The pursuit of happiness, as mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, is an inalienable right that cannot be merely a fleeting feeling. It is a multifaceted journey involving relationships, work, health, and other personal factors. While the Declaration recognizes life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, it goes beyond these rights. Happiness is not a static state but a dynamic and evolving experience.
The use of the word “pursuit” in the Declaration of Independence may have been rhetorical, as it is an emotion linked to improved health and well-being. However, our obsession with being happy can lead to disappointment, as trying too hard at happiness can result in unhappiness. John Updike warned that America was a vast conspiracy to make people happy, referring to superficial consumerist/materialist happiness. John F Schumaker argues that our entire socio-economic system is designed to spew out citizens eternally in search of satisfaction.
No one can stop anyone from pursuing happiness in their own lives. Locke suggests that the pursuit of happiness is the foundation of liberty, freeing us from attachment to any particular desire. Kabat-Zinn assures us that happiness is an inside job that requires mindful and purposeful attention to the present moment. The most persistent explanation offered is that Jefferson was uncomfortable with slavery and wanted to avoid perpetuating property ownership in slaves.
There is some momentum around the Protect IP Act, which aims to protect property rights for slaves.
📹 Here’s Why You Should Stop Aiming for Happiness
At the Wheatland, CA stop of Dr Peterson’s Beyond Order Tour, he walks the audience through the pitfalls of aiming for happiness.
Is the pursuit of happiness an unalienable right?
The Declaration of Independence asserts that all men are created equal and possess certain unalienable rights, including the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
What guarantees the pursuit of happiness?
“Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” is a well-known phrase from the United States Declaration of Independence, which outlines three unalienable rights given to all humans by their Creator and which governments are created to protect. This phrase, not legally binding, has been widely referenced and seen as an inspiration for the basis of government. The Declaration of Independence was drafted by Thomas Jefferson and edited by the Committee of Five, consisting of Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.
It was further edited and adopted by the Committee of the Whole of the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. The phrase is found in the second paragraph of the first article in the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson’s “original Rough Draft” is on exhibit in the Library of Congress and was used by Julian Boyd to create a transcript of his draft.
What are the problems with the pursuit of happiness?
The pursuit of happiness can lead to self-centeredness, exacerbated by individualistic tendencies to prioritize pleasure over others, society, or the environment. This self-centeredness can also make individuals more lonely and neglect the principle of seeking true happiness outside of themselves. Those who score highest in happiness rankings report good social support, meaningful lives, and abundant positive emotions in the company of others. However, the single-minded pursuit of happiness reduces our chances of experiencing happiness.
The idea of seeking happiness can also make us realize our own happiness, as the more we value it, the more likely we are to be disappointed with our current situations. The more desperate we become about finding happiness, the more likely we are to experience symptoms of depression. The irony lies in the fact that those who score highest in happiness rankings report good social support, meaningful lives, and abundant positive emotions.
What is the main message of the pursuit of happiness?
The movie emphasizes the importance of sticking to goals and achieving them, valuing one’s talents, and demonstrating determination. It also highlights the value of honesty, family support, and good role modeling by parents. The movie also addresses the real-life consequences of resorting to illegal behavior and lying to survive, providing valuable ideas for children to discuss with their parents.
Why shouldn’t we seek happiness?
The pursuit of happiness can lead to reduced contentment, loneliness, and a lack of appreciation for the small, meaningful things in life. The constant desire to feel happier can make people forget the people around them and even resent them for inadvertently bringing down their mood or distracting them from more important goals. The constant fear of missing out can also affect our perceptions of time, as the constant “fear of missing out” reminds us of the shortness of our lives and the need to spend less time on less thrilling activities.
Paying constant attention to our mood can also prevent us from enjoying everyday pleasures. Research by Dr. Bahram Mahmoodi Kahriz and Dr. Julia Vogt at the University of Reading found that people who scored highest on Mauss’s questionnaire felt less excitement and anticipation for forthcoming events, and less likely to savour the moment during the events themselves. They were also less likely to look back fondly on fun events in the days after, as they occupied less of their headspace. This high standard for achieving happiness can lead to increased unhappiness.
What is the true pursuit of happiness?
The film The Pursuit of Happyness, based on the true story of Christopher Gardner, portrays the experiences of a father who overcomes significant obstacles to provide for his son. The film features Will Smith, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.
What is the concept of pursuit of happiness?
The phrase “the pursuit of a meaningful life” refers to the pursuit of a life that provides satisfaction and personal freedom, which is essential for choosing one’s path in life. The purpose of the American Revolution was to create an environment that valued individual life, provided freedom of choice, and allowed everyone to find meaning in life. The American Revolution’s ideals contrast with those of the French Revolution, which focused on liberte, egalite, fraternite, liberty, equality, and brotherhood.
