Meaning of Life

	Five Books ⁦‪@five_books‬⁩ Finding meaning in life is not the same as finding happiness, argues Canadian philosopher Paul Thagard. He picks the best books on the meaning of life. fivebooks.com/best-books/pau…   5/27/22, 11:06 AM

The source

"Happiness is not quantitative or measurable, and it is not the object of any science, old or new. It cannot be gleaned from empirical surveys or programmed into individuals through a combination of behavioral therapy and antidepressants. If it consists in anything, I think that happiness is this feeling of existence, this sentiment of momentary self-sufficiency that is bound up with the experience of time Look again at what Rousseau writes. Floating in a boat in fine weather, lying down with one’s eyes open to the clouds and birds or closed in reverie, one does not feel the pull of the past, nor does one reach into the future. Time is nothing, or rather, time is nothing but the experience of the present through which one passes without hurry but without regret. As Wittgenstein writes in what must be the most intriguing remark in the Tractatus, “The eternal life is given to those who live in the present.” Or, as Whitman writes in Leaves of Grass: “Happiness is not in another place, but in this place . . . not for another hour . . . but this hour.” Rousseau asks, “What is the source of our happiness in such a state?” He answers that it is nothing external to us and nothing apart from our own existence. However frenetic our environment, such a feeling of existence can be achieved."
...
Bald: 35 Philosophical Short Cuts" by Simon Critchley: https://a.co/8DX96aa

The Rich Are Not Who We Think They Are. And Happiness Is Not What We Think It Is, Either.

...The activities that make people happiest include sex, exercise and gardening. People get a big happiness boost from being with a romantic partner or friends but not from other people, like colleagues, children or acquaintances. Weather plays only a small role in happiness, except that people get a hearty mood boost on extraordinary days, such as those above 75 degrees and sunny. People are consistently happier when they are out in nature, particularly near a body of water, particularly when the scenery is beautiful.

The findings on the data of happiness are, to be honest, obvious. When I told my friends about these studies, the most common response was, “Did we need scientists to tell us this?”

But I would argue that there is profundity in the obviousness of the data on happiness.

Sometimes, big data reveals a shocking secret. At other times, big data tells us that there is no secret. And that’s the case with happiness.

This is crucial to keep in mind for the many of us who are not doing the obvious things that make people happy. We are falling for traps that the data says are unlikely to make us happy.

Many of us work far too hard at jobs with people we don’t like — not a likely path to happiness. Dr. MacKerron and the economist Alex Bryson found that work is the second-most-miserable activity; of 40 activities, only being sick in bed makes people less happy than working. The economist Steven Levitt found that when people are uncertain whether to quit a job, they can be nudged to quit. And when they quit, they report increased happiness months later.

Many of us move to big cities and spend little time in nature — also not a path to happiness...

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/14/opinion/sunday/rich-happiness-big-data.html?smid=em-share

Hope for happiness

	Phil Oliver ⁦‪@OSOPHER‬⁩ "What matters for pragmatists is devising ways of diminishing human suffering and increasing human equality, increasing the ability of all children to start life with an equal chance of happiness."-What Can We Hope For?: Essays on Politics by Richard Rorty a.co/4Tdav34   5/10/22, 4:08 PM

"Missionary for love and happiness"

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdTZNjmNcNL/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

Ben Franklin’s Radical Theory of Happiness

     Ken Burns grades the Founding Father’s pursuit of a good life.

Most of the happiness scholars I cite in this column are living and active, because the scientific study of human happiness, relying as it does on social psychology, behavioral economics, and neuroscience, is only a few decades old. But the philosophical premise behind this modern discipline goes back centuries. The topic was of particular interest to American Enlightenment thinkers of the late 18th century. Most famously, Thomas Jefferson declared the pursuit of happiness an unalienable right in the Declaration of Independence.

Jefferson later explained that the Declaration, including this odd claim to happiness, was simply “an expression of the American mind.” The American mind of one of Jefferson’s fellow Founding Fathers was especially influential when it comes to the philosophy of happiness: that of Benjamin Franklin. This is according to the filmmaker Ken Burns, who also dubs him our nation’s first happiness professor. Burns has spent the past two years immersed in Franklin’s mind, to make a documentary on the man that is currently airing on PBS.

Franklin believed that everyone naturally seeks happiness. “The desire of happiness in general is so natural to us, that all the world are in pursuit of it,” he wrote in his memoir in a section titled “On True Happiness.” He dedicated his life to defining it for his peculiar American compatriots, and advising them on how they could work to get it. But like so many people who give advice for a living, it is not at all clear that he lived his own life in the happiest way. We can still learn a lot today by taking his counsel—and avoiding his errors..

What did Franklin mean by happiness, I asked Burns? Pleasant feelings? Not even close: “For Franklin, happiness meant lifelong learning in the marketplace of ideas,” Burns told me. “In other words, self-improvement.”

