Random Question #456

**che** · 03-31-2013, 09:56 PM

Do we need pain/sadness/defeat etc in order to enjoy good things? No matter your religion, try to imagine a "heaven" or equivalent where only good and happy things happen. Would it be enough for us? Could you really feel completely satisfied for eternity?

**Alpha** · 03-31-2013, 10:41 PM

If there's a place where only good things happen, those good things would then by definition become mediocre. You'd not be able to appreciate good things if you didn't know what bad things are.

Perhaps the way the Christian concept of Heaven works is that you've lived a life where you've experienced both good and bad, and then hopefully earn an afterlife only with the good. Because you assumedly retain your understanding of bad things that happened when you were alive, you can appreciate the good things that are happening everywhere now that you're inside the pearly gates.

However even if you had an existence where nothing seemed bad, you could still find a way to appreciate good things if things were able to get better. For instance, if you lived your entire life without the taste of roast chicken (or vegetarian equivalent, because I'm open-minded like my hero che), you would probably still be pretty happy. If nothing else ever changed, the good things happening would become stale. But then if one day you are introduced to roast chicken... boom, without anything bad happening, you're able to appreciate some more o' that finger-licking goodness. Maybe that's what explains Apple's success in selling crap phones that are only marginally better than their predecessors...

**noxious.sunshine** · 04-01-2013, 05:32 AM

I agree with alpha.

I'm not sure if I believe in the while heaven/hell biznazz, but somehow, I just don't believe in the idea of Eternal Happiness in the Afterlife (should there be an Afterlife). I mean, cmon. It's flipping -Eternity-. Some shiz is bound to go down at some point.

**Clint** · 04-02-2013, 06:06 AM

There would be no happiness if other emotions were not felt as well. You wouldn't be able to distinguish between what is good and what is bad if you don't experience both throughout your daily life. Experiencing one without the other wouldn't be enough, because everything in the universe is a balanced equation. It's just a fact of nature. Everything needs an opposite. If you're happy, you need to understand and to have felt the exact opposite.

**Unknown Entity** · 04-02-2013, 11:33 AM

If everything was good, then that's all your expectations would be. What more could you expect from eternal happiness? Would it be impossible to make a bad tray of brownies, even if they came out burnt? To fully appreciate good things, you have to experience some bad or good things would just become the norm, and you'll never expect or want more. And I don't want to just be happy with burnt brownies.

Also, say if something really bad happened (say, for instance, you weren't in heaven but living in your own bubble of happiness), it would destroy you. How can you ever be happy thinking that if something did go wrong, you'd loose that happiness?

If happiness didn't exist, there'd never be a means to end suffering. I think it's balance, but some people get it worse than other people. Or just allow it to get harder for themselves. If this is supposed to be a test by some higher entity, then it's a pretty cruel joke and abuse of power.

**loaf** · 04-02-2013, 03:57 PM

my happy place isn't your happy place

**Odin1199** · 04-02-2013, 04:20 PM

Eternal happiness is impossible, because sooner or later you'll get bored. Maybe not for long, but still. Then it won't be eternal anymore. Happiness doesn't have to be eternal anyways.As long as you're happy sometimes, that's all you'll need. And there's no happiness without suffering or hardships. Without the negative things, positive things would feel bland and boring and you'd be miserable in the end.

P.S.: I'm really digging the new forum theme. Totally rad! Way better than that crazy chocobo nonsense.

**Alpha** · 04-02-2013, 04:26 PM

But if you experience eternal happiness, how can you get bored? Then you wouldn't be eternally happy.

WOAH paradox

**Clint** · 04-02-2013, 08:39 PM

If you're eternally happy, then you will forever remain happy, as you will never be able to exit out of something that's eternal, seeing as it has no end. Eternity is also endless time. It has no beginning, so in order to be eternally happy, you would have always had to exist, and have been happy, and forever remain happy. Something always being in existence, with no end, is immeasurable and unobservable, so as far as human recollection is concerned, eternity is impossible, and simply hypothetical at this point in time.

My arm itches.

**che** · 04-02-2013, 10:02 PM

Originally Posted by Odin1199

Eternal happiness is impossible, because sooner or later you'll get bored. Maybe not for long, but still. Then it won't be eternal anymore. Happiness doesn't have to be eternal anyways.As long as you're happy sometimes, that's all you'll need. And there's no happiness without suffering or hardships. Without the negative things, positive things would feel bland and boring and you'd be miserable in the end.

P.S.: I'm really digging the new forum theme. Totally rad! Way better than that crazy chocobo nonsense.

Who's the say you can't always enjoy being happy? Say going to a basketball game is happy level 5, and going to a soccer game is happy level 3. Does happy level 3 suck compared to happy level 5 always? Are they even sequential happiness levels?

Do you need to constantly be MORE happy in life the longer you live in order to never get bored?

Can someone explain heaven to me please? ;;

**Odin1199** · 04-03-2013, 10:12 AM

Originally Posted by Alpha

But if you experience eternal happiness, how can you get bored? Then you wouldn't be eternally happy.

WOAH paradox

That why I said eternal happiness is impossible. At one point of another, you'll get just a little bit bored, because events that make you happy would get too repetitive and you'd feel like you're watching a movie of yourself from the side, that's happening again and again and again. Trust me, nothing is eternal, especially happiness. Afterlife may be eternal, but definitely, most certainly not happiness.

**Lacquer Head** · 04-03-2013, 10:19 PM

This gets pretty ****ing complex when you add masochists into the mix...

**Odin1199** · 04-04-2013, 12:15 AM

Originally Posted by che

Who's the say you can't always enjoy being happy? Say going to a basketball game is happy level 5, and going to a soccer game is happy level 3. Does happy level 3 suck compared to happy level 5 always? Are they even sequential happiness levels?

Do you need to constantly be MORE happy in life the longer you live in order to never get bored?

Can someone explain heaven to me please? ;;

That's true. You don't always have to be happy to be generally happy. I thought we were talking about being happy no matter what on a constantly large scale. Yeah, to be happy you don't have to be happy all the time, I agree.

**che** · 04-04-2013, 12:31 AM

I would be curious in knowing everyone's religious beliefs here. So basically the concept of a heaven and eternal happiness is straight debunked as far as our mortal selves are concerned?

If there was a heaven or eternal happiness, I wouldn't want that without the bad. I'd like the bar to be slightly on the more happy side rather than split down the middle or slightly on the unhappy side. That way there is still fear, but still enough hope to conquer it.

Also, if there was a place of eternal happiness, and you were magically or however made eternally happy, could anyone imagine being the same person? Or would you feel brainwashed into thinking everything is so grand?

**Lacquer Head** · 04-04-2013, 12:34 AM

I have no religious belief, I'm neutral on it all, no way to know, so no reason to put any thought into it

Double dubs + trips get:

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