These ideals became the standard in Europe after Napoleon’s continental conquests in the early 19th century. The Declaration of Independence introduced a radical concept of a government that rules with the consent of the individuals being governed, with the sole purpose of protecting and advancing the unalienable rights each citizen enjoys. This contrast between European and American notions of ideal social organization remains significant today.
What is the legal definition of pursuit of happiness?
The pursuit of happiness is a principle outlined in the Declaration of Independence, ensuring that every individual has the right to pursue their personal desires and goals, particularly in their career or profession, without unjust government interference. This includes pursuing careers in art, starting a business, or marrying someone of the same gender without unnecessary government restrictions.
The pursuit of happiness ensures that individuals can pursue their passions without government interference or discrimination. This principle is crucial for promoting equality and promoting personal growth.
What was not true in the pursuit of happiness?
The Pursuit of Happyness is a film that portrays Gardner’s financial struggles and homeless experience, focusing on his investment in portable bone density scanners. The movie portrays Gardner as going broke after investing in the scanners, but the real Gardner revealed that his financial situation was not due to such a gamble. Gardner was a salesman in the medical supply field, primarily dealing with one brand. The film also includes a fictional scene where Gardner is hit by a car while chasing a stolen scanner.
Gardner’s experience of homelessness involved moving between shelters and finding safe places to sleep with his son. His opportunity at Dean Witter Reynolds was not a result of solving a Rubik’s Cube for a senior executive, but rather his determination and networking skills. The film suggests Gardner was the sole intern hired by a group of candidates, but he excelled in the licensing exam, scoring 88.
What are the 3 P’s of happiness?
Alejandro, Sidse, and Douglas are real people who embody the three P’s of happiness: pleasure, purpose, and pride. These strands are often intertwined in the lives of the world’s happiest people. People living in the world’s happiest places combine pleasure, purpose, and pride into a resilient form of well-being. They follow their hearts with enthusiasm, but not at the expense of joy and laughter. They look with pride on their accomplishments and accomplishments.
This formula for happiness is built on a methodology developed for uncovering the secrets of the world’s longest-lived people. In 2002, a team was commissioned to identify the world’s Blue Zones, which include Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California. The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, published a book on these places.
📹 The Pursuit of Happiness | Full Episode | SBS Insight
Is the pursuit of happiness making us more unhappy? Rising costs of living, everyday stresses, and toxic positivity have made …
I retired about a year ago. I have a bad back and neck. I bought a house to renovate. Everyone said I was crazy but it’s the best thing I could have done. It’s physically and mentally great for me. We all need a challenge. Playing in a blues band as well and getting involved in church. The wife would have me on permanent holiday. How tragic that would be. We travel for 3mths. I want to keep doing until everything stops; trying to add goodness to the lives of everyone I come across. That is my great adventure
Reminds me of the image of retirement some people have: not having to earn anything and doing whatever you want every day. Retired from any stress in life, just “enjoying” it. From what I’ve heard, of people who go down that path, they decline very rapidly. Emotionally, psychologically, physically. And I suspect it’s because of what JP said here. We need stress, challenges, living on the edge of what we are capable of and moving forward, etc, or we decay.
This is a lesson I have had to piece together for myself. In the first few years of my adulthood, I had a lot of challenge in my life, joining the army, doing ROTC at a senior military college, working hard labor in a factory 12 hours a night from sundown to sunup. Fast forward to now in my late 20’s, I have the life I dreamed of back then. I am out of the military, I have an extremely cushy work-from-home IT job that rarely challenges me. My mental state is much worse now than it was 5-10 years ago. After long reflection I finally realized that while my life was certainly harder back then, I was definitely happier. All my favorite memories are from those days. It shocked me to realize that getting essentially everything I want has made me miserable because now I have it too easy and life feels meaningless. When I finally figured this out I started talking to a recruiter to rejoin the national guard to sprinkle a little challenge back into my life at least on a part time basis.
Similar to the story of the Hobbit. Bilbo is living in a very secure and happiness/pleasure oriented community where everyone lives in there safe hobbit holes and eats 6 big meals a day. Then one day Gandalf, who symbolizes wisdom, comes knocking to invite Bilbo on a great adventure. At first he is hesitant because his whole life he has been immersed in a culture where nobody takes risks and where pleasure in the only goal. Fast-forward to the end of the journey, after making wonderful friendships and overcoming great challenges he would consider following Gandalf on an adventure the best decision he ever made.
I’m starting a family relatively young by modern standards – 26 – I’ve been working my first real career for the last 4 months and am finally feeling engaged and like my skills are being tested. I’ve never felt better in my entire life, but I wouldn’t describe myself as ‘happy.’ It would be more accurate to say that I’m productively and strenuously engaged with my life. Every day there are important tasks that need to get done and them getting done determines the stability and resources I am able to provide. There’s a rather immediate cost to just being lazy and selfish. I like that. I feel a general sense of engagement and responsibility and that seems to be much more sustaining and practical than just seeking to be in some poorly-defined state of happiness which commonly means ‘easy’ and ‘pleasurable.’
