Quiz Oct 3

Lenoir 13-15 (Other People; Contagious happiness)... Remember to do today's report quiz as well

1. What is it about the question "Are you happy?" that makes Lenoir uneasy?

2. What happens to most people after confronting serious illness or a career setback OR a positive improvement in life circumstances?

3. What is the "age effect"?

4. What forms of love did Aristotle not distinguish?

5. Happiness, like health, is a ______ phenomenon.

6. Lenoir's example of contagious, shared rapture is what?

Others?

DQ:

1. "We are almost all 'more or less happy'" day to day, in a fluctuating way. So, what's the most sympathetic thing you can say about Lenoir's previous suggestion that we might be "happy every moment"?

2. Can you confirm the claim that we always recur to our happiness set-point? Have you experienced unsustained highs or lows? Do you think you've raised your personal set-point, over the course of your life? Are you working to do so?

3. Do you anticipate a "mellow" future? Do you dread the prospect of senescence?

4. Are we really "visceral egoists"? And isn't it an error to include Adam Smith (as opposed to some free-marketeers who think they're following him) as one of these? ("There is nothing is Adam Smith to support a 'greed is good' mentality," write Solomon & Higgins.) Are you an altruist?

5. Have you personally experienced the phenomenon of (un-)happy contagion?

6. If schaudenfreude can be explained in evolutionary terms, can cooperation and the spirit of mutual support be similarly explained?

???
Sherry Turkle on reclaiming conversation... If you're happy and you know it... Lenoir 13-15 podcast...

U@d Contagious happiness

Small Pleasures

The SoL says they're a big deal. Given their ubiquity, doesn't that subvert one of the main planks of pessimism - that the world is sure to disappoint  us constantly, and dash even our modest expectations?

A change in the weather seems like a strange, almost quite surprising avenue through which to enter a philosophical mood. Yet as summer draws to a close and autumn announces its arrival, we find ourselves confronted with the inevitability of all that is central to the natural world. 

The deciduous tree has to shed it leaves when the temperature dips in autumn; the river must erode its banks, the cold front will deposit its rain. When we contemplate nature, we’re witnessing rules that in their broad irresistible structure apply to ourselves as well. We too must mature, seek to reproduce, age, and die. 

This is why we must take care not to overlook the more modest pleasures of life. A small pleasure may look very minor – eating a fig, having a bath, whispering in bed in the dark or talking to a grandparent – and yet be anything but. These low-key moments of quiet satisfaction, by being so easily within our control, offer enormous consolation in the face of those elemental forces which we simply cannot change.

We’re surrounded by some powerful ideas about the sort of things that will make us happy. We think that really to deliver satisfaction, the pleasures we should aim for need to be:

Rare – we’ve inherited a Romantic suspicion of the ordinary (which is taken to be mediocre, dull and uninspiring) and work with a corresponding assumption that things that are unique, hard to find, exotic, or unfamiliar are naturally fitted to delight us more.

Expensive – we like economic endorsement. If something is cheap or free, it’s a little harder to appreciate; the pineapple (for instance) dropped off a lot of people’s wish list of fruit when its price fell from exorbitant (they used to cost the equivalent of hundreds of pounds) to unremarkable. Caviar continues to sound somehow more interesting than chicken eggs.

Famous – in a fascinating experiment a celebrated violinist once donned scruffy clothes and busked at a street corner and was largely ignored, though people would flock to the world’s great concert halls to hear him play the same pieces.

Large Scale – we are mostly focused on big schemes, that we hope will deliver enjoyment: marriage, career, travel, getting a new house.

These approaches aren’t entirely wrong, but unwittingly they collectively exhibit a vicious and unhelpful bias against the cheap, the easily available, the ordinary the familiar and the small-scale... (continues)
==
And because Hugh Hefner, the Playboy Philosopher, has died...

Pessimism

The School of Life's full of it. For instance:

"Pessimism has a bad reputation, but it is one of the kindest and most generous of philosophies. That’s because what often makes us sad and angry isn’t disappointment, but a sense that our hopes have not come true and that our lives are unusually bitter; that we have been singled out for particular punishment. Pessimistic ideas suggest otherwise. Life isn’t incidentally miserable, they tell us, it is fundamentally deeply difficult for everyone. This functions as an antidote to the oppressive modern demand to look on the bright side; allowing us to bond with others around an honest of admission of some truly sobering realities.

