What is Happiness?

Recap of March 16th Meeting

Potluck Supper and Check In

We had an attendance of 18 souls for this re-boot of BQ.  The dinner was fine, with a mix of items.  Nobody went hungry, but the mix of offers was short on mains and salads, with a very welcome main dish that showed up at about 7:45!  There was seating for everyone around one of the 2 large tables, and people seemed pleased to be able to get together again.

Discussion

The opening question concerned an personal issue around respecting personal expectations of behavior in public places.  It was cast as a question of the rights of an individual vs the rights of the many, but the flow of the discussion didn’t follow that path.  What it boiled down to was the behavior of a developmentally challenged person who liked to jump into a public pool in a noisy and splashy way, while a group of seniors were trying to do water exercises closely enough to be splashed and bothered by this person.  It was suggested that the person who was bothered talk to the care giver (who did not seem to be paying attention to the conflict) to move the jumper further away. 

We then talked about several topics, settling in on the concept of happiness.  What is happiness, what do we do to achieve happiness, is happiness a worthy life goal, can happiness exist without contrasting unhappy or just not happy times, and many more related questions.  The discussion was lively and everyone participated. 

I used the Happiness Box example to illustrate what I think of as being a peak experience sort of happiness, which many people rejected as not something they would enjoy.  I tried to point out that the definition of the Happiness Box is pure enjoyment and it didn't make sense not to enter because it would not be enjoyable.  The parallel between the Happiness Box and drug use was explored, and the pitfalls of drug addiction. 

Part of the offer to get into the HB is that you don't have to get back out, but can stay in as long as you want - a clear invitation to leave the world behind and live in pure bliss for the rest of your life.   If the goal of life is to seek pleasure and avoid pain, this would seem to be a great chance to maximize the pleasure part.  People usually cite their responsibilities to others, their families, and to themselves as reasons not to get into the box, which are all good reasons, but seemingly altruistic.  A hedonist would jump in.  A person struggling with issues in their life might want to get in.  Someone with chronic pain, or depression, or maybe loneliness.  A well adjusted, socially connected person who gets satisfaction without the box might be wary.  Or maybe just someone who didn't want to be thought of as self-centered.

One participant offered the comment that happiness does not come in levels, but rather exists only as a form of quiet contentment.  This person denied the idea of "peak happiness", but I did not understand just why it was not possible.  They did comment that awareness of suffering and pain in the world meant that, in some way, we are denied peak happiness though this knowledge.  It seemed a heavy burden to bear, intellectually, so that it affected our moment to moment participation of our lives and feelings.  A crushing burden, I would think.

I was asked to offer a list of books and authors that deal with the review of philosophy as a collection of Big Questions.  I laid out several from my personal library, and I especially noted the value of reading Christopher Phillips' Socrates Café.  I will append this list to my blog shortly.

Desmond