My whole life story proves his point, I don’t believe in happiness, it doesn’t exist or it’s not something to be set as a goal. It’s just a temporary relief feeling when you find a way to ease your suffering. That’s why I won’t be thankful that I’m happy, but I feel grateful for suffering less, and this mindset helped me to accept any difficulties and face them, most importantly, it’s working, and my life is getting better, so I believe it’s the right way of thinking about “happiness”.
Wow, that one’s interresting. Don’t chase happiness, chase adventure. Makes a lot of sense the way Peterson explains it. I can also wholeheartedly get behind his example: “This was extraordinary hard to do… But worth it!” I have such a memory and it is still one of my proudest moments and something I enjoy remembering to this day.
My experience is that Adventure feels better when you are coming from a place of security from which you can return. People want controlled chaos to remind them what peace is and to renew the appreciation for their own security. Seems attached to the understanding that “Without bad there is no good” but these are just my thoughts and I would love to hear others opinions whether you agree with me or not, I love the feeling you get when you are challenged mentally it’s like your brain space opens up and it feels me with a happy feeling that there may still be hope for us, respect, thanks for reading, rant over.
“During the countryside wars, a general swept from town to town, conquering each place with ease. In one particular town, the general discovered that everyone had fled just before his army arrived – everyone except the Zen master. Curious about what sort of man this was, the general visited the temple himself. Inside, the Zen master remained still, and refused to bow or even move out of the general’s way. When it was clear the Zen master would not defer to the general’s power, he became furious. “Fool!” he shouted, as he drew his weapon, “Don’t you see you are standing before a man would run through you without blinking an eye?” The Zen master responded with absolute calm. “And don’t you see that you are standing before a man who could be run through without blinking an eye?” Humbled by the Zen master’s resolve, the general regrouped his forces and returned from where they had come.” That is true happiness that comes from absolute freedom from the world, and from the self. Happiness is not achieved through aims of the will. It is attained by finding the true meaning of life. To know it, you need to look happiness directly in the eyes, not run away from it, into complicated rationalizations of suffering.
I noticed only people who didn’t have a hard enough life say shit like this. All I found is a hard life leaves me traumatized. Sure I’m smarter for it but it’s hardly worth it. Give me a utopian life and I promise I won’t break shit just because I’m “bored.” There’s enough entertainment to keep me busy for that and if I want a challenge, I’ll see it healthily. I don’t need my life to be constant drama for it to be fulfilling and I think it’s dangerous to think it HAS to be. I’ve had a REALLY hard life for most of my life and yes I learned much but it’s not as great as he makes it sound. More than anything it makes me question why the fuck do I even put up with this shit? Why is life even worth all this pain? I don’t know, I guess it makes me more nihilistic than anything.
I’m a moderately accomplished adult male who lives in comfort and moderate happiness – at least material contentment. And yet, every fiber of my conscious being calls for chaos and adventure against the entropy of easy death. Perhaps happiness, like the new Jerusalem, should remain an aspiration, not a state of being. thank you, Dr. Peterson, to put words on this.
One of the most articulate minds, in modern history. This man knows himself. I know he would somehow deny/rebut this fact. He’s got 40-50 I.Q. on me and I have a staggering quotient! (lol) Such a wonderful mind, sound and anchored in reality (natural law). A beacon of Light, in a world of Darkness and Chaos. Be well, Jordan Peterson and know Him. Sincerely, Sentient Consciousness
As a 17 year-old with a “rabid dog-type” intelligence… a proclivity toward depression… and a general inclination toward hard work (conscientiousness)… i get beaten bloody every day by the repression and ignorance and laziness of the people around me. And then I build bitter and cynical outlooks that just forces me down to the level of every other hedonic fool. Dr. Peterson, though, one step at a time, is saving me. I really don’t think I’d want to live in a utopia where all I do is casually allow all my temperamental strengths to find shallow expression whenever I want them to. Maybe I’m even glad there’s so many people out there to work with, motivate, and pull into the cold pool/out of their somnambulant zombie state. We’ll all figure it out. One step at a time.