Here are some of our favourite pessimistic thoughts:

We reassure ourselves about the amount of time we have left by pegging our imagined death to the date of the average lifespan, without remembering that long before we reach that terminal point, we will have passed through years of growing infirmity, terror as our friends die off, a sense that we no longer feel at home in the world, a humiliation that anyone doing anything significant is decades younger than us, humiliating bladder problems and our own sexual repulsiveness. In other words: we must never hold back from a useful panic at how little time there is left.

When we resolve one major anxiety, we trust that calm will now descend and satisfy us: but all we’re really ever doing is freeing up space for an even more poisonous and aggressive worry to spring forth, as it always will. Life can only ever be a process of replacing one anxiety with another.

The greatest part of our suffering is brought about by our hopes (for health, happiness and success). Therefore, the kindest thing we can do for ourselves is to recognise that our griefs are not incidental or passing, but a fundamental aspect of existence which will only get worse – until the worst of all happens.

The only people we can think of as normal are those we don’t yet know very well.

We reserve a special place in our hearts for those who can’t see the point of us.

The best way to be a calmer and nicer person is to give up on everyone; the route to tolerance and patient good humour is to realise that one simply is, where it counts, irredeemably alone.

True wisdom: the recognition of just how often wisdom will simply not be an option.

Worldly success is the consolation prize for those unhappy driven souls who have redirected their early humiliation and sense that they weren’t good enough into ‘achievements’ – which will never make up for the unconditional love they will deep down always crave in vain.

Rather than imagining that they might feel guilt, people who have hurt us, in fact, typically start to hate us – for reminding them of their own meanness.

For paranoia about ‘what other people think’: remember that very few love, only some hate – and nearly everyone just doesn’t care.

We have begun to know someone properly whenever they have started substantially to disappoint us.

Choosing a person to marry is just a matter of deciding what particular kind of suffering we would like to commit ourselves to.

The cure for infatuation: Get to know them better."

SoL-Book of Life... Eudaimonia...small pleasures..."happ" in BoL

Emotional Education: An Introduction
For most of history, the idea that the goal of our lives was to be happy would have sounded extremely odd. In the Christian story which dominated the Western imagination, unhappiness was not a coincidence, it was an inevitability required by the sins of Adam and Eve. For the Buddhists, life simply was in its essence a story of suffering. Then, slowly at the dawn of the modern age, a remarkable new concept came to the fore: that of personal fulfilment, the idea that happiness could be achievable both at work and in relationships.

Unfortunately this new concept coincided with a belief that the skills required to achieve happiness could be picked up outside of education. It is to this error that our current malaise can be traced... (continues)

Quiz Sep26

Lenoir 7-9 (Being Oneself, Schopenhauer, $). And, take a look at the Schopenhauer post below.

1. Who said the "process of individuation" often begins only at midlife or later?

2. What was Plato's distinction of temperaments?

3. What was Schopenhauer's "curious contradiction"?

4. How does Lenoir disagree with Schopenhauer ?

5. How much of our happiness does Sonja Lyubomirsky say is subject to volition?

6. What did Seneca say about invidious happiness comparisons?

Your Quiz questions...

DQ:

• AGREE? "Worldly success is the consolation prize for those unhappy driven souls..." (etc.-see "Pessimism" post above)
• "Everyone takes his enjoyment in his own way and for himself alone." Is Flaubert right? Is this a defensible attitude? Are you an egoist? Does this preclude altruism? 
• Have you discovered your own "deeper nature" and the "atmosphere that suits" you best? Do you acknowledge a plurality of such natures in yourself and others? Is it fixed or alterable?
• Is your sensibility, character, taste etc. as little affected by externals as Goethe suggested?

