How would you define 'A Good Life'?

[SmallKoy]

Title.

 

[sserafim]

A life where I can be a NEET forever (have everything provided for without having to work for anything)

 

[derpyderpins]

It's going to be subjective, so the definition would have to be broad.

• Similar number of ups and downs
• when in neither an up or down, around neutral rather than negative
• Goals/something to strive for
• Day-to-day purpose: something you care about. Could be a person/people, something you're building, a passion, but there has to be something you wake up for everyday.
• Personal growth: always be learning or improving in some way, even little things like getting better at interacting with people would count.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I guess it would be one where I get to do whatever I want all day and night and I have someone who also wants to do all that with me.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

For me, a good life would be where I don't have to work and not worry about chores or money for the rest of my life. I'd be too rich to not have to live like the average person. A good life is where I don't have any responsibilities and I can pursue interests, hobbies etc without having to worry about being a wage slave. Also, I'd want to have permanent access to nembutal or euthanasia so that I can choose to end my life whenever I want to

 

[FuneralCry]

Such a thing could simply never exist to me, only the absence of existence is good to me, all that I see as desirable is eternal non-existence, to be conscious and aware enslaved in a decaying flesh prison will always be the exact opposite of good, rather such is an abomination and absolutely abhorrent.

For me the true problem lies in existence itself, I see no value in being enslaved in this reality where chance so senselessly determines everything with the ability to suffer so extremely, to simply exist is just so burdensome and unnecessary to me as well, existing is completely futile and serves no benefit and purpose, it's completely useless.

But as well as that all humans are capable of suffering so immensely with no limit as to how much they can suffer destined for nothing but to deteriorate and be tormented by old age. Existence truly is nothing more than an unnecessary harm, to exist is the most hellish, harmful imposistion, I'd never wish to exist under any circumstances.

 

[ryba]

living up to your ideals and not compromising your values to suit other people's desires. depending on your values and circumstances, your life could be a brutal struggle from start to finish, but it's hard to think that someone who gave it their all lived a bad life. finding the strength/desire to live like that is another discussion tho

 

[pyx]

A life in which an individual can thrive within a community while not being chained to its procrustean bed.

 

[ThatGuyOverThere]

To be Numb, A complete lack of sensations. This would allow you to be never feel anything bad, and that's about the closest thing to "paradise" as it gets.

 

[buyersremorse]

The ancient Greek's definition of the good life is the one I think is most true/fulfilling. To the Greeks, the good life (Eudaimonia) was a state of peak human flourishing and calmness/serenity (Ataraxia). This was seen as the eventual end goal or ideal state to which all human beings should strive to achieve through rational philosophical contemplation and freedom from material pleasures/desires. It's different to the modern view of happiness, often seen as this constant state of elation, where if you aren't feeling that at all times it must mean you aren't happy; it's more a state of relative contentedness and peace with life. To reach and sustain Eudaimonia would be to live The Good Life. Today, I think a good life is more structural. A person is said to have lived a "good life" based on how well they fulfil these pre-established steps constructed to benefit society - go to school, graduate, get a job, make money, get married, have kids, retire, die. In the end, when people look back on someone's life, how many boxes they check on that criteria determines if their life was "good" or not, regardless of how fulfilled they actually were, whether or not they were a good person, or ever really content with their life.

Hence, most people strive to follow this structure, on the promise of a good life, without ever questioning whether or not it's right for them, bringing them any sense of joy or peace, or making them fulfilled. Despite how it's promoted, I don't believe this universalised structure applies to every person in the world as a pre-requisite for living well. Society often conflates the modern definition of "success" (career, family, wealth) to the modern definition of "a good life", all material. I believe the ancient notion more; A good life isn't constant elation, nor how well you follow a structure/check boxes - it's being content, letting go of material pleasures and desires, searching for truth - figuring out values and striving to live in accordance to them. According to the ancient Greeks, this is the way forward.

 

[SmallKoy]

To be Numb, A complete lack of sensations. This would allow you to be never feel anything bad, and that's about the closest thing to "paradise" as it gets.

Why? I think that feelings are one of the most valuable things we have as humans regardless of all the negative feelings. I fail to see how lack of any sensations would be a paradise. Perhaps if we didn't know any better.

 

[enduringwinter]

A life where efforts pay off.

 

[Callie Arcale]

Being able to sit and walk. That's would be an awesome life for me.

 

[ThatGuyOverThere]

I disagree, I don't think that positive emotions are worth all the pain of the negative emotions that we experience, So If the positive things like pleasure aren't out wayed by the negatives like pain that we experience, then the only solution is to never feel, but as you said and I would generally agree that is not really a life worth living, because feelings are what make us human. which Is why I said it was "The closest thing to "paradise" as it gets" not that it was itself paradise, as I don't think anything can be so good as to be described as paradise.

Why? I think that feelings are one of the most valuable things we have as humans regardless of all the negative feelings. I fail to see how lack of any sensations would be a paradise. Perhaps if we didn't know any better.

 

[Pluto]

 

[tary]

I'm a hedonist at heart, I suppose.
So more or more powerful good feelings than bad feelings.

 

[DarkRange55]

Aristotle talks about Eudaimonia, his definition of the good life: health, wealth, happiness, love. All those things.

Sigmoid Freud said in his famous work Civilization and Its Discontents, I can't tell you what the purpose of life is. But I can tell you about the behavior of humans. We move away from pain and discomfort and we move towards intense pleasure.

If you want the good life you can't be like this one guy that I know, an acquaintance. He's worth about $2 billon dollars, he has a private 747 jet but he's so sick that he can't even get out of bed. Bed ridden, so overweight you can't even move, high blood pressure, I don't even know all the health problems. But nobody wants that if they can't use it, right? So the first priority in getting the good life, you have to have health in check because without it, it's 5 steps forward and 50 steps back.

 

[NeedAnEscape]

A good life is a life where someone can find happiness, despite their circumstances, work through obstacles effectively (not in the sense that challenges are easy to overcome but rather having the mental fortitude to navigate conflict without needless distress), being able to communicate needs to others, and finding solitude in one's self and the connections a person has.

 

[Forever Sleep]

Good health. Doing a job you find tolerable and being paid adeqately for it. A reasonable balance between work and leisure. I suspect strong relationships/ friendships are the real key to a really good life though.

 

[yellowjester]

I'm a hedonist at heart, I suppose.
So more or more powerful good feelings than bad feelings.

We are all hedonists at heart, wether we admit to it or not. Even an ascetic priest renounces the world only in pursuit of higher, more elevated forms of pleasure. There is no way to escape our programming; we must embrace it.

 

[sensitiveguy]

In the edge of death



I want to live a life worth telling. All the people I admire have such lives.

 

[Travis]

Being content with your situation at all times. No second guessing and no longing for something missing. Peace to just exist till the end.