I’ve all but given up on any expectation of happiness. I used to have a radiant boyish grin but that vanished off my face like rain off a bridge when Justin and his malignant sidekick came along. Since he was sworn in, every single day has been another Hallowe’en. Justin has turned out to be some kind of an amazing athlete. He’s managed to throw a wet blanket all the way across Canada. Happiness is finished so why would anyone aim for it? All dare to wish for anymore is that I somehow find the courage to guzzle a jug of bleach…
Now retired I make things HARDER. Take it easy – I don’t think so. Learn new things. Walk for miles. Build stuff. Go fishing in innacessible places. Gardening and growing food. Spending time with friends. Rise to the challenge and succeed or fail. One is great the other is learning. Set yourself up to fail and feel the exhilliration when you succeed! 😀😀
How true that we need to be challenged to be happy! When you retire everything comes to a sudden stop and it will have it’s short lived sensation of being free and happy from the very thing you’re going to need in your life. Retired at 66 and back to work at 70 and enjoying life. So, the old cliche that your going to work until you die might not be so bad! JP is a prophet and a genius. God bless
Before attacking the question of happiness in your life, take care of the following first: 1. Your basic financial needs: if you’re struggling to pay bills every month then it’s hard to think about what would make you happy 2. Your social needs: if you feel lonely and disconnected from society then it’s hard to think about what would make you happy
Our entire society and evolution has been based on evolutionarily making life happier, more equitable, and secure. That doesn’t mean humans should be lazy. the idea is that we take care of the hierarchy of needs, so that we can concentrate our human brains in progressing on newer, more human goals. Art, technology, science, new concepts and ideas, instead of rehashing the same insecure and violent treading that we’ve done for the last ten thousand years. On the same resources. We learned to make fire, to keep us warm. We learned to farm, to have a steady food supply. We learned to make shelter to keep out dry and out of the elements. Every step in actual human progress, was to ensure a more stable and secure life for our future generations, to be able to concentrate on furthering the next step to our human potential. We are the only creatures that make art. For arts sake. We have aesthetics. We have philosophy. Thats what makes us actual humans. While still giving a nod to our biological and evoluntionary past and nature. We were meant to progress. Not to force society into the same violent and insecure pattern of the last ten thousand years. We weren’t meant to become static. We have to progress past the hierarchy of need, to further ourselves and to be able to get the next step in human progression and evolution. Insecurity and unhappiness because of having to struggle to keep fulfilling the same basic needs, instead of being able to think further beyond those needs, limits our human potential.
8:54 “Could you be pushed to your limit optimally if there wasn’t the possibility of falling apart and breaking?” Open question indeed. I’m tempted to say “yes” because it seems like article games, for example, are a setting where you can get immersed in the challenge — except, unlike real life, failure doesn’t lead to pain.
I know Daisetz Suzuki, a Zen scholar, said: Heaven is not to be the place to stay for long. It is the idea of Bodhisattva – he may be able to go to the other shore but come back to work in the hell (it is the case of Zen master Joshu.). So, such cases point a similar idea as Peterson’s. (As I write, I just wondered that me at almost 75 years old, I had been into some unpleasant situation for a while. But being able to go through that without much scars, I am taking that experience fairly positively. Even though some bad memories still pop up every now and then, they do not stay in my mind but for few min.
I’M NOT trying to be anything ! I’m am happy and nothing this world can take that from me . Beleive me so many people have tried to take my joy . But you cant because you see my joy comes from inside. People hurting people is going to be the distrucion of our world . Hurting someome in my 65 yrs i have learned that you cant hurt someone and say your helping then . Wow I so thankful im not here for much longer so many people so much stupidty . God bless
Nice, even-tempered delivery, Dr. An intellect adventure, w/no sudden squalls. Russia is enough squalling, all on it’s own, enh? As a pair of humans, though, we need to admit the adventure begins with conception–that’s when Mom knows her personal security was re-placed. Dad won’t be certain til the emergency–“all the fingers and toes there?” The child–you&me&allofus–are on the grandest leg of our adventure in the womb, w/the various lectures to follow. Our only and true antidote to the security hustle, is to engage w/at least one other person who’s at ease w/still being alone–wombed for the duration. Such a dream…
It’s rather important to define what you mean by happiness. Complete happiness may be when everything that currently passes through your mind result in you not wanting it in any other way, even if you were omnipotent. It does not mean however that you feel the best feeling imaginable. Theoretically it may for example exist an ice cream that put you in complete ecstasy but you could be equally satisfied with eating something more mundane like potatoes. So happiness is not about making life as easy or pleasurable as possible for you but rather by being at peace with all aspects of your life, including hardships. Out of curiosity you then explore internal or external life phenomena and stop running away from pain. With experience you have a chance to build up a greater resilience and hence increase your ability to stay in a peaceful mind no matter what passes through it. To be in this state may be the end-goal of life and what some would call Nirvana but given the non-divine nature of humans pragmatically you would need to fall out of it to learn how to better be able to stay in it. In reality you would then retrospectively from a peaceful state of mind probably prefer a somewhat stressful life just so you were able to reach the state you are in. In theory however you naturally would prefer a complete peace of mind from the get go, instantiating the concept of divinity.
