Is the Pursuit of Happiness Making Us Miserable? - Petrea King

[MrRichardKranium]

@MultiUniv3rsal ROTFFLMMFAO I see you are still having trouble doing your own research. And thanks for this ever classic troll move to attack ones grammer after you have failed the argument. But what makes it soooooo epic is that you are TOO stupid to not even know the grammer you are tempting to correct. BRAVO TROLL LMMFAO

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@MrRichardKranium Please, continue.

[MrRichardKranium]

@MultiUniv3rsal Uh huh, Is that so?

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@MrRichardKranium Fascinating.

[MrRichardKranium]

You'll get tired of this before I do troll. But be carfull, your intellect is showing. lol

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@MrRichardKranium I did not know that, tell me more.

[MrRichardKranium]

@MultiUniv3rsal Please, continue

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@MrRichardKranium Captivating.

[MrRichardKranium]

Fascinating.



[MrRichardKranium]

Truth hurts so much doen't it little troll. Must be why you go to such lenghts to avoid it.

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@MrRichardKranium Do tell...

[almax956]

Pheniminal awesome, Thank you Petrea

"earliest memories - marinating in the mantra of "I'll be happy when", bump onto one of the 'D's in life a disaster,divorce,diagnosis,dea­th, everything that's become second nature to us doesn't work, happiness is an inside job, If you didn't want suffering 'Wrong Planet'.' This is where it all happens', how to embrace this moment without overwhelmed or defined by them, in this moment, this room, this screen, right here, right now,

[BenjaminBixby]

"children waiting for the day they feel good, happy birthday, happy birthdaaay"

...mad world

[PlatypuSPawn]

So true.

[prtycrystal]

great speaker!

[mymatemartin]

I love the idea of asking 'What is your first nature..." What an intriguing thought! To know yourself before you question yourself.... Living in the now. Geat speaker.

[Mike10four]

The pursuit of Happiness described here is different to Jefferson’s discovery of a set of Rights that are part of the Laws of Nature which applies to all living and social systems.

[p1mpmastamike]

She is the real life 'V for Vendetta'

[4624tone]

absoultly, awsome speech,, folks just" dont worry be happy" great sayin byBob Marley!!

[superfuzz]

great post

[billyjo1881]

One of the most powerfull speakers I have ever heard. Right up there with Werner Erhard.

[GnosisMan50]

she's taking about a state of mind. A mind that recognizes the absurdity of consumerism, of greed, ignorance, and especially the world in which we have unwittingly created. ..she really spoke from the heart.

[MrMarcellogreco]

beleve in GOD be happy

[GnosisMan50]

every time I listen to this, it makes me cry. It's not just what she says but the way she says it, she speaks with deep compassion rarely seen these days...it is a truth that simply cannot be denied....

[rabuzin]

I agree with the speakers argument wholeheartedly and concur we should pursue happiness in the moment. It also explains to a large part the ability of people in bad circumstances to find some measure of peace within the chaos arround them. However there is one caveat. It is spoken by someone who is in an environment where in a large part her inaliable human rights are respected. For those individuals where this is not the case, the "pursuit" of a change of external environment is justified.

[MissPepperme]

While I agree the pursuit may drive us nuts, I think that happiness is more in the ability to find a flip side to every bad situation, stop and smell the roses, and live in the moment than it is about embracing all the shit in your life. I mean just look how weighed down she looks! It's like the whole world is on her shoulders while she puts on a face of peaceful happiness.

[NeoWoodstockHippie]

Greener pastures lie immediately just ahead as Man's first nature combines with Machine.

[Valsam75]

that speaker didnt convince of me the happyness recipy cause she didnt look

happy herself either.

How can you be tought the recipy of happyness but a not happy person ?

[Asiablue]

@Workingclassathiest You should think, use reason and work it out for yourself. I have!

[topheramazz]

she sound like the dalai lama.....

[seankhn]

Not good for the US point of view

[MarkOates]

Well, the pursuit of happiness isn't always the fun part. It's the achievement of what we're pursuing that we're after.

[jubulalau]

I also find the whole "Pursuit of Happiness" thing quite stupid, but for completely different reasons.

To claim that happiness is an inside job, that you can find happiness in anything, is to accept mediocrity and indolence. There are many things that improve our life quality and should be pursued. Not as components of an everlasting state of satisfaction, but as tools for a better life.

[eswyatt]

What she's talking about is a product of our brain wiring, not Madison Avenue. Our genes care only about getting passed on, not the personal happiness of the creature in whom they happen to reside at the moment. Status gets us a mate, and more of our genes get passed on. The metaphorical goals of our genes are satisfied, though we are not.

[scarymary2k8]

@eswyatt talikng more abut the fact that we are alienated from our desires through capitalism. that our human creations, talents are tuned instead into commodities, not for ourselves, but for others to use, and we have no choice but to accept our alienation from our desires because it is money, capitalism and not humans that have taken the job of making the world go round

[believersunderground]

nice. Scott (BUG)

[GBS990]

Is the Pursuit of Happiness Making Us Miserable? No, but this speaker does.