• Do you spontaneously look on the bright side of life? Can you teach yourself to adopt that outlook? Does it make you a shallow person? Is it possible to smile in the face of your mortality?
• Do you attempt to modify your perceptions, or do you accept them as a given? Does this mark you as a Stoic, a libertarian, or what?
• Is Renard's attitude misanthropic? Do you share it?
• Do you believe religion/spirituality adds quality years to your life?
• COMMENT: ..there are unhappy men who think the salvation of the world impossible. Theirs is the doctrine known as pessimism. Optimism in turn would be the doctrine that thinks the world's salvation inevitable. Midway between the two there stands what may be called the doctrine of meliorism...Meliorism treats salvation as neither inevitable nor impossible. It treats it as a possibility, which becomes more and more of a probability the more numerous the actual conditions of salvation become. It is clear that pragmatism must incline towards meliorism... Pragmatism: A New Name for an Old Way of Thinking

Pragmatic meliorism

• Your DQ suggestions...

Podcasts: Happiness 7-9... Seneca, Schopenhauer...
==
Sep28-EXAM today, no quiz... but here are questions to add to the Study Guide, & stuff to talk about:

Lenoir 10-12 (The Emotional Brain; The Art of Attention; Dreaming) 

1. Which molecules play an important role in well-being and emotional balance?

2. What do dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin have to do with happiness?

3. What crucial point did the Stoic and Epicurean sages of antiquity underscore?

4. Why did Montaigne ride his horse? (And a BONUS QUESTION: what startling equine event changed Montaigne's life?)

5. Aside from the importance of letting the mind wander, what important qualification does Lenoir attach to the primacy of the present moment?

6. Who pioneered Positive Psychology?

DQ:

1. Does it bother you to think of your happiness being governed by the "molecules of emotion"? Is this an objectionably reductive way of understanding subjectivity and the mind, or merely a strategically useful handle on one's state of well-being? Does it over-objectify experience, or imply a deterministic worldview at odds with your notion of free will (see my dawn post, below)?

2.Given the importance of diet, sleep, and emotional equanimity to happiness, what do you do to insure their adqeuate provision in your own daily habits and routines? What can't you do, that you wish you could?

3. If the quest for a "happiness gene" is misguided, is there a place for genetic engineering in the future pursuit of happiness? What regulations on such research would you impose, if you were Philosopher-King/Queen?

4. How do you cultivate the skill of attention? How "mindful" are you? Can every moment of life really be a source of happiness?

5. Do you agree with Woody Allen?

6. Are you temperamentally more American or French? Who's happier?
==
An old dawn post:
Choosing free will

More in class today on free will. Augustine's theological commitment to the concept is one hook, neuroscience is another. "Our brains take decisions before our minds are aware of them," reports the BBC podcast I've asked students to consider.

"But there's evidence that whether or not we have free will, believing in it is good for us." Some experiments support the claim that those who believe in free will, and act on that belief, are by various measures happier, healthier, more conscientious and ethically responsible, less liable to cheat, steal, and lie.

The "happier" claim is most arresting, or it will be for us in Happiness class this afternoon. William James, in his books but more impressively in the totality of his post-free will crisis lifetime, supports it too. One day he "just about touched bottom," the next he resolved that "my first act of free will shall be to believe in free will," and in subsequent decades he certainly seemed to find pragmatic vindication for the concept. In his own terms, he found it better for him to believe in free will. Far better. That's not proof, but neither is it irrelevant or illusory.

But is it an adequate answer to Gregg Caruso's contention (and Sam Harris's) that as a society we would be better off giving it up, even if some individuals like James would not be? Caruso:

I maintain that life without free will may actually be good for our well being, and our relationships with others, since it could tend to eradicate an often destructive form of moral anger, a kind of moral anger that's corrosive to our relationships and to our social policies...

We need to acknowledge the role that luck plays in our lives, who we are, and how we turn out... Let's give up the belief in free will, and with it, the pernicious belief in just-deserts, that people justly deserve what they get. Let's leave this adequate notion behind, lose our moral anger and stop blaming the victim. Instead, let's turn our attention to the difficult task of addressing the causes that lead to criminality, to wealth inequity, and educational inequity. Once we relinquish the belief in free will, this will allow us to look more clearly at the causes and more deeply at the systems that shape individuals and their behavior, and this will allow us to adopt more humane and more effective policies in education, criminal justice, and social policies.