I’m 32 and joke that there’s no way I could retire. Both economic reasons and the fact that I can’t just sit and do nothing. I’m always working on something. Always have a project. I’ve always been a hard worker as my father made us work before legally allowed. But it just started getting out of hand last year when I realized that’s all I do. If it’s not my job, it’s things I do on the side to try and make more money. Now I feel guilty for trying to relax and breath for a moment, like I’m wasting time.
Yes, stay challenged. I know retired people who are just running out the clock, not happy to have the freedom of retirement, bored to dirt. I spent years gearing up for retirement, have a thousand projects I want to do, learn new things and new skills every week. I couldn’t be happier. I hope I live to be a healthy 125 so I can realize all my goals.
Why prison is regarded as a punishment? Inmates are provided with shelter, food and some amenities. So, what´s wrong with prisons? The answer lies in the extreme form of enprisonement: sensorial deprivation. We might complain about our hectic lives, but the thought of being submited to an excess of silence and tranquility sends a shiver through our spine.
You often see wealthy celebrities or athletes that end up going down a dark path of recreational drug use and alcoholism once their careers end because they have the money but no longer the fame or attention that’s derived from their work so the drugs act as an outlet for them to mimic that high. There is something to be said about finding fulfillment in overcoming constant challenge rather than being granted secure, uncapped indulgence.
I listened to that conversation between the Atheist Richard Dawkins and Jordan Peterson, and I was saddened when Richard Dawkins congratulated Jordan for Jordan’s fight in standing up for free speech … when it was plain to me that that was the very lie that took Jordan to fame. That lie angered people all over the world, that in turn targeted Justin Trudeau, as being a dictator, and spewed other horrible slanderous insults. It was not Justin Trudeau and the Canadian government that had anything to do with Jordan’s threat of losing his license as a psychologist. It was the board of psychologists that were trying to keep Jordan in line with what psychologists are allowed to say in order to be able to keep their licenses as psychologists … and they could see that Jordan had gone rogue and thought that HE above all other psychologists was entitled to break any rule … to say anything that suited HIM, as HE was just THAT SPECIAL. And we should all be aware by now, that Jordan Peterson makes his BIG BUCKS from Christian Conservatives, and that is WHY Jordan does everything in his power to discredit the Trudeau government. I’m a Canadian, and no matter which party is in office … it is just not right to blame the leader of a government, for something the leader did NOT do.
Because he’s never discovered true happiness he eschews it. A lack of true happiness – which comes from wisdom – leaves people feeling restless, and to escape the restlessness (if you’re not going to fall into over indulgence) you chase adventures. Adventure can keep one distracted from their unhappiness for potentially, a very long time.
I don’t want to be happy and i don’t want to be sad, i don’t want “to want” anything, i don’t want to be anything anymore, it’s all a great burden for my spirit, im not criticizing other people and im not saying anyone should be that way, i literally don’t care who you are, where you are going, your value, i just don’t think people are so black and white to say “men should do this, women should do that”, you WILL do whatever you want no matter what others say because we don’t know 1% of the magic that happens around us after all, yet, everyone wants to be special someway somewhat, JP feels special helping humans to be more human, commenters feel special for sharing their experiences with the young helpless, its about vanity and will to survive, destiny is the same for us all, enjoy the trip (or don’t).
Imagine if Everyone thought like JBP, and had throughout history. No ‘Utopian thinking’ No effort put into improving life. Into making new technologies. Just ‘adventure’ and vague platitudes. We would still be in the Dark Ages, and JBP would be writing best sellers about how to identify witches, and the best way to burn them.
Happiness has nothing to do with achievement. If you meditate, you will realize that it is possible to be extremely content just sitting there with closed eyes and a blank mind. In that state, you could be a billionaire in a penthouse or a homeless person in the park. Doesn’t matter. You can still experience the same peace.
I’ve been my happiest during adventures. However, happiness is probably what I strive for, as there is no true meaning as an somewhat nihilistic atheist. Sadly I get no joy from accomplishment. Just anxiety about the next task I’m unwilling to do. That’s why drugs are so good, I guess. They give happiness without effort. I guess we’re all born different.
I don’t see any point to this existence. No justification i heard so far can bring any solace to the fact im gonna stop existing. I don’t care what i leave behind or what i won’t. It doesn’t matter. Dead don’t care and ever since i faced that terifying realisation, (that most people pretend doesn’t exist), I’ve been living dead man. I would selfcheckout years ago but i dont want to grief my family that still remains. (Sister and dad).
I really find this very true, and i also fear eternal life because of this, if eternal life will not have nothing bad, how we will improve as a person, or just live, if we will not have challenges, and if we wil not have because we will be at our best, well why living then? it appears to be a never ending boredom hell, and i dont know what to do with this on my mind, because death doest seem a good option also, and well… hell sure isn’t the answer. Some help? 🙃
It is not folly to strive to improve your odds. Generations have lived in absolute misery, to ensure following generations don’t have to suffer near as much as they did. Nature teaches us this concept quite often, as when a lion 🦁 kills a jackal. It does so, because they are a threat to their cubs and competitors for resources. If the lion fails to kill them, eventually they will outnumber the lions so much, that they will be completely destroyed by them. To suppose, that life is without struggle, is preposterous for the vast majority of the human race. Winter ❄️ increases☃️struggles, but so does athletics and workforce competition. Bill Glass used to say, get so good at one thing and it will feed you for the rest of your life. There is the struggle to crawl, then walk, then run, then learn, then train, then work and then die.
