-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
If you could only pick two pills?
- Thread starter West Texas CEO
- Start date
Putonahappyface
Member
2 and 6.
ForAcademicPurposes
Gold Member
IFireflyl
Gold Member
1 and 2.
Addiction doesn't just mean drugs and alcohol. It means any addiction. Do you spend too much time playing video games instead of spending time with your kids? Do you overeat? Do you have gambling problems? There's so much that pill number 1 would resolve that would make people's lives better. Pill number 2 leads to the effects of pill number 6. Pill number 1 and 2 combined, along with the effects of pill number 6, leads to the effects of pill number 5.
Addiction doesn't just mean drugs and alcohol. It means any addiction. Do you spend too much time playing video games instead of spending time with your kids? Do you overeat? Do you have gambling problems? There's so much that pill number 1 would resolve that would make people's lives better. Pill number 2 leads to the effects of pill number 6. Pill number 1 and 2 combined, along with the effects of pill number 6, leads to the effects of pill number 5.
- I wouldn't pick pill number 5 because always feeling happy can cloud your judgement and have other psychological effects.
- I wouldn't pick pill number 6 because I could get there with pill number 2, and pill number 2 gives added benefits of being better instead of just rich.
- I wouldn't pick pill number 9 because it only prevents you from gaining weight, but that means that if you ever start to lose weight you can't get it back for any reason. That could be potentially deadly.
- I wouldn't pick the rest because they simply don't appeal to me personally over the other options.
Last edited:
Razorback
Member
I have a strong ideological aversion to the message of this book. Basically it says a life of happiness is a life devoid of meaning. And to prove that point he conjures up a society where he makes up the rules and then points and goes "see, see how meaningless their lives are?!" Thats not an argument, you just wrote it that way!
Anyway. Pill 5 of course. With a side of pill 2.
See, this was pretty much the same thought process as Aldous Huxley's when he wrote Brave New World. Happiness is bad actually because of reasons I just decided.
Last edited:
Sidney Prescott
Member
2 and 6 seem like the best for me.
Being able to master any three skills and having money to do things I normally wouldn't be able to.
Being able to master any three skills and having money to do things I normally wouldn't be able to.
sedg87
Member
I'd go for 6 and 9.
6. Have a lot of money. I'm assuming it's enough to allow me to live very comfortably for the rest of my days, without needing to ever leave the house. I could spend my days drawing, listening to music and everything else I enjoy.
9. Eat without gaining weight. If I look at someone eating a piece of chocolate I tend to put on weight. Plus if I had the pill that I chose above, then I could just scoff all ofmy favourite foods without financial worry.
6. Have a lot of money. I'm assuming it's enough to allow me to live very comfortably for the rest of my days, without needing to ever leave the house. I could spend my days drawing, listening to music and everything else I enjoy.
9. Eat without gaining weight. If I look at someone eating a piece of chocolate I tend to put on weight. Plus if I had the pill that I chose above, then I could just scoff all ofmy favourite foods without financial worry.
IFireflyl
Gold Member
Sorry for not including a source. I thought Google was pretty easy to use, but I guess some people need to be spoon-fed.
When Is Being Happy Not Good for You?
Being happy can make us more judgemental and less capable of responding well during a crisis.
www.psychologytoday.com
DragoonKain
Neighbours from Hell
2,6
Wonder how many more votes 7 would’ve gotten if it said dick instead of height.
Wonder how many more votes 7 would’ve gotten if it said dick instead of height.
Razorback
Member
Sorry for not including a source. I thought Google was pretty easy to use, but I guess some people need to be spoon-fed.
When Is Being Happy Not Good for You?
Being happy can make us more judgemental and less capable of responding well during a crisis.
Wow this Google site incredible. It gives you exactly what you search for. Thanks for the tip!
How Being Happy Makes You Healthier
Research shows that being happier doesn't just make you feel better — it makes you healthier, too. This article explains how being happy makes you healthier.
www.healthline.com
Why does happiness matter?
Being happy is not just about feeling good. Research shows that it also makes us healthier, more productive – and nicer
www.theguardian.com
6 Benefits of Happiness According to the Research
Bringing more happiness into your life has more benefits than simply feeling good.
positivepsychology.com
The Health Benefits of Happiness
A recent review explores the mechanisms of how positive emotions can contribute to physical well-being.
www.psychologytoday.com
IFireflyl
Gold Member
Wow this Google site incredible. It gives you exactly what you search for. Thanks for the tip!
