hallo & invited by Siu Yuin

[Ansel Pembroke]

hallo all,

I am not sure who the members of this group are, but Siu Yuin invited
me. She knows me well enough that I am not normal. I am a mature
student in Psychology, so here goes an idea on happiness...

There is a somewhat circular problem of how do you know what you think/
feel, as in you think/feel you know what you think/feel but do you
really. (I am not talking about "base" feelings such as fear but
"higher/nebulous" ideas such as beauty etc.

As brain activity is a bunch of neurons firing with no central
controller, to what extent is happiness is an important wonderful
delusion sold to people by capitalists, government, society, your
parents etc?

Is pleasure different from happiness?

[Kevin Lai]

indeed it's a cycle ... 

I somewhat subscribe to the idea that the brain does not able to handle and differentiate carnal pleasures. While being the smartest function it's probably the dumbest .... 

research aside , our brains can get overwhelmed and conditioned to new levels of conditioning. this could be seen in case and researches into addiction. 

Find any addiction - it's the conditioning of the brain to pleasure. 

And the downfall of addiction is the inability of the brain to deal with the downside.

If pleasure brings happiness then all addictions would lead to happiness. 

Drugs, sex, food, substance etc 

Addiction does ultimately leads to the destruction of the brain itself. 

(severe addiction usually leads to scarring of the brain) 

As the receptors burns out we end up feeling less pleasure. 

Ultimately falling into depression and lets even discount the social repercussions :) 

[siuyuin]

For me, happiness is derived from contentment while pleasure is
derived from gratification.

Happiness can come from engaging in pleasurable activities but can
also include acts of acceptance and forgiveness.

Following along Kevin's opinion, pleasure can decrease over time with
increased exposure and conditioning. Whereas, happiness is more a
state of being, and level of happiness can be viewed as an absence of
sadness. But happiness is a composite of many different factors
emotional, physical, environmental, etc. Therefore, one's sense of
overall happiness as it relates to the personal, family, society,
organisation, community, is complex and ever-changing.

-siu yuin