Values in Pursuit of Happiness
By Michael Dickey
V 1.1
I would like to take a moment to argue that we should value things based on their intrinsic properties instead of comparing them with other things to direct the happiness they bring. I do not mean this to be an absolute, since we can appreciate things for so many different reasons. Rather, I want to argue that we should avoid basing the value of something solely on how it compares to other things.
Aristotle teaches us and common sense would dictate that our ultimate goal in life is happiness. Most of what we do is done for the sake of happiness, but there is nothing else for whose sake we choose happiness. Whether we are seeking a particular career, learning to play an instrument or simply going down to the store to buy some milk, we tend to make the goals of our actions happiness. Of course the means and context with which we achieve it differs for everyone, but what is universal between us is what makes things give us happiness.
It is a popular notion that what gives us joy is divorced from our will. Happiness is not some subject of trite concern, and it is not some random supernatural enigma removed from our material existence. What makes us happy is result of the things we choose to value. Ayn Rand, who did much to develop Aristotle's ideas, argues that our emotions are 'lighting quick calculators estimating the profit or loss associated with an action based on our values' If you feel good about something you are going to do, its because you value what is likely the result of that action, and your mind, the great pattern recognition machine that it is, predicts that outcome. Conversely, having no clear principles or defining values will make your emotions change with the slightest whim, your mind never having an algorithm to base estimations of outcomes on.
Who we love and who we are sexually attracted to is a representation of our values, if you value little more than attractiveness, then you'll like, and be attracted to, anyone who is merely physically attractive. If you value honesty and kindness, you'll seldom be attracted to dishonest and rude people. If you have no clearly defined values or principles, you run the risk of submitting your emotions and sexual attractions to nearly random causes, and you may end up with someone you despise. Just as love and sexual attraction are physical expressions of our values, so are all emotions and happiness.
Many people I associate with know much about particular subjects, say a particular genre of film, music, or art. In friends that know much about a subject I notice they tend to end up disliking much more of that subject matter because the bar for them has been raised, so to speak. If you are a fan of great classical music, you may end up not finding happiness in whatever pop engineered song is played on the radio. But if you familiarize yourself more with classical music, then even that will be separated into high brow and low brow classical music, as you become more familiar with its specifics. This, it seems, commonly makes the subset of what we enjoy even smaller, the more is known about a subject the less about it makes us happy. Because of this, it becomes very important to understand what happiness is and how to achieve it. This is not an argument to keep you ignorant and not to specialized in subject matter, but instead an argument to change your focus on what you value. If you value ONLY the best in all things you know well, then the more you know the smaller that subset becomes, whether it be acting, music, cooking, or whatever, and the less in life will contribute to your happiness.
Depending on our values, different things may make us happy as many people find happiness in many different things. As a personal philosophy, I see no reason why we can not find happiness in anything that people tend to find happiness in. As one of my intellectual inspirations Richard Feyman said "All I know is that everything is interesting" After all, if someone else finds happiness in doing something, and I do not, then I am missing out (this necessarily excludes anything that involves assaulting a person or property). As a Eudaemonist I try to immerse myself in all the things that make life wonderful and worth living. As an atheist and an extropian I also want to live as long as possible, if not indefinitely. Combining the tendency of people to enjoy less the more they know with the idea of living indefinitely; it could be that eventually one will know everything and nothing will make them happy. While this is admittedly a logical extreme, the point is made.
While we should certainly hold special praise for what we consider truly great works of art we should not embrace as a value only enjoying the greatest of all things. Instead we should focus on enjoying things of their own accord, and not solely as how much they rate to other things. Every piece of art had someone pour a great deal of effort into, many of them poured their hearts and souls into. To dislike them because they were not the best seems to be a waste. If everyone disliked what everyone else did that was not the best, so little would be created that it's hard to imagine such a life would be enjoyable.
This leads me to implications of finding happiness by valuing more aspects of something; we then find unhappiness in very nearly everything. To lead a long, healthy, and happy life, we should find value in all things that make life worth living, from majestic landscapes to monumental achievements of human effort, from the deepest canyon to the tallest skyscraper.
How do we choose to value something different? By being aware of our choices and choosing over and over again to value that item. Eventually the value becomes habitual zed, and furthermore our appreciation of it soon becomes reflexive.
Living a life full of happiness makes life more enjoyable and worthwhile and contributes to our health and well being. Choosing to base our values on the productive result of human effort, weather it be aesthetic or practical, instead of only on the absolute but arbitrary and wholly subjective status of any effort compared to all others will create a life full of happiness, where we can readily immerse ourselves in all the things that make life wonderful and worth living, and lead a rich and full life.
By Michael Dickey © 2004