How Being Happy Makes You Healthier
Research shows that being happier doesn't just make you feel better — it makes you healthier, too. This article explains how being happy makes you healthier.
Why does happiness matter?
Being happy is not just about feeling good. Research shows that it also makes us healthier, more productive – and nicer
6 Benefits of Happiness According to the Research
Bringing more happiness into your life has more benefits than simply feeling good.
The Health Benefits of Happiness
A recent review explores the mechanisms of how positive emotions can contribute to physical well-being.
You provided links saying that happiness is good. Nobody argued otherwise. The argument was that too much happiness is bad. Way to completely miss the goal while being a condescending jerk.
Last edited:
Razorback
Member
Sorry for comparing you to world famous author Aldous Huxley
. Maybe you interpreted the Metal Gear Rising meme as me mocking you? It was done in a tongue in cheek way to make a point about brave new world. It wasn't about you. Given the unserious nature of the thread I assumed it was fine. I apologize for coming across as a jerk.Your reply basically called me an idiot for not knowing google is a thing, but I took it in stride and used the opportunity to make a point about how anyone can find studies using google that confirm any argument they want to make. Boring. No one reads them anyway.
You think too much happiness is bad? Well let's discuss it.
First of all, by saying "too much" there's already something being smuggled in. By definition too much of something is always bad. The pill didn't say it was too much happiness. Answering the pill question in the spirit it was intended one has to assume that you would be happy for having chosen pill number 5. If if turned out there were side effects that would make you less happy, then the pill didn't work as advertised.
Last edited:
Rran
Member
Time is super valuable and 2 and 6 guarantee the most time available, I think.
5 is weird. It sounds good on the surface but I'd be concerned about too many weird side-effects. For instance, if I always feel happy, will I actually be trying to better myself or helping others, or just lounge around feeling blissful? A fulfilling life means more than just the pursuit of hedonism, after all.
2 and 6 sound like they have very little in the way of being Monkey's Pawed. You can invest or donate big chunks of the money if it's too excessive, or help out family members, and 2 would just be cool getting on the fast-track to knowing how to play the violin and speak Japanese.
5 is weird. It sounds good on the surface but I'd be concerned about too many weird side-effects. For instance, if I always feel happy, will I actually be trying to better myself or helping others, or just lounge around feeling blissful? A fulfilling life means more than just the pursuit of hedonism, after all.
2 and 6 sound like they have very little in the way of being Monkey's Pawed. You can invest or donate big chunks of the money if it's too excessive, or help out family members, and 2 would just be cool getting on the fast-track to knowing how to play the violin and speak Japanese.
Last edited:
Razorback
Member
Isn't it more often the case that people with depression lack motivation and isolate themselves from others? And what about the opposite, wouldn't you say people doing volunteering work seem disproportionally cheerful?
Regarding a fulfilling life I would distinguish two things. There's the experiencing self, and the remembering self. The experiencing self is how you feel right now in this moment. The remembering self is how you feel about your past.
People often refer to happiness as it just being sensory pleasure. And they say meaning is more valuable. But I'd say that meaning is just feeling happy about your past accomplishments. If happiness didn't exist, you could maybe intellectualize why you thought your past accomplishments had value, but you wouldn't feel anything about it. And evolutionarily speaking we would never get to such a point because if people didn't value the good feelings they get from meaningful experiences, they wouldn't seek out meaning in the first place.
Happiness is always our terminal goal. It's our reward function. It's the container of all value.
Last edited:
sankt-Antonio
:^)--?-<
5 & 6. Happy with a bunch of money... hell yeah.
Rran
Member
I think a lot of that is on-point, but the OP doesn't make it clear what exactly "happiness" entails in this case. I'd still be worrying about it conflating pleasure with true happiness.
The only thing I'd really disagree with is that happiness is our ultimate goal. For instance, for followers of many of the biggest world religions, the goal is to serve a creator and others, with happiness being sort of a by-product of that (and not even necessarily that, in Book of Job like situations).
