After careful research and scientific fieldwork (drinking) I believe I have found what are the three fundamental foundations of happiness. Just like in physics, where every force acted upon any object can currently be reduced to one of four ‘real’ forces (gravity, electromagnetic and weak- and strong nuclear forces for those interested) so can I reduce all forms of euphoric happiness to find Its core in one of my three joys.
Without further ado, here are the joys threefold;
- To win
- To entertain
- To be loved
Now wait with the angry emails and let me explain.
To win is a rather broad field. Naturally, the first implication that may come to mind is victory in a direct context. For example winning in a board game, winning in a fight or winning in a sports match. While all these are definitely included, they are not the sole subject. With ‘to win’ I basically mean any act of superiority over someone else. For example, one can ‘win’ at life (by following this (link) of course), probably by exercising superiority over fellow humans by having achieved a superior social status or whatever. Contrary, winning in the sense of the physical examples mentioned above count as well.
Now why do I believe this? Let us look at the last two of the first three examples. In these matches, where clear physical endeavor is involved the answer is twofold. On the one hand, we have adrenaline. Simply put, a quick healthy boost of adrenaline feels absolutely awesome. This feeling will be amplified tenfold if with it, you can actually show yourself to be better at something than someone else. This is rooted in every single person’s inherent self-doubt (am I good enough for this). Clearly, be winning at any game or even vague concepts as ‘winning at life’ you proof to yourself that this is indeed the case. Henceforth, you feel satisfied with yourself and your body translates this as joy.
Alternatively, winning may simply be a direct means to gain power, which at least for some is very, very rewarding in and of its own.
Second up comes from a completely different angle; to entertain. Or to be more precise; making other people laugh (laughing with you, not at you). Like winning, the reason for this is a subconscious social error. Namely, as social creatures, everyone has the intricate desire to belong to something, especially social groups of any sort. Don’t believe me? Google “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”. By entertaining a group of people you basically do two things; first, you make a connection with the group. Laughing also happens to be a social lubricant not subpar to alcohol. Secondly, after connecting to the group, you already give yourself a position in the group. Your actual position will of course vary with the nature of your jokes and the target audience (crank a few clever physics jokes with physics-students and your gold, while these would of course not have any effect on your typical white trash). By establishing both a connection to and a position in a social group, you thus satisfy your direct desire for acceptance by a community, which is in fact one of human’s greatest drives. Hence, you body makes you feel happy.
Final one is not quite unlike entertainment, but it is on a more one to one personal level. Where entertainment binds one to a group of people. Being loved (IN A ROMANTIC SENSE) by individuals satisfies the ego directly. In the form of a single mate who is sexually attracted to you will sharply boost your confidence (hence enjoying life further) by eliminating everyone’s inherent self-doubt like mentioned in a previous paragraph.
At first I was going to put “being in love” in there, for the strong euphoric endorphins released by the brain during this stage. Alas, I believe this one is more powerful, as it dispels what I believe is an inherent flaw (self-doubt) of nearly everyone. This is the same reason why most people eventually ‘settle’ for a sub-optimal partner.
Thus I conclude my ramblings. As you might have noticed, I believe the greatest joy in the sense of satisfying the ego comes from nothing else then elimination of doubting the self. Hence, it is theory possible for an individual to completely overcome self-doubt thus reaching a form of self inflicted bliss. This new interpretation of Enlightment may not be exactly what the Buddha had in mind but for me it’ll have to do.
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August 29th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Good stuff. However, I think you forgot one more: to eat. Life would really stink without getting to bite into a nice steak, dontcha think?
I like the site, man.
August 30th, 2008 at 2:58 am
Excellent point, but such things are obvious pleasures of the body, although I did forget to make the distinction.
It reminds me though, when you’re really thirsty after exercising or running or whatever there is absolutely nothing better in the whole word than a glass of water.