Philosophy Now Forum

I have read that chasing happiness chases it away. The more we pursue happiness, the more we don't find it. Does this mean that we have to give up the pursuit of happiness and focus our efforts to something more achievable. In the first place, is happiness worth pursuing at all? Do we have to be happy? Here is a poem on the futility of the pursuit of happiness:

Can I Be Happy?

How can I be happy?
I want to know and see
Where do I have to start?
Maybe eat a nice tart

It doesn’t seem to work
With things picked by a fork
I did lots of cleaning
But they got me puking

I went to therapy
It gave me misery
And positive thinking?
The lights were still blinking

I tried satisfaction
It led to extinction
Next, I focused on God
Who sometimes doesn’t nod

I, then, did what was right
I bled with every fight
The world, I tried to change
I burned on my gas range

Lastly, I tried kindness
My life became a mess
Maybe I should give up
And just finish my cup.

What do you think, guys?

nice poetry...

change your focus

be happy with the pursuit itself

-Imp

Jori wrote: ↑Sat Oct 25, 2025 9:17 am I have read that chasing happiness chases it away. The more we pursue happiness, the more we don't find it. Does this mean that we have to give up the pursuit of happiness and focus our efforts to something more achievable. In the first place, is happiness worth pursuing at all? Do we have to be happy? Here is a poem on the futility of the pursuit of happiness:

Can I Be Happy?

How can I be happy?
I want to know and see
Where do I have to start?
Maybe eat a nice tart

It doesn’t seem to work
With things picked by a fork
I did lots of cleaning
But they got me puking

I went to therapy
It gave me misery
And positive thinking?
The lights were still blinking

I tried satisfaction
It led to extinction
Next, I focused on God
Who sometimes doesn’t nod

I, then, did what was right
I bled with every fight
The world, I tried to change
I burned on my gas range

Lastly, I tried kindness
My life became a mess
Maybe I should give up
And just finish my cup.

What do you think, guys?

Ultimately the problem isn't the pursuit of happiness per se. The problem is with desiring happiness at all. Desire and pursue truth instead. From what I can tell, for the vast majority of adults, there is a gulf between what a given adult believes is truth and actual truth. For a high percentage of adults, it is an extremely wide gulf. One of the primary reasons for this is that the desire and pursuit of "happiness" blinds them to the truth.

Mistaking what one wants for what one needs, leads to reaching unsatisfying goals.

LuckyR wrote: ↑Sun Oct 26, 2025 7:49 am Mistaking what one wants for what one needs, leads to reaching unsatisfying goals.

Stephen Crane chips in:

I saw a man pursuing the horizon;
Round and round they sped.
I was disturbed at this;
I accosted the man.
“It is futile,” I said,
“You can never —”

“You lie,” he cried,
And ran on.

The first step to happiness is to be content with what one already has and what one already is.

Your responses give several perspectives. To summarize, according to your responses, more important than happiness are the journey to happiness, truth, one's real needs, and contentment with one has. I would like to add one more alternative to happiness - meaning - which I have read over and over is more important than happiness. The following poem explains my understanding of meaning:

Instead of Happiness

Since happiness is a good feeling
It’s outcome or output, my darling
Output is something you can’t control
So, happiness is like dice you roll

In contrast, meaning is what you do
Thus, it’s an input only by you
You can control input, not output
So, meaning’s like putting on a suit

The forms of meaning are so many
But each of them brings tranquility
If you find meaning, then you find peace
Even without joy, you’re still at ease

Meaning is connecting with people
Whether they’re green, orange, or purple
Meaning is worthwhile activity
Love and treating people lovingly

Meaning is found in a worthwhile job
That keeps the world from turning to blob
And if someone connects with nature
He or she will improve in stature

Turn to God and become spiritual
Make doing what is right your ritual
And finally, you shouldn’t forget
The right purpose in life, you must get

Each of the above steps, you must take
Not for reward, but for its own sake
And even if your deed makes you sad
You did something cool – that’s not so bad.

While joy without meaning is empty
Meaning without joy is still worthy
Thus, you may stop seeking happiness
But instead seek meaning and no less

According to the poem, meaning can be found in doing what is right and following a right purpose of life. What do you think is right and a right purpose of life?

Jori wrote: ↑Sat Oct 25, 2025 9:17 am I have read that chasing happiness chases it away. The more we pursue happiness, the more we don't find it. Does this mean that we have to give up the pursuit of happiness and focus our efforts to something more achievable. In the first place, is happiness worth pursuing at all? Do we have to be happy? Here is a poem on the futility of the pursuit of happiness:

Can I Be Happy?