 Sounds great. It might be the right choice, if we have one. But I don't think it would have got William James up off the floor, when he touched bottom. I'm not sure it would have got me up out of bed this morning at 5 am. I choose to suspend final judgment on this issue. Or think I do.

5:30/6:38, 61/88

==
Caruso's TED Talk, "The Dark Side of Free Will"
==

Sam Harris:

I briefly discussed the illusion of free will in both The End of Faith and The Moral Landscape. I have since received hundreds of questions and comments from readers and learned just where the sticking points were in my original arguments. I am happy to now offer my final thoughts on the subject in the form of a short book, Free Will, that can be read in a single sitting.

The question of free will touches nearly everything we care about. Morality, law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, feelings of guilt and personal accomplishment—most of what is distinctly human about our lives seems to depend upon our viewing one another as autonomous persons, capable of free choice. If the scientific community were to declare free will an illusion, it would precipitate a culture war far more belligerent than the one that has been waged on the subject of evolution. Without free will, sinners and criminals would be nothing more than poorly calibrated clockwork, and any conception of justice that emphasized punishing them (rather than deterring, rehabilitating, or merely containing them) would appear utterly incongruous. And those of us who work hard and follow the rules would not “deserve” our success in any deep sense. It is not an accident that most people find these conclusions abhorrent. The stakes are high... (continues)

==
For our (my) amusement:

==

Schopenhauer on "the wisdom of life"

Happiness lies in our sensibility, said Schopenhauer. But Lenoir reads him as denying that there's anything any of us can do to alter the particular sensibility or temperamental receptivity to happiness embedded in our own "deepest nature." If that's so, one wonders why he devoted so much attention to the subject, as in his Wisdom of Life:

In these pages I shall speak of The Wisdom of Life in the common meaning of the term, as the art, namely, of ordering our lives so as to obtain the greatest possible amount of pleasure and success; an art the theory of which may be called Eudaemonology, for it teaches us how to lead a happy existence. Such an existence might perhaps be defined as one which, looked at from a purely objective point of view, or, rather, after cool and mature reflection—for the question necessarily involves subjective considerations,—would be decidedly preferable to non-existence; implying that we should cling to it for its own sake, and not merely from the fear of death; and further, that we should never like it to come to an end.

Now whether human life corresponds, or could possibly correspond, to this conception of existence, is a question to which, as is well-known, my philosophical system returns a negative answer. On the eudaemonistic hypothesis, however, the question must be answered in the affirmative; and I have shown, in the second volume of my chief work (ch. 49), that this hypothesis is based upon a fundamental mistake. Accordingly, in elaborating the scheme of a happy existence, I have had to make a complete surrender of the higher metaphysical and ethical standpoint to which my own theories lead; and everything I shall say here will to some extent rest upon a compromise; in so far, that is, as I take the common standpoint of every day, and embrace the error which is at the bottom of it. My remarks, therefore, will possess only a qualified value, for the very word eudaemonology is a euphemism. Further, I make no claims to completeness; partly because the subject is inexhaustible, and partly because I should otherwise have to say over again what has been already said by others.

The only book composed, as far as I remember, with a like purpose to that which animates this collection of aphorisms, is Cardan's De utilitate ex adversis capienda, which is well worth reading, and may be used to supplement the present work. Aristotle, it is true, has a few words on eudaemonology in the fifth chapter of the first book of his Rhetoric; but what he says does not come to very much. As compilation is not my business, I have made no use of these predecessors; more especially because in the process of compiling, individuality of view is lost, and individuality of view is the kernel of works of this kind. In general, indeed, the wise in all ages have always said the same thing, and the fools, who at all times form the immense majority, have in their way too acted alike, and done just the opposite; and so it will continue. For, as Voltaire says, we shall leave this world as foolish and as wicked as we found it on our arrival... (continues)

In his World as Will & Representation, happiness also gets considerable attention. For instance:

