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jessebeller. FOlks, do please remember that I wrote this 3 years ago, and have not edited it since (or even reread it in quite a while).
“‘Anyhow,’ he concluded, ‘there’s one thing we can be certain of: whoever he may have been, he was happy when he was alive. Everybody’s happy now.’ ‘Yes, everybody’s happy now,’ echoed Lenina.” –Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.
I first encountered Brave New World the summer after my freshman year of high school, and was immediately struck by how unhappy such apparently contented people could be. Soon after, a friend of mine, when asked what he wanted out of life, wished that he could always be happy. This craving for constant happiness alarmed me. In thinking it over, I began wondering if life really would be better if we were all perpetually happy.
As time went on, I found that my instinctive distaste for this idea had its foundation in my general worldview. I couldn’t see how anyone can appreciate happiness if he had never been unhappy. To my mind, happiness is a relative term; one cannot be absolutely happy or absolutely sad. Even when times are at their worst, we can stop to laugh at a bad pun or smile at a baby. If everyone were constantly happy, it would not be appreciated. Without the knowledge of misery, simple enjoyment could not be appreciated because there would be nothing worse. There is a range of happiness. I do not advocate self-torture for the sake of making everything else seem pleasant in comparison; that is going too far to the opposite extreme. Nevertheless, these thoughts ruin the idea of any sort of utopia for me.
It is a statement of the obvious that life can never be perfect, nor can it be perfectly happy. Nevertheless, I find it particularly important to remember when I am less than sanguine myself. Knowing that whatever unhappiness I am currently experiencing will only strengthen my happy memories in the future can make misfortune seem more bearable. Many of the times that I remember as having been extremely pleasant were the combination of exceedingly happy and quite disturbing events, when viewed on a moment to moment basis. I find that contrast is indeed the best way of gaining perspective. Being happy without ever being sad or angry or upset would make for a dull, unmemorable world. How then would life be worth living?
jessebeller. FOlks, do please remember that I wrote this 3 years ago, and have not edited it since (or even reread it in quite a while). “‘Anyhow,’ he concluded, ‘there’s one thing we can be certain of: whoever he may have been, he was happy when he was alive. Everybody’s happy now.’ ‘Yes, everybody’s happy now,’ echoed Lenina.” –Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.
I first encountered Brave New World the summer after my freshman year of high school, and was immediately struck by how unhappy such apparently contented people could be. Soon after, a friend of mine, when asked what he wanted out of life, wished that he could always be happy. This craving for constant happiness alarmed me. In thinking it over, I began wondering if life really would be better if we were all perpetually happy.
As time went on, I found that my instinctive distaste for this idea had its foundation in my general worldview. I couldn’t see how anyone can appreciate happiness if he had never been unhappy. To my mind, happiness is a relative term; one cannot be absolutely happy or absolutely sad. Even when times are at their worst, we can stop to laugh at a bad pun or smile at a baby. If everyone were constantly happy, it would not be appreciated. Without the knowledge of misery, simple enjoyment could not be appreciated because there would be nothing worse. There is a range of happiness. I do not advocate self-torture for the sake of making everything else seem pleasant in comparison; that is going too far to the opposite extreme. Nevertheless, these thoughts ruin the idea of any sort of utopia for me.
It is a statement of the obvious that life can never be perfect, nor can it be perfectly happy. Nevertheless, I find it particularly important to remember when I am less than sanguine myself. Knowing that whatever unhappiness I am currently experiencing will only strengthen my happy memories in the future can make misfortune seem more bearable. Many of the times that I remember as having been extremely pleasant were the combination of exceedingly happy and quite disturbing events, when viewed on a moment to moment basis. I find that contrast is indeed the best way of gaining perspective. Being happy without ever being sad or angry or upset would make for a dull, unmemorable world. How then would life be worth living?