Yeah challenges is necessary for all living so that it may develop the single individuals characteristics leading to developing existensens which becomes life. Otherwise there is none. However it seems like humans needs to really rediscover ones true self worth due from characteristic. Every living thing starts under the same conditions – the characteristics. Us humans are the greater of organisms and without correct development this alows us to be ignorant and setting oneself of the equal chart.
🔴 Yeah, like I said.. like living in a teepee is not enough to teach for protection and security. I shouldn’t have to go back to that for another man or woman to be fair.. ⭕ And I don’t like learning to fix cars. Never will, and don’t expected to be in “that’s not fair land” regarding having a car.. but building homes. The hard work of building a home.. THAT’S WHY I NEED PROTECTION. Over 20 years of trade wearing down a body… Yeah females go on lighter duty also. So no. No hikes, camping, and adventures without priorities satisfied. 🌹Protecting lands is what is a higher stakes and money wise liabilities, and therefore insurances coverages need not to create more suffering..
THIS is what scares me about AI. Because this is the absolute best case scenario, the scenario we are actually aiming at. Nobody has to think or work. And, even if you want to it will so palpably to busy yourself you won’t be fooled. We will literally become pointless. Purposeless. This is if AI is benevolent. What becomes of us then? I think it will be a disgusting state of affairs. Again, in the best scenario. 🙁
Happiness is not a continuous state. It is a by product of activity that is positive in meaning. The meaning must be big enough to overshadow the mundane days of life. God set it up that way so that man would not be lazy and stayed In the happy state for happiness is addictive. God wanted man to know that you must come out of pleasure and euphoria in order to eat, get food, see what’s on the other side of the ridge, dream and imagine, find beauty and so on. Man had already gotten to beside himself in thinking he no longer needs even to be human for he lets his AI live and think for him. AI is another form of happiness that makes man lazy and stay in slumber it will be man’s demise. Seek adventure to get your ass up off the rock or stay in happiness until it kills you. Thank you.
Howdy. I would think security is what we want. I would say the thirst for security has been the motor of capitalism. Collecting wealth provides security. With money one can buy food, residence, warmth, clothing and the best of medical care. Having lots of money one can hire a private army for personal security and security of wealth. This in the early decades of capitalism. Now, in late capitalism (=market economy), the original motive to gather wealth is blurred. Money for security is not as obvious as it has been. But the mania to gather and collect has remained on. It is stuck in overdrive. Regards.
The title of this article is “Why you should stop aiming for happiness “. I thought, ok, let see why he thinks I should stop aiming for happiness and just as I anticipated, I wasted 12 minutes waiting for him to answer the question and got absolutely none of what I was looking for. As usual, he starts talking in circles, not simply telling why you shouldn’t aim for happiness, but telling stories in detail so he can see if you can decipher the answer of why you shouldn’t aim for happiness. I click on his articles thinking I’ll get some insight on something, but I’m just as or more uninformed about the topic he’s speaking on than I was when I began listening. All I hear is a intelligent thinker speaking his thoughts.
I appreciate Jordan for bringing up thoughtful ideas. I have to bust you on this one though Jordan. absolutely I’m aiming for happiness, and I’m doing it by specifically and deliberately avoiding drama! life presents you with plenty of challenges already. I take them on successfully, can surf too. it’s so nice to hear how the Hawaiians revere the skill. but I don’t create new problems for myself for the sake of solving them. I’ll call an effort to create problems a kind of insanity 😎
I love all of this~ And the Order/Chaos edge: that revelation I received as a result of your observation of the Pillar of Fire and Pillar of Smoke floored me. The Spirit of God is the beautiful unknown. Chaos under control is balance, or the optimal edge. Dancing on the edge is good, and terrifying, and amazing, and fun. Since the Exodus series ended, I keep forgetting I have a sub to dw. I need to find time to catch up on some of these amazing talks~
Our society is like mountain climbing. You can’t climb a mountain, by saying that the entire essence of human purpose, is to keep trying and failing on the first wedge. We put in a foothold, to stand on that, to reach to put in another foothold. Then we step onto that second spike, to reach to put in a third. And so on. Society builds on getting further ahead of the same hierarchy of needs, that should have been finished and accomplished hundreds of years ago. Instead of claiming that humans entire existence, is to keep treading the same problems and claiming it as purpose. I disagree.
