Lesson #1: Introduction and Chapter 1: Netherlands
1. Why is happiness a moral imperative? We’re so programmed to “be happy,” whatever that means, and we suffer “the unhappiness of not being happy,” says Darrin McMahon. We seem to be hardwired with the nagging sense that “something isn’t quite right” and we want to make things right. Sometimes our efforts to make us happy are misguided and backfire. That is a serious danger. It seems, then, that our attempts to get rid of the nagging sense that things are not right makes things MORE WRONG. That's the nature of the human beast.
2. What is solipsism and why can’t we define happiness in terms of solipsism? Happiness is not solipsism or something “inside.” Solipsism is an extreme form of self-centeredness in which you are the only universe. A universe of one. Happiness is the intersection between the inside and the outside; hence the geographical and cultural location is a huge factor. “You can’t have what’s in here unless you have what is out there.” Solipsism is the idea of happiness born from the juvenile and the adolescent who thinks, "I will retire on an island with a crate of Corona and lots of . . . "
3. Why does the author travel the world in search of happiness? Because one idea of happiness is about the search for Paradise on Earth. Happiness is not just on the inside. It’s a function of place.
4. What is the paradox of seeking happiness according to Eric Hoffer? The search for happiness leads to unhappiness. And we might add that Viktor Frankl writes in Man’s Search for Meaning that it is absurd to look for happiness. Happiness is the natural byproduct of a meaningful life. In other words, people who are engaged with their work and the love of their life are not centered on the self (remember solipsism) and they experience a certain degree of liberation.
5. Is hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good, a legitimate way to find happiness? Is pleasure the same as happiness? You might want to watch an episode of The Twilight Zone in which a robber dies and thinks he goes to heaven, a place that indulges all his fleshly caprices. You might also consider Tennessee Williams after he became famous and lived in a luxury hotel. Hedonism always dissolves into solipsism.
6. Must hedonism always end in concupiscence, the blind pursuit of pleasure leading to insatiable desires, or can we be moderate in our hedonistic drive? Some people are more capable of moderation than others. Some of us are more prone to addictive, obsessive, excessive behavior and relate to food, alcohol, TV, to name a few examples, in an all or nothing fashion.
7. Can and should we measure happiness with brain activity? At the end of the chapter, Weiner shows the absurdity of this and the lack of humanity.
8. What are the shortcomings of using interviews and surveys to measure people’s happiness? People lie, they are confused and can’t answer accurately, or they are self-deceived. See page 12.
9. How would Schopenhauer define happiness? (not in book) The absence of misery and suffering.
10. What’s a better definition of happiness, pleasure or flourishing?
11. What is Darwinian happiness? (not in book) The pleasure and wellbeing of knowing that we look better, feel better, and act smarter than others, resulting in our making more money, living longer, and having better things. Consider the studies that show we prefer relative good looks and wealth for ourselves more than absolute good looks and wealth.
12. How do we flourish? What is the connection, if any, between flourishing and virtue? What are the 10 causes of flourishing? What are the 10 effects? To flourish is to focus on a meaningful passion. One of the great benefits of being focused on a meaningful passion is that you can forget yourself and in turn forget the foolish quest for happiness, which invariably leads to unhappiness. The short definition of flourishing means to find work that is meaningful to you as opposed to being a passive consumer of "happiness." Freud knew this. He said the only thing you can do to mitigate the inherent insanity and misery of life is to find love and work.
13. What are some universal guidelines for happiness? See page 14: Extroverts happier than introverts. Married people happier than single. People with college degrees are happier than those without. People with advanced degrees are LESS happy than those with just a BA. Homogeneous societies like Denmark and Iceland are more happy than heterogeneous societies. I question this. Maybe people are happy with their insulated world but such cultures are too limiting. For example, I’ve been exposed to a lot of diverse food in LA. I couldn’t move to some homogenous society where food diversity is lacking. I’d be miserable. Income is not a predictor for happiness except in extreme poverty.
14. What is a striking contradiction about happiness? Many of the world’s happiest countries have the highest suicide rates. Perhaps countries that offer the highest potential for happiness create a standard that makes depressed people feel their unhappiness even greater.
15. How do countries fare in happiness rankings? Many African nations are at the bottom of the Happiness Index but not Ghana, which is in the middle. Former Soviet Union republics are at the bottom of the Happiness Index, including Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Moldova. Fiji, Bahamas, and Tahiti are in the middle of the Happiness Index.
16. What is Chapter One’s central idea? The Experience Machine, which asks the question: Is hedonism true happiness? If you could plug your brain into the Machine and experience nonstop pure pleasure, would you? Would this be happiness and if not what are the fallacies of such thinking? What would you be missing out on? Life’s richness is far beyond pleasure. Pleasure is an achievement, not a consumer passive experience. You would no longer have the possibility of unhappiness (reminds me of The Twilight Zone episode in which the guy goes to hedonism hell)
Part Two. Happiness as Flourishing or Thriving
1. Finding a noble passion outside yourself and free yourself from the private hell of self-centeredness.
2. Finding a passion that makes demands on your intellect and imagination so you’re always pushing yourself and never capitulating to stagnation and complacency.
3. Developing the discipline to pursue your passion.
4. Cultivating a passion that gives you both distinction and belonging to your community.
5. Cultivating a passion that earns you a livelihood, that is money to live.
6. Cultivating a passion that gives back to the community. Studies show that people with “helping” professions rank the happiest. Nurses are at the top. Bankers are at the bottom.
Part Three. The Consequences of Not Thriving
1. You’ll feebly seek to fill the void through addiction and hedonism.
2. You’ll try to distract yourself from not thriving or flourishing by watching lots of TV, compulsively going on the Internet and text-messaging people—all of these activities are directed by anxious, desperate energy.
3. You’ll suffer from lethargy, depression, and acedia (lost in a fog from having no focus)
4. You’ll seek other people who aren’t flourishing because of course misery needs company. The problem is you and your associates (I can’t use the word “friends”) will reinforce each other’s behavior.
5. You’ll eventually succumb to nihilism, the belief that life is all B.S. and means nothing, so it doesn’t matter what you do. Of course, this is a pathetic rationalization for having never flourished.
6. Perhaps you’ll make money but in the absence of flourishing you’ll find meaning through Darwinian fantasies of domination over others.
Part Four. Journal Entry
In a page, define the conditions you need to be happy and explain if you may have been pursuing a type of happiness that is not happiness at all but Darwinian domination, hedonism, or something else.
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