Happiness

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  • Homo Deus –– Yuval Harari

    • [[Happiness]]

      • The right to the pursuit of happiness, originally envisaged as a restraint on state power, has imperceptibly morphed into the right to happiness - as if human beings have a natural right to be happy and anything which makes us dissatisfied is a violation of our basic human rights, so the state should do something about it.

        • Our quest for happiness has turned into a universal right to happiness, and anyone who stands in our way should be blamed. But the truth is, it's the quest for happiness and the belief that it is our right to be happy which stands in our way of attaining happiness. Then, we just resort to substances or alcohol for temporary relief or we are inevitably unhappy when we aren't granted that "right".
          • "Even if famine, plague and war become less prevalent, billions of humans in developing countries and seedy neighbourhoods will continue to deal with poverty, illness and violence even as the elites are already reaching for eternal youth and godlike powers."

      • "When Epicurus defines happiness as the supreme good, he warned his disciples that it is hard work to be happy."

      • "Bentham's successor, John Stuart Mill, explained that happiness is nothing but pleasure and freedom from pain, and that beyond pleasure and pain, there is no good and no evil."

      • [[Buddhism]] "Buddha had made an even more radical claim, teaching that the pursuit of happiness is in fact the very root of suffering."

        • According to biochemistry, too, we learn that pleasant sensations disappear just as quickly as they arise. As long as people crave pleasant sensations without actually experiencing them, they remain dissatisfied.
        • "According to Buddha, we can train our minds to observe carefully how all sensations constantly arise and pass. When the mind learns to see our sensations for what they are - ephemeral and meaningless vibrations - we lose interest in pursuing them. For what is the point of running after something that disappears as fast as it arises?"

      • Humans now want endless happiness and zero suffering, though we have not evolved for something like that. Perhaps this is why we also have a mechanism to make ourselves miserable even when things are going right - or perhaps the exact opposite.

        • Historically we manipulated environment to fit us. In the future it seems we will try to manipulate us to essentially transcend the environment.
        • "For example, everybody still agreed on one thing: in order to improve education, we need to change the schools. Today, for the first time in history, at least some people think it would be more efficient to change the pupils’ biochemistry"

      • How can we regulate this biochemical pursuit of happiness by separating 'bad' from 'good' ones?

        • Biochemical manipulations that strengthen political stability, social order and economic growth are allowed and even encouraged (e.g., those that calm hyperactive kids in school, or drive anxious soldiers forward into battle). While, manipulations that threaten stability and growth are banned
        • This leads to the manifestations of superhuman power with medicine.

      • Medicine always begins with helping people below the norm, but the same tools can be used to surpass the norm. (Example, people who don't need to take adderall, take adderall)

      • And therefore, if you are **not cheating you are in disadvantage.**

  • Made You Think –– Homo Deus