A very pertinent subject that has been on my mind a lot lately.I hope I don't digress too much but I've got to disagree with one part though. "Having a kid is much an accomplishment as having a fart. It is a default biological function and not something that will make you proud or happy unless you are really obsessed with your own DNA for some reason." I don't think this is as simple as you put it. Having a child can be an encounter with death to many women (Are your farts that smelly? XD). It's a time of great transformation and possible trauma. The interactions created by generating life, and seeing your children grow, will change you, transform you, transcend you. It has little to do with obsession with DNA in a lot of cases I know. I just thought this line was too reductionist.
That being said I don't believe true happiness and fulfillment are possible for any human being that is not psychopathic in this world, riddled with so much suffering. I think we can only be natural or non-controlling (totally accepting the impermanence of life and the abyss of our own psyche, thus accepting the natural unhappiness of life and focusing more on becoming than on being - Deleuze-like) or controlling, partitioned, not-whole, focused on playing a part. When you identify completely with the part you can become incredibly unhappy. When you can't be a part you can't interact in the play, and it is the play that makes you compare and focus on the outside conditions, making them a vortex for your thoughts and feelings. It's a hard balance to achieve... but surely having a million dollars will change nothing if you are miserable anyway. I know a lot of people who have more than that and are completely depressed or worse.
Good article! Thanks
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so is war...exercise...having a job...anything really that can add meaning to life.
now we can agree on at least some part. i don't believe in happiness
exactly why I said too reducionist. They are not simply "default biological function". These things can come in to your life for a very large number of reasons and maybe they are a part of a drama you must live, maybe as catharsis for the frustration the quest for meaning in life entails, or for escaping existential dread.