...childhood is the time of innocence and happiness, the paradise of life, the lost Eden on which we look longingly back through the whole remaining course of our life. But the basis of that happiness is that in childhood our whole existence lies much more in knowing than in willing—a condition which is also supported from without by the novelty of all objects. Hence in the morning sunshine of life the world lies before us so fresh, so magically gleaming, so attractive. The small desires, the weak inclinations, and trifling cares of childhood are only a weak counterpoise to that predominance of intellectual activity. The innocent and clear glance of children, at which we revive ourselves, and which sometimes in particular cases reaches the sublime contemplative expression with which Raphael has glorified his cherubs, is to be explained from what has been said. Accordingly the mental powers develop much earlier than the needs they are destined to serve; and here, as everywhere, nature proceeds very designedly. For in this time of predominating intelligence the man collects a great store of knowledge for future wants which at the time are foreign to him. Therefore his intellect, now unceasingly active, eagerly apprehends all phenomena, broods over them and stores them up carefully for the coming time,—like the bees, who gather a great deal more honey than they can consume, in anticipation of future need. Certainly what a man acquires of insight and knowledge up to the age of puberty is, taken as a whole, more than all that he afterwards learns, however learned he may become; for it is the foundation of all human knowledge. Up till the same time plasticity predominates in the child's body, and later, by a metastasis, its forces throw themselves into the system of generation; and thus with puberty the sexual passion appears, and now, little by little, the will gains the upper hand. Then childhood, which is prevailingly theoretical and desirous of learning, is followed by the restless, now stormy, now melancholy, period of youth, which afterwards passes into the vigorous and earnest age of manhood...

We recall, of course, how Schopenhauer "helped" us begin our semester with the denial that our "hunt for happiness" could possibly succeed. ("What disturbs and depresses young people is the hunt for happiness on the firm assumption that it must be met with in life" etc.)

We'll talk about it Tuesday.

How Being A Pessimist Can Actually Make You A Happier Person

                        
Pessimism - a person who believes that this world is as bad as it could be or that evil will ultimately prevail over good.

As you all know, I am a self proclaimed pessimist and I would like to share my world with you all.


Here is the link to an interesting article I found, though I do not believe I CHOSE, per say, to be a pessimist but it is a part of my life.

http://elitedaily.com/wellness/being-pessimist-happier-person/1740502/

I believe that this quote sums it up pretty well "By adopting the philosophy that life is not about everything going according to plan, he wouldn't feel so consistently agitated by life's small upsets." 

But it isn't just about lowing expectations but being open to dissatisfactiona nd not letting it bpther you. I find that not expecting anything makes the good 1000x better and the bad, in a way, leaves you unbothered. A pessimist can be happy, I am probably one of the happiest people you will ever meet.

Here is another link explaining the positives of being an pessimist. Different things such as living longer, better outcomes at work and lower anxiety come with pessimism. (I didn't even know this)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/09/pessimism-health-benefits_n_4392525.html

Though all these posts could be bullshit and I could be living a totally unsatisfactory life, I find it compelling to live the way I do and I am almost never let down. Expectations can distort reality. "those who typically approach a potentially stressful event by envisioning what could go wrong — actually tend to perform well because of their pessimism" 


There is a whole positive life in pessimism, I found myself always looking at what could happen negatively rather than positively at a very young age, like middle school, I always say sometimes there isn't a bright side just a dark side and a darker side.


Next time you say the glass is half-full, remember that is it NOT. It's half-empty (:

Study Guide for test one !

The Philosophy of Happiness

Sep 21st

 1. The direction of wisdom, says Andre Comte-Sponville, is what?

2. What's Lenoir's definition (so far) of happiness?

3. What's Matthieu Ricard's "primary aspiration"?

4. The pursuit of happiness demands what from us?

5. Who said "full and complete happiness does not exist on earth" but is an "ideal of imagination"?

6. What kind of happiness did Socrates and Jesus seek?

Quiz Sep19

1. Are curiosity and awareness both prerequisite to living happily and well, according to Lenoir?

2. Which French essayist said happiness is amplified when we take deliberate delight in it?

3. What aspect of pleasure have post-Darwinian biologists emphasized?

4. For Aristotle, happiness requires what tandem quest?

5. Who said 90% of happiness depends on health?

6. How did Viktor Frankl differ from Freud on the question of meaning?

Quiz Sep14

1. More important than whether you're happy, says Haybron, is what?

2. What makes civilization possible?

3. As a general rule, says Haybron, selfish and shallow people don't look _____.

4. A more demanding notion of the good life must meet what standard?

5. Does Haybron recommend scheduling quality family time?

6. What does Kahneman say about "focusing illusions"?

Quiz Sep12

1. According to Haybron, is it credible to claim that genetics render some people incapable of being happier?

2. What do studies show about consumerist materialism and intrinsic motivation?

3. At what $ level do happiness and income "cease to show a pretty substantial link"?

4. What does an Aristotelian nature-fulfillment theory of happiness find objectionable about the experience machine scenario?

