Thursday, August 29, 2013
Luck (ch.1) - Group 1
Today we focused on the topic of happiness being a choice. We started with the quote from Bok, "We become who we are in part by how we respond to the shifting circumstances against which our lives delineate themselves."(p2) We acknowledged that there is a process between initial emotion and the action that follows, which is where the choice is made. Then we explored more instances where the choice is limited because of the need to communicate emotions. We determined that there is a minimum amount of external processing that people need as an outlet and an opportunity to interact with other people.Without letting raw emotions release occasionally it is likely that one day they will all release at once (and no one wants to be around "that guy").
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I like what you guys are saying about releasing emotions in a healthy way, and I think this points to what someone said in class on Tuesday about experiencing the full range/spectrum of human emotion. From a personal stance I feel like music and art in general have been incredibly helpful tools with figuring out how to express/respond to life's "shifting circumstances". Our group focused on the same quote from Bok. I think this idea is appealing to a lot of people because of the sense of meaning it creates in our lives.
ReplyDeleteIn the words of Nietzsche,
"He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how."
Nietzsche said a lot of outrageous things but this is one of his gems. Viktor Frankl in "Man's Search for Meaning" says it helped get him through the death camps.
DeleteAnd Frankl's application of this in his life has been a great encouragement in my own for many years. Thanks for the reminder.
DeletePost from Leigh Koger
ReplyDeleteI feel like this class will help me in my new goal to rid myself of negativity as much as possible. There doesn't seem to be a better way than waking up and thinking about happiness and what makes me happy.
I am excited to learn something new. This is my first philosophy class so be patient with me as I learn this wonderful new information.
I don't usually do quotes, but since it will get me around the bases i have started looking up happiness quotes for the page. the following one i found kind of fits with my recent outlook on happiness.
ReplyDelete"Happiness is a journey, not a destination."
It is something that we should enjoy along the way and not worry about how we get there.
I've been doing this for a long time, and philosophy class can still feel like my first too. Everybody should be patient with everybody. Always.
DeleteOne of my favorites: "The nectar is in the journey." -John McDermott
Presocratic wisdom(?)
Delete"Seekers after gold dig up much earth and find little." ~Heraclitus
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Delete"Releasing raw emotions" is the rationale I often hear for our culture's fascination with football. I don't know, it doesn't seem to me as though my football friends are any less prone to emotional outbursts and violent feelings than anyone else. Stoics and Buddhists may have a better idea.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKD2fjBpHFk&list=PLE07F7C6B9057C66D
ReplyDeleteThis song often reminds me of just how overwhelming life can be to comtemplate.
As far as releasing those raw emotions, I find it really helps to find at least one other person who just "gets" you, so much so that you feel completely comfortable in telling them every little doubt, fear, source of anger, etc. Purging these (through conversation or "healthy" venting) usually results in far less outbursts, like Brenna mentioned. I really enjoy what your group is producing! :)
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ReplyDeleteI have a Buddhist friend who talks about finding the "pause" between the emotion and the action. It's a concept that has given me a lot of peace. In the "pause" there is time to vent and discern if the emotion even needs an action to follow it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I'm doing this baseball scorecard system correctly, so please alert me if not.
ReplyDeleteIn the previous class, we discussed how to react to change, in a way, and we also illustrated and discussed the spectrum of emotions and ,I attempted to come up with a concrete distinction between contentment and happiness. I believe my group will be able to work off of each other very well, and that I will gain a lot of new opinions/possible perspectives. In the previous class we also distinguished that there is a seemingly inevitable initial reaction to change(Whatever it may be) and then you have the CHOICE to decide upon how you will react to the new life development, whether big or small. In a way, all you have is the present moment, your memories that define your personality, and the choices you make at said present moment to mold your path. I certainly agree that a release of raw emotions is a necessary component of human well-being, but this method of outlet does vary from person to person- It is still necessary as to not have something in the way of a mental breakdown or ego death,
Factual Question for upcoming reading- Who's description of pantheistic ecstasy began with "My life was ecstasy. In youth, before I lost any of my senses, I can remember that I was all alive, and inhabited my body with inexpressible satisfaction;"
Discussion Question- Do you agree with Nozick's quote "What we want, in short, is a self that happiness is a fitting response to- and then to give it that response."? Why or why not?
Happy Link(I did a broadcast covering this article some months ago, and for those interested in my radio program which is all about the psychology of well-being, neuroscience, and related topics such as eastern spirituality- Check it out at party934.com/Flourish
As inspired by Martin Seligman's book 'Flourish.')
The article is titled What Happy People Do Differently
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201306/what-happy-people-do-differently?tr=MostViewed
Here's a quote from the article to give you an idea of what it is trying to say-
"True happiness lasts longer than a burst of dopamine, however, so it's important to think of it as something more than just emotion. Your sense of happiness also includes cognitive reflections, such as when you give a mental thumbs-up or thumbs-down to your best friend's sense of humor, the shape of your nose, or the quality of your marriage. Only a bit of this sense has to do with how you feel; the rest is the product of mental arithmetic, when you compute your expectations, your ideals, your acceptance of what you can't change—and countless other factors. That is, happiness is a state of mind, and as such, can be intentional and strategic."
(Include the answer to the factual question--as these are the database that our exams are pulled from :))
DeleteAh it slipped my mind! The answer to the factual question is Henry David Thoreau
DeleteAs someone who has difficulty letting others know they have upset her, I completely understand the bottling up and exploding notion. I try to gently release emotions because more often than not, things don't completely floor me unless I let it build. So what I recommend to people like me is to find the most peaceful way of saying, "Hey I wasn't really cool with that. You and I can still be cool, just know that about me." Arguments are the devil. ;)
ReplyDeleteI feel like if you try to be solely peaceful, though, your convictions and passions fall flat and seem sort of...well...lackluster. Obviously, being cool with someone is something that can and should underly all discussions, but simply saying "I'm not cool with that" and not distinguishing exactly why or making clear just how upset it can make us can lead directly to the same explosions of raw emotions aforementioned.
Delete(Maia Lewis) True or false:
ReplyDeleteAristotle and Schopenhauer believed that women had more capacity for happiness than men. (False)
On that note, do you agree or disagree that sex/gender makes a difference in one's potential happiness?
In regards to our previous discussion about luck, I feel that it's true that you can't control your initial reaction to any given stimulus, but you can resolve to change your reaction if exposed to the same stimulus repeatedly.
Contrariwise, if a stimulus is seldom experienced, it holds memories of your original reaction to it, so when it is experienced again, those images, smells, thoughts, etc. are relived vividly. If the original reaction was one of joy or delight, the stimulus can be used as a treat or pick-me-up.
(I have posted a comment to group 2's discussion.)
Here's a neat little article about scent and its association to memory:http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/human-biology/smell3.htm