34182Ynhhd40TheJapaneseinthe1990swere as satisfied

Q&@

_OR DISSATISFIED_
AS THEY WERE IN THE 1950s!
It appears that our happiness bangs against
some mysterious glass ceiling that does not allow it to grow
despite all our unprecedented accomplishments? Even if we provide free food
for everybody, cure all diseases and ensure world peace, it won't necessarily shatter that glass ceiling?
Achieving real happiness is not going to be much easier than overcoming old age and death!
The glass ceiling of happiness is held in place by two stout pillars, one psychological, the other biological...
On the psychological level, happiness depends on expectations rather than objective conditions?
We don't become satisfied by leading a peaceful and prosperous existence! Rather we become satisfied when
reality matches our expectations! The bad news is that as conditions improve, expectations balloon......
Dramatic improvements in conditions, as humankind has experienced in recent decades, translate into greater
expectations rather than greater contentment. And if we don't do something about this, our future achievements
too might leave us as dissatisfied as ever?!! On the biological level, both our expectations and our happiness are
determined by our biochemistry, rather than by our economic, social or political situation! According to Epicures,
we are happy when we feel pleasant sensations and are free from unpleasant ones? Jeremy Bentham similarly
maintained that nature gave dominion over man to two masters - pleasure and pain - and they alone determine
everything we do, say & think! JB's successor, John Stuart Mill, explained that happiness is nothing but
pleasure & freedom from pain, & that beyond pleasure and pain there is
no good and no evil? Anyone who tries to deduce
good and evil from something else
(such as the word of God, or
national interest) is fooling
you, and perhaps
fooling himself
too!?


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