I don’t agree that something needs to be difficult in order for it to be worth it. This theory can be busted with the simple fact that in general kids are the most happy humans in any society. Everything is taken care of for kids, its easy for them to go an play the whole day and be taken to places for them to have fun. It took absolutely no difficulty for them to do that fun stuff, eat that good food, get that nice toy, etc etc. But still they are the happiest of the population. I would argue that the more difficult it gets, the less worth it is to live live. On average People that live in hardship ( are poor, live in dangerous areas ) are less happy then people that have an easy lifer ( Are rich and live in a safe area ). It also has to do with the phase of your life that you are in. As a kid you got no worries, as a young adult still not that many, and when you are a middle aged adult you have the most worries. Guess which age group is the most stressed and least content with their life. When I was younger and had no kids or Wife, I traveled Europe in a mobile home and have the greatest and most satisfying adventures. I found it not hard to do, it just went naturally and was extremely worth it. Sadly after a while my money ran out and I had to get serious, get a fixed home and go to work. The older I get, I find that it becomes more difficult to be able to do stuff that is worth it. That being “worth” it has nothing to with the difficulty of obtaining it, but rather that I’m all bogged down in a life as a parent and provider and doing stuff that is worth it is just difficult to get to in this stage of my life.
This is just one long string of baloney. Jordan you have my blessing to find as much suffering as you can take. I am going to keep looking for a chance to enjoy life. The same person who wrote 12 Rules advocating for chaos. Can you not see how that would be implausible and a bit dodgy? Definitely get back to me after about ten years of suffering and let me know how that anxiety is progressing.
It’s the nature.. good real good is being protected by badness to some extent..as the real good..don’t compete for many things present in here.. .. ironic tragidy.. Only bad compete with bad wearing good..as real good knew that there is onother very high will..in this world. Unbreakable ..so why to compete any way!!. except for being more good
…. What now…. If you want to stop Aiming for Hapiness then just Put A Ring on something… It isnt that hard I mean Elony said it…. You already* know what the feds n law r going to do 2 you Once the False Accusation starts screeching….. One of the participant even Jump Disney If you want to be that, all you have to do is Put A Ring on it
all of the therapists i have encountered didnt seem to in the end, ever make any sense of me not aiming for happiness anymore. Im used to my pain and feel safe in it, i need to break this cycle i know, but my pains are chronical, severe depression and irritable bowel syndrom, theres no room for change of mindset in my opinion. Ill keep on suffering and im really really sure that my best bet at life right now is to just accept this pain and roll with it. I cant escape this, i never will, my physical pain let alone is much higher than my will, which for sure exists, to be happy.
kierkegaard is useless for the modern mind. I read Dosto at 14 and was amazed how many of his ideas were going through my head – but now i am in my 40s and think me at 14 = a child. Mr Peterson is sadly still wearing that tie. In 2023. Do you understand what i mean ?:) Fun fact: i love the guy. Cause he is genuine interested in a better humanity. PS. sorry for the poor english, its my 5th language, came late in my life.
What Jordan never gets is that he’s talking from a point where he thinks he’s right about everything he says because his social context lifted him up and rewarded him. so he’s confusing being right and giving the right advice within a specific context with absolute truth that potentially – he thinks – helps everyone – which it doesn’t and in some instances his advice is actually harmful for certain people. take trans people. why wouldn’t he advocate for the lives of trans people and youth as individuals and respect their choices? because he thinks he’s right about everything (his success reinforcing that) first of all and secondly by doing so, by promoting whatever conservative narrative about the state and society (there are a lot of societies that work differently btw.) he disregards the individual life that he praises above all in other articles (especially when he condems communism etc and all the evils he thinks he spotted – cultural marxism etc. – like why wouldn’t we organize ourselves if the state isn’t helping or actively destroying our communities?). Jordan, what do you value more? the sovereign individual and his/her/their autonomy and freedom or the state as institution? obviously it’s the institution. but why so? he also goes lengths talking about the individual but then again doesn’t give the individual its rights when they don’t want to play like he thinks is right. he’s basically a bigot. but a smart one. and maybe we all are to a degree (bigots, not smart). but thinking of this man as the only source for truth that applies to every single one of us is just not right and close minded.
I am sorry I don’t want to desrupt. You said utopia. The place where…… I have my thoughts. You will make a system on Mars. People trained and expert in job and doing their best to run species there. U can do it there but don’t want to do it here with all of these resources. Money freedome. How many of u have both of them.
