Respone to Meg

Q: "Why do we have phrases like "follow your heart," "gut instinct," etc? Why is it not listen to what your mind tells you?"

I think that we have these phrases to create balance. In society today, so much emphasis is placed on being practical., and "listening to what our minds tell us." Many people tend to make choices based on what is simple, what will make money, and what increases social status. The media seems to tell us that there is an equation to happiness that is composed mainly of money, sex, expensive cars/houses, and external beauty. In my opinion, this leaves little room for passion or individuality, but it seems to be in our nature to organize the concept of happiness into a step-process. Looking back on Plato and the greeks, reason was regarded as the most divine part of our nature. Having phrases like "follow your heart" remind us of our individual, less reasonable, thoughts and desires. They serve as a reminder for us to appreciate the simpler things in life, and to enjoy what we already have from our nature, rather than what our rational thoughts tell us is necessary. After all, we are all unique, and we all have different things that make us happy, aside from what the media depicts.

How might we define rational?

Equality and Individuality

This week while discussing Marx and communism, I spent a lot of time thinking about what would make the "ideal society" in terms of leadership, community etc... It seems that the most obvious factor keeping humans from existing harmoniously together is simply difference in opinion, skill, or wealth. Communism does seem appealing to extent in the way that it should, in theory, unite people despite their differences. My theory, however, is that as long as the differences still exist, there will always be conflict and jealousy in society. We could try to elimate imalances in wealth and social status through Communism but there will always be differences in appearance, physical ability, and capability to learn certain skills. In middle school, I had to read a very strange, but interesting, short story (I don't remember the name) about a society in which these difference were to be eliminated. Former dansers had to wear sand bags on their ancles, and news reporters with attractive voices had to disguise their speech. Needless to say, the story ended in chaos. I believe we are destined to be in conflict with eachother to the end of time, because there is no way to eliminate all of our differences.
Even if we could, would we really want to?
Our differences make us unique, and life would be uninteresting without them (in my opinion)
The very popular story "The Giver" also comes to mind.

Interesting Philosophical Quotes

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1RaPDx/www.pangloss.com/

Post some of your favorites if you so wish.

Response to Nicole's Post

Q: Can someone believe they are unhappy when they really are [happy]?

I think happiness depends almost completely on mind-set, or "beliefs." People can understand that they are better-off than others in physiscal states ex-economically,health-wise, but it seems that "happiness" has a lot to do with how content/appreciative someone is with what we have. It was brought up in class the other day that celebraties will claim to be "unhappy" despite their having immense wealth/ access to a variety of opportunitites that would not be available to the general public. It had also been brought up that people always tend to want was is just beyond their reach, and when they achieve their goals, they continue to long for more. So basically, an individual can have all the wealth/social gratification in the world and still not be content, while on the other hand, it is possible to have only moderate/minimal amounts of those things and to feel "happy" out of appreciation for them.

So, if this "happiness machine" did really exist, what might you see/perceive by stepping into it? (In other words, what would make you the most happy?)