Darkover
Archangel
- Jul 29, 2021
- 5,625
why happiness is bad metric for measuring life quality because you could be in one of the worst circumstance and still be happy provided your brain is being pump full of happy chemicals just like depressed people are said to have brain imbalance the same could be said for those that are happy even though the circumstance which life finds it self in are bleak
1. Happiness Can Be Chemically Induced, Regardless of Reality
Just as depression can result from a chemical imbalance, so can persistent happiness. A person might feel euphoric in objectively terrible conditions simply because their brain is flooded with dopamine or serotonin—whether from drugs, brain injury, or genetic quirks. In that case:
Feeling good doesn't mean things are good.
2. Subjectivity Masks Objective Harm
Happiness is inherently subjective. A person could adapt to suffering or become desensitized to abuse or deprivation and still report "being happy." But that doesn't mean the circumstances are just, safe, or desirable.
Example: Someone in a warzone or extreme poverty might learn to "make the best of it," but that resilience shouldn't be confused with a high quality of life.
3. The Brain Can Lie
The brain is an evolved survival machine, not a truth engine. If hijacking the reward system helps an organism persist (e.g., through delusion or false hope), evolution will favor that—even if the experience is detached from reality.
So people might feel purpose, joy, or meaning in systems that exploit them, abuse them, or are ultimately unsustainable. The brain rewards adaptation, not truth.
4. You Can Be "Happy" in a Simulation or Cage
This is the classic "wireheading" or experience machine argument: If you could plug into a simulation that makes you feel eternally happy, would that be a good life? Most people say no, because:
It's not real.
You're powerless.
You're cut off from truth, autonomy, or meaning.
Thus, happiness alone doesn't define a worthwhile or real life.
5. It Ignores Structural and Moral Factors
If we judge society or a life by happiness levels, we ignore:
Injustice
Inequality
Lack of freedom
Environmental destruction
Exploitation
A slave might feel "content" if conditioned well—but is that a good life?
It Reduces Existence to a Feeling
Life is more than just maximizing pleasant sensations. A life can be full of depth, meaning, insight, creativity, and truth—even if it comes with pain. Reducing quality of life to happiness is like judging a book only by how entertaining it is—not its truth, depth, or moral weight.
Summary
Happiness is a side-effect, not a compass.
It can't tell you if life is fair, meaningful, sustainable, or good—only if the brain happens to be in a certain state.
A better metric would consider truth, autonomy, absence of harm, access to needs, and the ability to flourish consciously—not just the presence of pleasure or chemical reward.
How can anyone truly be happy knowing that everything they are, everything they love, everything they build—will rot, fade, die, and be forgotten?
1. Happiness Can Be Chemically Induced, Regardless of Reality
Just as depression can result from a chemical imbalance, so can persistent happiness. A person might feel euphoric in objectively terrible conditions simply because their brain is flooded with dopamine or serotonin—whether from drugs, brain injury, or genetic quirks. In that case:
Feeling good doesn't mean things are good.
2. Subjectivity Masks Objective Harm
Happiness is inherently subjective. A person could adapt to suffering or become desensitized to abuse or deprivation and still report "being happy." But that doesn't mean the circumstances are just, safe, or desirable.
Example: Someone in a warzone or extreme poverty might learn to "make the best of it," but that resilience shouldn't be confused with a high quality of life.
3. The Brain Can Lie
The brain is an evolved survival machine, not a truth engine. If hijacking the reward system helps an organism persist (e.g., through delusion or false hope), evolution will favor that—even if the experience is detached from reality.
So people might feel purpose, joy, or meaning in systems that exploit them, abuse them, or are ultimately unsustainable. The brain rewards adaptation, not truth.
4. You Can Be "Happy" in a Simulation or Cage
This is the classic "wireheading" or experience machine argument: If you could plug into a simulation that makes you feel eternally happy, would that be a good life? Most people say no, because:
It's not real.
You're powerless.
You're cut off from truth, autonomy, or meaning.
Thus, happiness alone doesn't define a worthwhile or real life.
5. It Ignores Structural and Moral Factors
If we judge society or a life by happiness levels, we ignore:
Injustice
Inequality
Lack of freedom
Environmental destruction
Exploitation
A slave might feel "content" if conditioned well—but is that a good life?
It Reduces Existence to a Feeling
Life is more than just maximizing pleasant sensations. A life can be full of depth, meaning, insight, creativity, and truth—even if it comes with pain. Reducing quality of life to happiness is like judging a book only by how entertaining it is—not its truth, depth, or moral weight.
Summary
Happiness is a side-effect, not a compass.
It can't tell you if life is fair, meaningful, sustainable, or good—only if the brain happens to be in a certain state.
A better metric would consider truth, autonomy, absence of harm, access to needs, and the ability to flourish consciously—not just the presence of pleasure or chemical reward.
How can anyone truly be happy knowing that everything they are, everything they love, everything they build—will rot, fade, die, and be forgotten?
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