I got to bed last night and had a bit too much Chimay, so I won't be obliging you so much on any rant against or for happiness. Sorry.
Probably a bad ground on the powerstrip. I had a similar experience with a mini freezer working at McD's.
Unhappy to hear about the hangover, Lex.
Not that bad of a hangover, more of that general sense of unease and slightly unsettled belly.
By the bye, I don't really know my stance on the whole happiness issue, anyway. People who attack the goal of happiness annoy me.
On the flipside, you're right, happiness doesn't come by seeking happiness, itself. It's generally an incidental state of being.
I don't like the idea of 'ignorance is bliss,' but neither do I think 'happy people are ignorant.'
After reading about logotherapy through Viktor Frankl's 'Search for Meaning,' I've been seeing the goal of living a meaningful life without an existential vacuum as the important goal, which can often lead to happiness mixed with some sense of sorrow.
I guess that's more of a rumination than a rant, though.
Hey Lex--
Thanks. I did throw the callout to you in there just to tweak you a bit, but it is an interesting issue...but I think it's a very good quote.
Tweak? Not familiar with how you're using the term.
Definition 3 from http://www.answers.com/tweak&r=67
"To make fun of; tease."
I think of it as the verbal equivalent of tweaking someone nose though slightly less obnoxious.
Ahhhh. . .wasn't so sure if you were just tweaking or looking for indepth conversation.
Well, happily, I seem to have gotten both...
I liked the quote, but didn't think it really brought all that much new to the topic, so my expectations were modest.
You provided me with some good diversion today. That makes me happy.