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Is the pursuit of happiness your most important life goal?


bascule

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Well, a new report explains what you should do:

 

http://pewresearch.org/social/pack.php?PackID=1

 

From the Boingboing coverage:

 

"Would you like to be happier? Become a rich, married, religious, Republican, white person from the Sunbelt, says this Pew research report."

 

This is why I'm glad to say that pursuing my own personal happiness is not my most important life goal (although I suppose it can be argued that my pursuits are vicariously for my own happiness)

 

Ultimately, underpinning all of my beautiful, teleological, goal-directed pattern seeking nature is atheistic existentialism. From this the core of my belief can be summed up as:

 

I'm a random fluke in the universe. I have no particular purpose except to compute into the whole in the same way that rocks, dirt, and driftwood compute into the whole. There's no supereme being that loves me. There's no divine force trying to preserve me and I could be wiped out at any time by a random fluke. When I'm dead the overwhelmingly most likely scenario is that the emergent effects of my consciousness will vanish from the universe forever. 20 years after I'm dead no one will care.

 

I try to look for reasons to believe otherwise, but those are the conclusions of my inner skeptic, and by far the most rational position I can espouse based on the evidence I've encountered to date.

 

And how bleak that all sounds! No wonder I'm either completely unemotional or melancholy most of the time.

 

But that's how I prefer to have it, because I hate believing lies. I hate what misinformation does to people. I would prefer to be a melancholy liberal atheist than a religious southern conservative, because from my perspective that person is happy from the placebo effect derived from a lie, and I prefer truth to happiness.

 

What about yourself?

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I'm a random fluke in the universe. I have no particular purpose except to compute into the whole in the same way that rocks, dirt, and driftwood compute into the whole. There's no supereme being that loves me. There's no divine force trying to preserve me and I could be wiped out at any time by a random fluke. When I'm dead the overwhelmingly most likely scenario is that the emergent effects of my consciousness will vanish from the universe forever. 20 years after I'm dead no one will care.

 

that's depressingly comedic.

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What about yourself?

 

I'm the same way, although it's very hard sometimes to sacrifice happiness for truth. I haven't found my "self-identity" yet. I think that comes after high school. Nevertheless absolutely, any truth is better than being a "religious southern conservative." I'd only like to take the melancholy liberal atheist, and switch it around. Make it introspective yet broad-minded existentialist.

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I'll say this much, I'm not religious or married, but I am conservative and the second to last income quartet and life is great. :D

 

BTW, does anyone here really feel like their in a lifelong struggle against the Big Lie?

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nah, that's a waste of time, IMO.

 

But if we got light sabers....

 

Anyway, in the interests of salvaging something with discussing from bascule's article, points for the first person who makes a link between knuckle-dragging, conservative bliss and right wing authoritarianism. :D

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the struggle... the ignorance of the many is too overwhelming to fight, you have to try and work within the system of lies.

 

Of course, I know what you mean. It really does get on my nerves. Sometimes it's even more than that. Anyway, I kind of like pcs' idea. lightsabers would definately be cool. Not sure what it would solve...

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I'm a random fluke in the universe. I have no particular purpose except to compute into the whole in the same way that rocks, dirt, and driftwood compute into the whole. There's no supereme being that loves me. There's no divine force trying to preserve me and I could be wiped out at any time by a random fluke. When I'm dead the overwhelmingly most likely scenario is that the emergent effects of my consciousness will vanish from the universe forever. 20 years after I'm dead no one will care.

 

There is a morbid enjoyment in the feeling like you know something that a lot of people don't realize, being different. You're not really trading happiness for truth, but rather one kind of happiness for another.

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  • 1 month later...
There is a morbid enjoyment in the feeling like you know something that a lot of people don't realize, being different. You're not really trading happiness for truth, but rather one kind of happiness for another.

 

Right now, currently, I feel more frustration than enjoyment; truth has not been a substituion for another happiness, and probably I'm not the only one either that feels this way. Hopefully, time will change that...hopefully when I'm out of high school.

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Right now, currently, I feel more frustration than enjoyment; truth has not been a substituion for another happiness, and probably I'm not the only one either that feels this way. Hopefully, time will change that...hopefully when I'm out of high school.

 

You mean sex? There's a multitude of outlets for that subject without pouring your heart out before strangers. I suggest you talk to your parents, preacher, or a respected community leader.

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And how bleak that all sounds! No wonder I'm either completely unemotional or melancholy most of the time.

 

because from my perspective that person is happy from the placebo effect

 

so what if it`s a placebo effect? if you beleive all that this guy said, then why not keep your limited unfortunate time here Happy?

 

it`s a bit like telling a guy on death row he shouldn`t have a cigarette because it Bad for him!?

 

as for myself, I`m 99.9% of the time quite happy, and I also prefer truth to lies, I`ve found what I beleive to be True.

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You mean sex? There's a multitude of outlets for that subject without pouring your heart out before strangers. I suggest you talk to your parents, preacher, or a respected community leader.

 

I don't think you heard me right. We were talking about truths, the BIG lie vs. truth.

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I don't think you heard me right. We were talking about truths, the BIG lie vs. truth.

 

In short, we're talking about excrutiating loneliness. This is really something you should take elsewhere. No one here is qualified to speak therapeutically on the subject.

 

I'd rather be pensively knowledgable than blissfully ignorant

 

Have you been blissfully ignorant for a good amount of time? Don't knock it until you try it.

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