See I thought you were on a point about Maslow's hierarchy of needs and that... Kinda, made sense, afterall, you're right, you can't live off happiness but you also aren't going to be happy if your basic needs aren't met. On the flip side, once you obtain a basic need (example, buying a house and having a stable living situation) you're going to be happy. Survival and happiness are linked because success releases dopamine. What you're talking about is satisfaction and contentment, living up to your full potential, a life well lived, well fought, and one you worked hard for, THAT is optional. And THAT doesn't (nessicarily) come from any of this:
You need a significant other, you need children, you need to work, you need to be a productive member of society. Happiness is optional.
No. Just, no. Because you don't actually care about the individuals survival, clearly, you care about societies survival as a whole. You DO NOT need children or to be a "productive member of society" to be happy, much less survive. However, for society to continue on, you need to. Personally, I don't give a shit about our society and having kids would make me miserable, so by "surviving" I'd be making my life hell. How many other people feel this way but instead they focus on following the rules of survival? How many end up so miserable that they make fun of random strangers for being scared of the dark?
You talked about how everyone grew up thinking life was about being happy and, when they found out it wasn't, it lead to mass depression and anxiety. I'd argue it's the opposite, I grew up thinking life would only ever be survival and, at 20, when I realized it didn't have to be that way, my depression anxiety cured itself (okay, fine, it was the Adderall for my ADHD). BUT it wasn't until I stopped caring about societies version of survival that I actually started to have some fun.
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u/Common_Problem404 Apr 10 '24
See I thought you were on a point about Maslow's hierarchy of needs and that... Kinda, made sense, afterall, you're right, you can't live off happiness but you also aren't going to be happy if your basic needs aren't met. On the flip side, once you obtain a basic need (example, buying a house and having a stable living situation) you're going to be happy. Survival and happiness are linked because success releases dopamine. What you're talking about is satisfaction and contentment, living up to your full potential, a life well lived, well fought, and one you worked hard for, THAT is optional. And THAT doesn't (nessicarily) come from any of this:
No. Just, no. Because you don't actually care about the individuals survival, clearly, you care about societies survival as a whole. You DO NOT need children or to be a "productive member of society" to be happy, much less survive. However, for society to continue on, you need to. Personally, I don't give a shit about our society and having kids would make me miserable, so by "surviving" I'd be making my life hell. How many other people feel this way but instead they focus on following the rules of survival? How many end up so miserable that they make fun of random strangers for being scared of the dark?
You talked about how everyone grew up thinking life was about being happy and, when they found out it wasn't, it lead to mass depression and anxiety. I'd argue it's the opposite, I grew up thinking life would only ever be survival and, at 20, when I realized it didn't have to be that way, my depression anxiety cured itself (okay, fine, it was the Adderall for my ADHD). BUT it wasn't until I stopped caring about societies version of survival that I actually started to have some fun.