Do you guys even think anyone is truly satisfied with life?

[Sunshine]

I sometimes see posts of people saying they don't like seeing non-suicidal people being happy and enjoying life. But I kinda have the opposite problem: I don't believe anyone is truly happy with this world and even the people that appear "happy" are just distracting themselves or try not to think about how everything is pointless, repetitive and sad. I don't think they are as depressed or hopeless as we are, but I don't think they are truly happy either. They just keep running and distract themselves with alcohol, sex, religion, movies or whatever to not let the existential dread set in. Put up a smile, pretend and so on. Just look how even rich people with loving partners, children and a purpose end up killing themselves.

I don't believe life is satisfying if you really look at it. A few happy moments aside, perhaps. But our brains make sure to get used to them and crave always more.

Just me?

 

[Whitewash11235814]

I believe many people are happy and lived very good lives.

 

[Sunshine]

I believe many people are happy and lived very good lives.

I hope that's true. But I can't really believe it. I feel they're just pretending and lying to themselves.

 

[lofistos345]

Some people do live a good life. Life it's like a card deck. Some get a lucky hand.

But, I can say that modern life has made life miserable for most of the humans. Constant pressure, high life expectancy, fragmented society, lack of friends, many things are destroying the fabric of the society.

 

[waterbottleman]

I think a small minority of people are happy with life. I think of people who figured out what they were passionate about at a very young age, have succeeded with their passion in their career, and in the mean time have had a great and fulfilling personal life.

However most people don't live a life like that. I think most people are as you described, they're content with life but not really happy either.

It's also relevant to recognize that we're wired by evolutionary forces to survive but more importantly procreate, not to be happy. Be happy has nothing to do with survival and passing on your genes. People who are truly happy may gotten the genetic lottery and have a makeup that makes it easy for them to be happy.

As for seeing other people be happy and enjoy their life, I feel good for them and happy for them.

The pain I feel is something I would never wish upon anyone, it makes me glad knowing that there are people out there enjoying their life. Good for them.

I only wish i had been treated better by people in my life instead of being outcasted by them. I only wish a few women had showed any interest in me. Oh well, what is done is done and nothing can change the damage that has been inflicted on me from being lonely for over a decade now.

The reality is that when I die the world will move on and besides my family nobody is going to care that I'm gone.

Thats the cold hard truth. I'm an irrelevant loser who nobody will ever love, I guess Im just a genetic failure. Statistically a certain portion of people are deemed unfit and left out of the gene pool for procreation, I guess I was just given that bad ticket in life and fell through the cracks.

At least I know I'm not alone in being an unloveable and unattractive person, I'm sure plenty of people have offed themselves for the same reason I want to.

 

[WhyIsLife56]

Life was never satisfying. If it was people wouldn't be committing suicide like flies.

 

[Brick In The Wall]

I've been told that ignorance can be bliss. I think most people willingly buy into the ignorance to avoid the harsh realities of life.

I'd say there's a small fraction who are exceedingly happy, an average fraction which have their normal ups and downs, and the remainder are like most of us. Of course life can push us from one group to another as well.

 

[WhyIsLife56]

The human brain is always chasing dopamine. The dopamine rush. That's why people chase after things that make them "happy." It's never satisfied. Its what makes them survive years and years which is part of evolution. Evolution doesn't care if you're happy or suicidal. It cares about continuing life until it eventually ends at some point far into the future.

 

[Jean Améry]

Satisfied as in not wanting anything more or else? Doubtful. Life consists of perpetual striving and wanting meaning all goals are ultimately illusory and it ends in death, proving what a foolish undertaking it was once and for all.

 

[easywayout]

Nope. Everyone suffers and has hardship, they just don't share it on their 'feeds'.

 

[S1mpleme]

I sometimes see posts of people saying they don't like seeing non-suicidal people being happy and enjoying life. But I kinda have the opposite problem: I don't believe anyone is truly happy with this world and even the people that appear "happy" are just distracting themselves or try not to think about how everything is pointless, repetitive and sad. I don't think they are as depressed or hopeless as we are, but I don't think they are truly happy either. They just keep running and distract themselves with alcohol, sex, religion, movies or whatever to not let the existential dread set in. Put up a smile, pretend and so on. Just look how even rich people with loving partners, children and a purpose end up killing themselves.

I don't believe life is satisfying if you really look at it. A few happy moments aside, perhaps. But our brains make sure to get used to them and crave always more.

Just me?

I don't look at everyone to be honest, I just see those who has something I miss in my life. I wish happiness to everyone but seeing happy people while I'm sad makes me pain, not because they're happy, but because I'm unhappy, if that makes sense.

 

[WhyIsLife56]

Nope. Everyone suffers and has hardship, they just don't share it on their 'feeds'.

Exactly. Everyone suffers.

 

[SlackJim]

There are certainly very happy and satisfied people (I know because I used to be one of them) everyone suffers, everyone has difficulties, no ones life is just sunshine and rainbows. However, it is possible to live with suffering and without being ignorant to all the evil in the world and still find purpose and meaning in your life. I dont believe happy people are distracting themselves or numbing themselves to the real world, some people yes of course, but not by definition.

