: "DIY 1138"Can you define happiness without using synonyms?

My experience with happiness is that it's both an emotion or feeling, and a goal. It's something that never seems to be satisfied, at least where I live. We all strive so hard to attain 'happiness', but we aren't satisfied once we get there, so therefore we must not truly be happy yet (my head aches from the thought of it).

Quote from: "DIY 1138"Is it tangible, attainable, real?

I believe happiness comes in many different forms some of which are tangible, attainable, and/or real.

Quote from: "DIY 1138"Just wondering what you think on a rainy day.

I'm actually quite happy on rainy days It's those damn sunny days that make me blue...

Happiness is a warm gun.

(Nobody said that already? Really?)

Quote from: "curiosityandthecat"Happiness is a warm gun.

(Nobody said that already? Really?)

Fuck! You beat me to it by half an hour!  :D

Quote from: "McQ"

Quote from: "curiosityandthecat"Happiness is a warm gun.

(Nobody said that already? Really?)

Fuck! You beat me to it by half an hour!  :D

Aw, you should be used to that by now, shouldn't you?  ;)

Quote from: "curiosityandthecat"Happiness is a warm gun.

(Nobody said that already? Really?)

This song has always defined happiness for me. Besides, when you can't say something yourself, let someone else do it for you, right?

Blue October
Independently Happy

I feel that it's hard enough to say goodbye.
I feel there's the water. Should I sink or dive?
An empty plate, fill up my sentimental morning star.
I steal the art of putting truth in a lie.
I still want the girl that really caught my eye.
But, she lives in Oklahoma City, far away from me.
An empty hope chest.
I quit the dope quest,
And remain independently happy.

I'm finally happy, happy, independently happy.

I deal with the fact that I've forgotten the worst.
I feel that my social behavior may seem somewhat unrehearsed.
Another page.
A sullen rage.
And I'll be back to my normal self.

I'm finally happy, happy, independently happy.

I drive to the edge of my considerate plain.
I apologize to the people I hurt on the way.
I wipe the slate clean.
I kick the daydream,
And remain independently happy.

I'm finally happy, happy, independently happy.

Song lyrics are no good unless you can put some stress and tonal information in there.

Anyway, I think it's important to keep this happiness jizz in perspective. As much as we may want to be happy for the rest of our lives, there's no denying that the natural course of evolution did not have this in mind. Nature gave us happiness as a way of motivation, to get us to keep going, keep moving, keep striving. It makes sense to me that as soon as we reach our goals, that temporary feeling of happiness simply vanishes up the road, to the next stopping point.

That kind of happiness is an illusion, because it was never meant to be possessed. It's the proverbial carrot on the stick, and it's nature's way of tricking us into achievement. This doesn't mean, however, that true happiness can not be achieved. One just has to realize that true happiness really can not be "achieved", it can only be experienced. What's more, if you "strive" to achieve happiness, you will fail, because your falling back into that same carrot-stick mentality.

Happiness is here, now, in the present. Well, It's everwhere, really. I've always felt that happiness rests wherever you are, at the base of your feet, it's simply a matter of "waking up", clearing the fog from your eyes, and recognizing it.

Be warned, however. True happiness comes at a price. Satiety will always reduce your drive to achieve, to get moving, to go do stuff. It's worry, anxiety that causes achievement. It's our problems that drive us to excell. Find true happiness, and your problems will fall from your shoulders to the ground. So will your ambition.

Now, in answer to your question: Definition of happiness? The best definition I can give of true happiness is that it is still. It is here. It is now.

Quote from: "hismikeness"This song has always defined happiness for me....

The one that reminds me of happiness is from Ren and Stimpy.

Happy happy joy joy
happy happy joy joy
happy happy joy joy
happy happy joy joy joy

^_^

And my unnecessarily large library came through for me again!
Here's what Nietzsche said in The Anti-Christ:

QuoteWhat is good? â€" All that heightens the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself in man.
What is bad? â€" All that proceeds from weakness.
What is happiness? â€" The feeling that power increases â€" that a resistance is overcome.

(Aphorism 2)

The only problem with this is that raping or killing someone is now "good", which has been quite the conundrum for me for a while now. I think Nietzsche got pretty close with his definition of happiness, but something about his "Will to Power" just doesn't rub me the right way.

That's because nietzche was a megalomaniac.  

This is officially the most awesome thread ever.

Nietzsche, the Beatles? Can it get any better?

Which, for some reason, made me remember when Charlton Heston died and Bill Maher (I think) said: "Well, we can take their guns now!"