[mykmmc]

HAPPINES IS THE LITTLE MOMENTS

[truthadvocate]

We need to judge the world around us to make the best decisions, that includes judging others. For example, I judge people based on their honesty. I trust those with a track record of honesty. I distrust those with a track record of fraud. Failing to judge them would be self destructive.

Even if one is happy today they still need to pursue happiness. For example, if I have a meal that makes me happy today, that doesn't mean meals will somehow magically appear in the future.

[ananiasacts]

Why can't happiness simply be the brain's way of motivating the mind? Similar to the feedback we get from our skin when moving about the world; happiness/sadness are just sensory input influencing the way our minds move about in the cognitive space they inhabit. The things that make our minds more comfortable in their surroundings tend to make us happy, and visa versa. What most influences our happiness may be just the knowledge that we've chosen to furnish the home that our minds must live in.

[AutodidacticPhd]

@ananiasacts Happiness works better as a carrot on a stick than a carrot in the mouth... and our brain "knows" this, even if we don't.

[AutodidacticPhd]

@brettluckman You're comparing apples and oranges... we have so radically reshaped our environment that our old drives no longer serve their original functions. And our lifespans and health are a completely different animal from our evolutionary background. I'm sorry, but it is still the case that always being hungry for more is a part of our evolutionary heritage. It is contentment that serves absolutely no evolutionary goal. That it is possible to be content is the new thing.

[ElectricityNow]

In some circumstances it is necessary to achieve certain goals in order to become happy. For example, if one is a malnourished slave, one might correctly believe that freedom and sustenance are necessary constituents of a happy life.

[clivebull1]

I have never, in my whole life, heard anyone say "I'll be happy when...". Nor do I believe people actually think like this. And "inculturate": yeah, let's just make up words! This speech is nonsensical babble and facile word play.

[ls1z28chris]

She is wrong insofar as the belief that folks fool themselves into thinking they will be happier at some point in the future. Most of the people I've dealt with have had a different point of view. They fret about whether they'd be happier in a different place or with a different job. It is the "grass is always greener" syndrome.

The problem is that talking about such a view wouldn't help this lady get in her digs at modern society and capitalism.

[ChinatownNoodles]

@Workingclassathiest ...going from one extreme to another wont make you happy ... happiness is somewhere in between :-)

[AutodidacticPhd]

It's a nice sentiment, and maybe even a good idea to think about it... but we aren't taught "I'll be happy when..."

Fact is, that is the natural state of the hard wiring in our brain. We are evolutionarily predisposed to feel that way. Modern consumer culture didn't invent it, it just exploits it.

[GeeWeezzz]

@AutodidacticPhd Self-fulfilling prophecy.

[AutodidacticPhd]

@GeeWeezzz Yup, that's what genes are.

[mrmaciejm]

She is right about everything.

[burgerkhan]

Blah blah blah. So, this woman wants you to believe that you should marinade yourself in complacency. "Oh well, I guess I should just be happy with what I got." This country was made great because people individually went out and pursued for things that they individually thought would make them happy. Some failed, some succeeded, some succeed greatly. Collectively, these efforts made the society better and increased standards of living. So, STFU, commie!

[alanoasiss]

@burgerkhan You are some what right there. But USA is not as you call it "Better".

[thetimman00]

Female Psycho-linguist, reminds me of George Carlin.

[blackiron60]

This is a brilliant speech, and on the whole I agree - any sense of happiness, fulfillment, peace etc. has to come from within, but external forces do matter. If you live in hell, as a lot of people do in this world, you can't exactly be expected to find peace. Sometimes you have to stand up and fight, sometimes you have to force change, sometimes you have to act in order to make things better.

[MultiUniv3rsal]

This is one of those videos that makes me say "..." when I see it in my subs list.

[MegF142857]

@Workingclassathiest Just curious... but did you misspell atheist on purpose? So you are an athiest vs an atheist? :-)

[Asiablue]

@Workingclassathiest The New Atheism is a form of social control. A creeping fascism that will be defeated as all others were. Be the hero you think you are and spare me the 'free speech' crap.

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@Asiablue I think what you say in that statement is entirely false.

[Asiablue]

@MultiUniv3rsal So?

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@Asiablue So you're a jackass. A dead wrong one.

[Asiablue]

@MultiUniv3rsal lol...a jackass is a 4 legged donkey. I can assure you I am a featherless bi-ped like the other posters. Besides, don't you think it would hard to type on keyboard with hooves? lol...Peace.

[ananiasacts]

@Asiablue, Do you really want to go to a place where personal integrity has no value? Where everyone you meet worships a dictator either for the reward it promises or to avoid the consequences of impiety?

I don't understand why you regard materialism as a pathway to fascism. Is your decency, as a person, dependent in any way on your conception of what god is? Can you explain how that idea has improved your behavior?