In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you. ―Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) 1 There is a big difference between loneliness and aloneness. The self moves in loneliness; love moves in aloneness; when love is, the self is not. 2 Without love and sense of humor there is unhappiness and life is meaningless. 💕☮🌎🌌
Happiness is a state of mind that can be built and shouldn’t have any means to being removed if the right components and variables have been pursued… that is, if your definition is not as bland as one coming from theology. I’m sorry but you’ll need a paradigm shift if you want to perceive it :/ Parents kind of perceive it when they provide for their child and ask themselves countless questions about good and bad.. then, grasping what really IS good and bad stems from understanding the rudimentary notions that structures our society since the dawn of days… I dont have time for this just dont piss on everyone’s lawn. I’ll watch your article later, but you failed, here. Unequivocally. Some of the ideas you share are great, but you’re not justified in your ways.. “I believe that you shouldn’t aim for happiness” <-- Then start off by defining the word (could bet you didn't, but like I said I dont have time rn). Joyeuse Saint-valentin en avance, l'internet! I truly wish you the best, but... provocative thoughts (endless strings of it) will create more instability than progress.
I’m sorry but the crap he says about there being neuroscientific evidence for consciousness being something on the edge between chaos and order is not only wrong and lacking substance but it also sounds like something a pothead will say when trying to sound smart and failing miserably except in the face of their idiot friends.
We are not built for stress either. We are built to live a carefree life like Adam and Eve in the garden. Man was expelled from the garden, but man himself is still the same. The circumstances he lives in have gravely changed though. That is one of the reasons man suffers and eventually dies in this fallen world. It’s part of the curse of God on Humanity after the fall. Jesus is the only way to redemption.
We don’t even know what ‘happy’ is… we are feed the doctrine of chasing joy and happiness; sports heros, actors and elites indoctrinate and define and further refine our goals, dreams and hearts desires … We are driven to frenzied attempts at self fulfillment, all for not… We have lost the internal knowledge that life is hard and winning the game is truely about the whole journey… at 25 or 30 if happiness is your goal, you’re already sunk…
This is both right and wrong in my mind. Quoting these Russian authors is a terrible analogy because they’re country and infastructure had been in tatters for years and that also breeds loads of problems. People need challenges yes but if you’re whole country is in tatters the soul of the people will be in tatters as well
“He sits around doing nothing positive”; after realizing that his existence is hedonistic and self loathing… That’s pretty annoying to hear; ” that he projects and compare his destructive nature; to the masses in general.” He thinks too highly of himself! There are constructive natures and destructive natures among us… probably always will be. That way the constructive folks can busy themselves; with fixing all the stuff that the destructive folks enjoy tearing up! The constructive extremists will stay up nights trying to design things that will thwart off the tantrums of the extreme destructive types… haha! But, the thought; ” of there being only a single disposition remaining, ” is naive. Dude needs to lay off the sauce and stop pickling his remaining brain cell.
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This is the most stupid thing I have heard. Happiness is absolutely the key. It’s the motivation for all actions. wether something makes you feel better or worse. Our life revolves around the search for happiness. Just find the most effective way to a happy life. That’s emotional mastery. There absolutely is possible to learn mental tools and strategies that guarantes lifelong happiness. The hypocracy of Jordan Peterson as a therapist say this. What is the point of therapy if it’s not about feeling better? You can have challenges that you can grow from without being depressed. try running a marathon in 2 months.
The “meaning or purpose of life” to me in it of itself has no meaning….the common denominator across all humans is to mitigate/understand suffering, trauma, pain and learn from these experiences to help those closest to us transition/educate through these deviations in life. Prosperity or happiness is an illusion of a space in time that equates to contentedness wHere there is an undulation period of complacency or have overcome struggle which is the precursor for the next challenge.
Peterson talks such nonsense about happiness. In each article I’ve seen with him criticising happiness-seeking, he conflates it with something else. In one article, he conflates happiness-seeking with short-term pleasure seeking. In another article he conflates it with mania. In this article, he conflates it with comfort-seeking. But the reason that seeking exclusively short-term pleasure, or manic states, or comfort are bad ideas is because they don’t lead to happiness!
I think you might be mixing the definition of happiness with complacency or contentment. Happiness should be he goal for human action because it’s object is the good, the fullness of which only comes through virtue. Adventure brings a higher happiness than groveling on the couch all day and mating – it’s an expression of the virtue of courage rather than the vice of licentiousness.
Here is why you should not listen to Jordan Peterson; he doesn’t know how to count. He fashions some notion about some topic, and it feels good so he expands on his guess. In math, the difference between he singular and the plural is dramatic. Individuals don’t become happy or unhappy, societies do. We, as one nation are not happy because we are not one nation. Peterson wants to live from the singular, we from the plural. One system is non-linear, the other is discrete. You cannot make one system that does both. 1 race, all races 1 language, al languages 1 religion, all relgion my gun, all guns my mask, all masks These are two different systems. There is not one gun-system that makes us self-governed. We need two systems and to pay for our own ideas. We are divided by the singular and the plural. JP think we can’t find happiness because he can’t find happiness. I can’t find happiness, we can. Because the math says so. A society becomes happier not individuals. He is wrong again.