I read an article today that caught my eye. It briefly discussed the difference between happiness and pleasure. It reads, "Happiness is a prolonged state of being that is influenced by a variety of factors, ranging from a person's relationships to her religion to her genetic predisposition. Pleasure on the other hand, is a purely instinctive reaction with a brief lifespan: 30 seconds to an hour, tops."
Based on that definition, which response do the follow activities produce: happiness, pleasure, both?
Reading a good book
Feeling fulfilled with your life
Dancing
Enjoying a picnic with good friends
Buying a new car (pair of shoes, silly putty, anything)
Sharing memories with family
Eating your favorite dessert
Spending quality time with your spouse
Watching TV
Playing Second Life (living your life basically as an Avatar)
Feeling God's love
Based on that definition, which response do the follow activities produce: happiness, pleasure, both?
Reading a good book
Feeling fulfilled with your life
Dancing
Enjoying a picnic with good friends
Buying a new car (pair of shoes, silly putty, anything)
Sharing memories with family
Eating your favorite dessert
Spending quality time with your spouse
Watching TV
Playing Second Life (living your life basically as an Avatar)
Feeling God's love
Riding a wave
This here would be a very interesting experiment on the brain. You could take individuals and measure their brain activity when they experience happiness and then when they experience pleasure. My hypothesis would be that the brain activity for either feeling happens in two different spots.
2 comments:
Very interesting.
It makes me rethink my idea of happiness.
And I would add to your hypothesis and say that the things most people think bring them happiness would probably only bring them pleasure. I'm thinking along the lines of Grandpa's idea "the best things in life aren't things".
lots of the first, a bit of the second. riding a wave = both.
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