5. What do Desire theories have trouble explaining?

6. How might a philosophical theory of well-being settle the strivers vs. enjoyers debate?

Quiz Sep7

1. Is satisfaction with your life the same as thinking it's going well?

2. Does rating your life satisfaction provide reliably objective insight into your degree of happiness?

3. In what sense do "most people actually have good lives"?

4. Can the science of happiness tell us which groups tend to be happier?

5. What (verbally-expressed, non-numerical) ratio of positive over negative emotional states does happiness probably require?

6. What percentage of American college students said they'd considered suicide?

Quiz Sep 5

1. How does the author's Dad describe existence "on the Pond"?

2. What does Big Joe the commercial fisherman feel at the end of his working day, and how does he feel generally?

3 . Your posture or stride reveals something deeper than what?

4. The author says moments like the one depicted in the photo on p.18 involve no what?

5. Who developed the notion of flow?

 6. Tranquility, confidence, and expansiveness are aspects of what state of mind/body?

7. Though your temperament may be more or less fixed, your ___ may be more or less prone to change with circumstances.

8. What famous western Buddhist says happiness is an optimal state of being, much more than a feeling?

Quiz Aug 31

1. Who has frequently been held up by philosophers as a paradigm of happiness?

2. What nation did Gallup find to be happiest in terms of daily experience?

3. What does Haybron say will most likely NOT be on your deathbed list of things you'd like to experience again before you go?

4. What was Aristotle's word for happiness, and what did he particularly not mean by it?

5. Which of Haybron's three happiness theories is not mainly concerned with feelings?

6. Why does Haybron consider "subjective well-being" unhelpful? 

Quiz Sep 21

Voltaire, Socrates, Jesus, Kant
Lenoir 4-6 (Voltaire, Socrates, Jesus, Kant). LISTEN: Socrates (IOT)

1. The direction of wisdom, says Andre Comte-Sponville, is what?

2. What's Lenoir's definition (so far) of happiness?

3. What's Matthieu Ricard's "primary aspiration"?

4. The pursuit of happiness demands what from us?

5. Who said "full and complete happiness does not exist on earth" but is an "ideal of imagination"?

6. What kind of happiness did Socrates and Jesus seek?

DQ:

• Do you know anyone like the Brahmin's neighbor, entirely unreflective and entirely happy? (33) Do you envy or pity them?
• COMMENT: "Those who use their reason will always prefer a true idea that makes them unhappy" (34)... Is it in fact better to be Socrates unsatisfied etc.?
• Do you wish to be "nothing but happy"? (37) If you say yes, are you effectively declaring your preference for virtual reality and a life of illusion? 
• What good reason is there to consider renouncing happiness? (38)
• Do you ever try to "lose [yourself] in a permanent hyperactivity"? (40) Does our culture, generally? Do we "amuse ourselves to death," in Neil Postman's phrase?
• Is it better to be worthy of happiness than to be happy? (41)
• Do we have a duty to be happy? (42)
• Is it a mistake to identify the good life with the happy life?
• Is it noble to sacrifice personal happiness for a cause larger than yourself? Or is that just what we should mean by the highest happiness?
• Does illusory happiness interest you?
• Can you be happy in the absence of meaning and truth?
• Do you share Matthieu Ricard's "primary aspiration"? Does it set the bar too high?
• Do you know people who "lose themselves in a permanent hyperactivity, artificially filling the emptiness of their lives"? Is that a fair characterization, or an external view from an unsympathetic perspective?
• Is it your duty to make yourself worthy of happiness, to be as happy as possible, both, neither... or is talk of "duty" irrelevant to the question of happiness?
• Were Socrates and Jesus happy? Are martyrs happy, generally? Do you wish for a cause to die for?
• Your DQs

Podcast