PHIL 3160 – Philosophy of Happiness

What is it, how can we best pursue it, why should we? Supporting the study of these and related questions at Middle Tennessee State University and beyond. "Examining the concept of human happiness and its application in everyday living as discussed since antiquity by philosophers, psychologists, writers, spiritual leaders, and contributors to pop culture."

Monday, December 6, 2021

Nick's philosophy of happiness

 My Own Philosophy of Happiness [posted for Nick Cook]

So, for my final report blogpost, I would like to further develop my midterm report. I would also  like to further delve into my own general view of life and my own idea of happiness. 

I would firstly like to talk a little about mental illness before jumping into what might  make me happy since it does direct my thoughts and opinions about the world we live in and the  world I would like to exist to be happy. I’ve struggled for as long as I can remember with some  sort of mental illness. I actually haven’t seen a psychiatrist since I was 10 and for the longest  time just thought that my brain was normal and the experience I was living was just how it's  supposed to be. I guess my first point should be that I struggle with self-awareness a lot. To best  explain the feeling, I’d say that it’s hard for me to exist inside my mind. I struggle with  inspiration and drive. It's like I’m constantly in a rut. I’ve always wanted to learn to play the  guitar and make music. However, for some reason when I sit down to learn I get overwhelmed. I  think that maybe I put myself down about things so much that I no longer want to do the things  that I set my mind to. This is all so normal to me that I think a lot of it happens subconsciously  without my control or even knowledge. I just simply will stop doing it. I then usually try and  seek out playing video games or doing something that truly stimulates my brain. I must struggle  with some sort of dopamine regulation. 

My idea of happiness circulates around doing the things that I truly want to do, but  obviously, to live in the world we do you have to have a steady income. I think constantly being  worried about money is my biggest stress. If I could just have a steady source of income, I could  spend my other time doing the things I want to do. Being in college has been a huge stress on me 

too. My lack of steady income and dealing with constant schoolwork often leaves me burnt out.  Then when I want to do other things, I simply am searching for hobbies that produce the  maximum amount of dopamine in the shortest amount of time. I.e., playing overwatch or  browsing on my phone. To be honest, I also have a theory that it's simply the society that we live  in. Our brains are constantly being stimulated. I touched a little on this in my midterm report  however id like to give more details of what I mean. We are constantly seeing bright stimulating  advertisements that send our minds into a frenzy. Like, “Oh! Zaxby’s! I’d love to have some  chicken strips right about now!” then you notice you’re hungry and start thinking about the taste  of Zaxby's chicken strips and this has to be draining to the mind when it’s happening every 5  minutes. Especially your phone is like a portable ad generator. We are quite literally constantly  stimulating our brains. When you think about how fast technology has developed and how  slowly evolution takes its like, holy crap, we used to stimulate our brains by doing things rather  than just sitting on our butts and looking at Instagram. I often think there’s a stigma that older  generations place on younger generations that we’re lazy, but our brains are just constantly  overworked/burnt out. I wish that I could separate from the overstimulation and live a simple  life. 

I want to build my own house out in the wilderness on hopefully hundreds of acres of  land. I would like it to be sustainable and with self-generated electricity so that I don’t have to  worry about as many bills and obviously for the smaller eco imprint. I would like to grow my  own food (since our food is so full of antibiotics and who knows what  

else https://www.whatthehealthfilm.com ). I want a space where I can be fully myself and just  simply be freer from stress. Obviously growing your own food and maintaining a farm is stress, 

however like I discussed in my midterm report when you feel that you are progressing and  you’re passionate about the work you’re doing it feels less like stress. 

Obviously, this lifestyle isn’t for everyone. I think that my passions combined make  this a good option for me, but obviously, there are plenty of people who are happy with  capitalism and don’t mind being stimulated. That’s fine. I think it’s up to us individually to truly  find what will make us happy, this class has helped me sit down and think, to truly reflect and  focus on my self-awareness, and to find my own philosophy of happiness.


2 comments:

  1. A place in the country sounds terrific, so long as it's not TOO remote and isolated. Most of us live our best lives in the company of our kind. Nothing is more predictive of happiness than a strong and accessible social support network.

    As for the ordinary day-to-day anxiety so many of your peers also report: in all seriousness, have you considered taking long walks? (See cartoon below.)

    Good luck. Life is good. Happiness is possible. Nothing is more characteristic of human nature than its willingness to live on a chance...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your dream of moving to the country reminds me of John Prine's "Spanish Pipedream"... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BofvfVPFbiM

      Delete

You don’t need a pill: Neo

It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness True happiness is... to enjoy the present, without anxious dependen...