I think we are in a time where most people aren't living their best life, most people aren't happy. This idea of being 'satisfied' by life is a funny one, I'm trying to think exactly what that means, no one can expect or aim to live a life without hardship, part of life is being unhappy, otherwise what would happy be?

 

[WhyIsLife56]

There are certainly very happy and satisfied people (I know because I used to be one of them) everyone suffers, everyone has difficulties, no ones life is just sunshine and rainbows. However, it is possible to live with suffering and without being ignorant to all the evil in the world and still find purpose and meaning in your life. I dont believe happy people are distracting themselves or numbing themselves to the real world, some people yes of course, but not by definition.

I think we are in a time where most people aren't living their best life, most people aren't happy. This idea of being 'satisfied' by life is a funny one, I'm trying to think exactly what that means, no one can expect or aim to live a life without hardship, part of life is being unhappy, otherwise what would happy be?

So I guess you're pro suffering?

 

[SlackJim]

So I guess you're pro suffering?

I'm not really 'pro' or 'anti' anything, suffering is a part of life, that's just an observation. I can appreciate that there is light and darkness in the world, and neither would be the same without the opposing force/energy.

 

[TimeToBiteTheDust]

I was satisfied with life 6 years ago. Then life knocked me down

 

[Naysha]

I believe you can at best be content with life or just really ride on that dopamine wave which prevents you from seeing the truth of this horrible world I suppose. Then people partly realize it in middle age, get middle age crisis and then they think it subsides and all is okay again when it fact it isn't. You're thrown into meat grinder the moment you are born and life will make sure you won't go out of this living.

 

[Aleandra Felix]

I do think there are truly happy people out there. Very few ones, but they exist. I don't think it has anything to do with luck, genetic lottery or social class. I think it's more how people see life. To me, happy people have no expectations and probably a somewhat stable life without crazy ups and downs. I say no expectations as in, they may have regular ambitions like getting promoted or having kids. They just don't obsess over it and whatever happens is ok. It's hard to believe someone could actually live like this, but I've seen some of them. It's rare but not impossible

 

[Misanthrope]

Well life, satisfaction and suffering are not static for a start. So where do you measure from to answer this question? If you asked me five years ago. I would say I was both fulfilled and content. That wasn't me lying to myself it was authentic to me in the moment. The suffering that came after does not detract from that because in the moment I had that satisfaction. There were still struggles even while content but on the whole I would view it as a good life. Then it changed. Although prior to that I was unhappy and that also changed to what I still view as a content period. But that is my experience and not true of every one.

But just assuming everyone is lying, pretending or simply self deluded is a gross overgeneralization and probably personal projection of your own experiences and beliefs. Too many people on the planet though to universally speak for them all. Some may never have contentment others may.

What technically isn't a distraction? I mean we are pleasure seeking creatures for a start as standard. If people are not pleasure seeking then what should they be doing? If people do simply stop and look at existential dread, then what? Does suffering negate prior contentment? Does the fact that suffering is guaranteed negate all happiness from being real? Can suffering also be transitory and shift into contentment? Or is that not authentic either because suffering existed before and that contentment can still change and won't last? Does it matter if something does not last?

Personally I think it is all transitory as is perception, even values. So the answer to this question is dependent on when you ask. I am also sure if you asked on a gardening forum you would get differently weighted answers.

 

[chris8000]

Happiness is a temporary feeling that happens because you have got something you want. Then it fades away, because things change. Then sadness comes because you don't have the next something you want. So even people society call successful are stuck with a lot of suffering, because happiness is impermanent and they can't sustain the conditions that caused the happiness forever. They're always chasing happiness, but it never lasts, so they aren't truly satisified.

Satisifaction is a bit different to me, and happens because you don't crave things, when you don't crave you are satisifed and are at peace. Although there is a certain amount of craving that is necessary at various times for the organism to live, like for food and so on, but basically reducing craving to much lower levels means much more satisfaction. There are people out there who are immensely satisfied and peaceful, but I would not say they were happy because they have something, they are just content with the way things are.

 

[Hypergang2018]

I believe there are happy people who love living and sad people who don't. No universal view of life. To say nobody is happy is very short sighted and presumptuous. Its basically like saying "nonody is actually suicidal, everyone is happy and those who are depressed are playing a fun make believe game"

 

[Zoltiel]

I think anyone who has good social skills, and was born into a loving family is truly satisfied with life.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

I recently read the Laws of Emotions, the original journal article from back in the 80s. It seems that most emotions prime us for the next action. For example, fear primes us to seek safety; desire primes us to satisfy it; anger primes us to defend.

When we are satisfied, we have to work at remaining satisfied or seek something new to desire. You can love steak, swear that you'd eat it every day, but if you did, eventually that love would diminish because the desire had been satisfied. You would no longer be primed to act to satisfy the desire. That's one reason why temperance and self-restraint lead to greater satisfaction and well-being.

That said, sometimes I think that cruel people may be more satisfied with life. They don't suffer from guilt or sympathy. Life is more satisfying if you don't feel like shit, and they don't have as much to feel like shit about if they're not loaded with concern for others and following reciprocal social rules like doing no harm to others.