How can I be happy?
I want to know and see
Where do I have to start?
Maybe eat a nice tart

It doesn’t seem to work
With things picked by a fork
I did lots of cleaning
But they got me puking

I went to therapy
It gave me misery
And positive thinking?
The lights were still blinking

I tried satisfaction
It led to extinction
Next, I focused on God
Who sometimes doesn’t nod

I, then, did what was right
I bled with every fight
The world, I tried to change
I burned on my gas range

Lastly, I tried kindness
My life became a mess
Maybe I should give up
And just finish my cup.

What do you think, guys?

Another example of illiteracy. Can one pursue anything at all which is factually only intelligible?
Can you walk to it? Can you run to it ?

Is there anything in the entire environment which is responsible for your behavior towards it? Absolutely not.
A mind can only process information. All meaning assigned to that information, is asserted by the individual during processing.

But to answer your own question. Dogs to chase their own tail, but only in play.

If you want to be suicidal then see a 'therapist'. It's pseudoscience at best--a fraudulent 'profession' invented by busybodies who wanted to make a lot of money and saw an opportunity in the epidemic of American narcissism. All you can really do is eat well, not poison your system, do lots of brisk walking (or other healthy activity dependent on your capabilities) in the fresh air, and hope that nothing catastrophic happens. If you are in a good frame of mind then the last activity won't be necessary because you won't be thinking about it, or it will be 'muffled' by dopamine. My invoice is pending.

accelafine wrote: ↑Sun Nov 09, 2025 12:30 am If you want to be suicidal then see a 'therapist'. It's pseudoscience at best--a fraudulent 'profession' invented by busybodies who wanted to make a lot of money and saw an opportunity in the epidemic of American narcissism. All you can really do is eat well, not poison your system, do lots of brisk walking (or other healthy activity dependent on your capabilities) in the fresh air, and hope that nothing catastrophic happens. If you are in a good frame of mind then the last activity won't be necessary because you won't be thinking about it, or it will be 'muffled' by dopamine. My invoice is pending.

When I was practicing, for the Garden City Gang, I would charge 25 cents a session, which means I bought myself a cup of coffee.

Phil8659 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 09, 2025 1:02 am

accelafine wrote: ↑Sun Nov 09, 2025 12:30 am If you want to be suicidal then see a 'therapist'. It's pseudoscience at best--a fraudulent 'profession' invented by busybodies who wanted to make a lot of money and saw an opportunity in the epidemic of American narcissism. All you can really do is eat well, not poison your system, do lots of brisk walking (or other healthy activity dependent on your capabilities) in the fresh air, and hope that nothing catastrophic happens. If you are in a good frame of mind then the last activity won't be necessary because you won't be thinking about it, or it will be 'muffled' by dopamine. My invoice is pending.

When I was practicing, for the Garden City Gang, I would charge 25 cents a session, which means I bought myself a cup of coffee.

I have no clue what that means and have no intention of pretending to.

Anything that can be thought of to be yours is futile simply because there is no you.

Nothing belongs to you, even the thought of you is not your thought.

Nope. The first step to happiness is identifying your enemies, for one shirley does have them. The second step is realizing a plan to destroy them. The final step is executing that plan.

Do these things, and you shall find happiness.

Pursuit does not mean necessarily catching.

Thus "fishing" is the pursuit of fish, which many find an enjoyable activity independent of whether they fill the creel. Some of us might find hapiness in the pursuit of happiness.

Back in my working days (I am a retired senior systems analyst/senior business analyst) I saw many programmers leave after a few years. Where I worked had an effective way to determine the ABILITY of prospective hires to do this work. But that did not include determining if temperamentally suited. It is in the nature of this work that there will be "bugs", a lot of effort identifying exactly what is wrong and figuring out a fix. Frustrating or enjoyable?

Thus SOME of us enjoy solving hard puzzles while others find that frustrating. Perhaps in addition to the aptitude tests used should have included whether the people enjoyed hard crossword puzzles, really hard picture puzzles, etc. In other words, hire just those that enjoyed, got satisfaction from, solving hard puzzles.

promethean75 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 09, 2025 12:20 pm Nope. The first step to happiness is identifying your enemies, for one shirley does have them. The second step is realizing a plan to destroy them. The final step is executing that plan.

Do these things, and you shall find happiness.

What if your biggest enemy is yourself?