This conception of happiness encompasses the great contradiction in American culture: individualistic in the focus on the self, yet communitarian in the reliance on a cooperative marketplace. Further, Franklin defines happiness as an endless journey, not a comforting destination. This journey could be an exciting adventure or a terrible curse, depending on your point of view... Arthur Brooks

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/05/ben-franklin-happiness-self-improvement-advice/629767/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Concluding conversation

Ashley, Shira, and Jennifer,

UPDATE, May 3. I'd hoped you all would use the discussion thread below this post for a more extensive concluding conversation amongst yourselves, and intended to add my own more extensive comments. Alas, you know the saying about the best-laid plans etc.; I tested positive for COVID yesterday, I'm not feeling too chatty. I'll post grades as soon as I can. I hope you've gained some insight into the philosophy of happiness, and will continue to reflect on its centrality to life. As Wm James said, how to gain and keep and recover it is "our chief concern." And as he also knew, health is a big part of it. He told a friend: "Keep your health, your splendid health. It's worth all the truths in the firmament."

[Re-posting this... Please conclude your conversation in the comments space here by April 30. jpo]

Go ahead and post your thoughts on Russell's Conquest of Happiness and whatever else you'd like to read and discuss, in the brief time that remains. Then, for your final project, post a summary of what you've found insightful or not in the texts you've read AND discuss your respective conclusions/reflections/questions with each other. Maybe we can launch that discussion here, beginning with these questions:

What new insights into happiness do you take away from your reading and reflection this semester?

What do you find most/least helpful in Haybron, Russell, ____?

Have you come across other texts/sources you intend to pursue after the semester ends?

[Add your own questions...]

Russell- Final Thoughts

 The latter portion of Russell’s text delves into the possibility and contemplation of ‘is happiness possible?’ Promptly engage in different aspects of life that contribute to life’s happiness. He begins the second half by suggesting that happiness in the modern world has become an impossibility. He conveys that happiness is fleeting and can easily dissipate by introspection. That the happiest of men are those involved in science or the sciences. It took me a minute to unpack what that meant in my own understanding. The sciences, to me, literally meant men of science, once again excluding women as when he speaks of women he typically mentions women; nonetheless, these men of science are the only happy individuals walking around and thus everyone else is merely unhappy by default. I did not like this conclusion that I summarized, so I tried to understand differently. Russell mentions that there is a difference (of happiness) made by education. Perhaps science equates to education, an educated individual, or someone with the access to education. I can wrap my brain around this concept with a little more ease. In this perception, I do agree that access to education can provide an added benefit to happiness. In no way, however, is it the only requirement towards a happy life, but an understanding of even the basics in education can help open doors of opportunities. Russell, “Perhaps the simplest way to describe the difference between the two sorts of happiness is to say that one sort is open to any human being, and the other only to those who can read and write.” 

A humble respect and awareness towards one's ability also contributes to the level of happiness. As Russell states, “The difference made by education is only in regard to the activities by which these pleasures are to be obtained. Pleasures of achievement demand difficulties such that beforehand success seems doubtful although in the end it is usually achieved. This is perhaps the chief reason why a not excessive estimate of one's own powers is a source of happiness. The man who underestimates himself is perpetually being surprised by success, whereas the man who overestimates himself is just as often surprised by failure.”  Relating back to men of science, Russell says the reason for their happiness is that the higher parts of their intelligence are wholly absorbed by their work, and are not allowed to intrude into regions where they have no functions to perform. This level of functionality can get to the point of being unhealthy. I believe there is a fine line to being absorbed in one’s work and finding that balance is partially crucial in the overall happiness in life. 

Russell goes on to mention other characteristics that factor into what creates happiness. A certain level of passion, zest,  belief in a cause, a friendly interest in people and family. Health and energy are necessary for zest. For women as for men, zest is the secret of happiness and well-being. However, For women, “zest has been greatly diminished by a mistaken conception of respectability.” Women are victimized by being taught not to be too lively in public and not to take too evident an interest in men. Once again, I feel this limits the magnitude of happiness women are allowed or allotted to achieve.  He suggests that “the secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.” However, who is this suggestion for. Simply men of science? Is it allowed for men not invested in science to have interest wide and deep. Are women limited to shallow interests? I do believe and agree that not possessing an outlet to engage our capabilities into can lead to a heavy level of discontent. I also fell that our society contributes to that discontent by insisting that happiness be labeled and divided into categories of who is worthy, or by sex. Seems idiotic that we place barries on something as lovely as happiness. Or that we insist that happiness itself is something we have to pursue. An act of effort. Tracing back to several weeks ago when we discussed that happiness can be found taking an extroverted look at others rather than an introverted labor within ourselves. If we limit the access to who can be happy, then we will never understand or fully achieve it.