[Asiablue]

@ananiasacts I could explain all of this to you, but better to leave you to figure it out yourself. I'm not going to answer your questions in detail only to have the next Youtuber ask the same questions. There are a lot of YTbers, you know.

[ananiasacts]

@Asiablue, do you consider a person's remarks, or their behavior to be the best indicator of their character? If you claim that there is great utility in your beliefs, but don't have the time or energy to explain why, what do you expect readers to conclude? It doesn't seem very likely that your faith has somehow made you a more charitable, thoughtful, and well meaning person if you only have the desire to dictate but no desire to discuss or explain. My perspective begs me to empower others.

[Asiablue]

@ananiasacts Judge me any way you wish. While doing so, try not to mistake YT as a pulpit. Its a glorified bulletin board where everyone is a star and wikipedian expert in their chosen field. Most of the posts here are rants. I think of it as a hobby.

[ananiasacts]

@Asiablue, I think it is whatever the people using it make it. If that's how you see this forum, that's how you'll use it. I don't believe my judgement of what you post here is a judgement of you at all; just the virtual entity that your few words create in my mind. We all judge everything as a matter of simply communicating with each other. I don't think it means much, and can be utterly reformed by your next post. We are people so angered by attempts to challenge their beliefs?

[Asiablue]

@ananiasacts People are angered by atheist challenges to their beliefs because of the snide condesension and constant baiting. The smarter-than-thou attitudes that anyone of faith is mentally ill. The elitist inclusion of reason, intelligence and science on their side only and the constant refrain of 'prove it to me.' Atheists want proof? They can prove it to themselves.

[ananiasacts]

@Asiablue, But people use the same tactics to challenge all kinds of things, not just religious faith. Political ideologies, fashion choices, musical taste, what is good to eat, what should be taught in schools, etc. I don't like many of the other life forms on earth, like fleas, mosquitoes, etc. But I'm wise enough to realize that simply exterminating them may backfire. It seems like the best we can do is to keep trying to communicate. Maybe we'll eventually stumble onto better methods.

[Asiablue]

@ananiasacts Political ideologies and musical tastes are not defined as mental diseases. Dawkins and his disciples have defined faith as illness and God as a virus. Vacination and eventual extermination is exactly what they have in mind. They have said so.

[ananiasacts]

@Asiablue, I'm not happy with the tactics that politicians use to slur each other either. And very few people even seem to consider that much of a problem. Yet these are the people who have the greatest say in shaping our future. I don't actually understand why people who believe in god are so angered by those who do not. If they know its true, then why isn't being able to see their faith from the perspective of someone who despises it of great interest to them? (As a fresh way to examine it.)

[Asiablue]

@ananiasacts If I was atheist and someone said I was going to burn in Hell, I'd dismiss the comment. If they insisted this was true and harrassed me about it, I'd be angry. When an atheist insists a man is ill because he believes, insists he get a medical cure and plans to preasure him in various ways to deny it or suffer professionally (as Chris Hitchens does) then we are dealing with a far more dangerous agenda than some guy saying "I don't believe in God."

[ananiasacts]

@Asiablue, You'll have to be a lot more specific about Hitchens if you want my take on something he wrote or said, but I'm willing to examine it and get back to you. But aren't you condemning the anti-theist perspective on the basis of merely one or two of is most noteworthy ambassadors? It'd be like condemning Christianity based solely on some of the more inane remarks of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. The best we can really do is try to explain why we believe what we do. They both do that.

[thedude69ification]

I know huh? I thought my dad was a dick when he told me santa claus didn't exist either. I said, "Nuh uh, he's weal." I pray to him every night to this day. I say, "please give me a sign to guide my shotgun pellets into thy doctor's head, at the very unchristmasy abortion clinic." It hasn't come yet. Just like my firetruck !?! They'll come ... they'll come.

[Asiablue]

@thedude69ification lol...you don't believe in God because you did not get your firetruck? ! lol!

[Asiablue]

@ananiasacts Disagree with anyone of any faith all you like, but call them crazy because of this? No. Dawkins is hijacking science the same way Binladin hijacked Islam. He is defining it on his terms and forcing everyone to choose either/or. I say both/and.

[ananiasacts]

@Asiablue, But certainly you must believe that some ideas are so utterly absurd that you cannot imagine how someone believing them could not be crazy. I think the reason Dawkins labels it as a virus is because of the way the enterprise works. He defined the term "meme" in his very first book. This is only an extension of that idea; suggesting that the collection of "memes" that make up religion are like the components of a "mind virus" that use us like a lancet fluke uses an ant. A metaphor.

[thedude69ification]

I thought my dad was a dick when he told me that santa claus didn't exist either. I said, "Nuh uh, he's weal." - direct quote.

[tyrannicoystercult]

@Asiablue i think you and atheists must not have been talking about the same things. these conversations aren't meeting in any real conflict that is resolvable, just comparing different things that offend you. funny enough this relates to the video itself since it's a symptom of debating based on how topics make the speaker feel, not principle. atheists oppose the stupifying groupthink and political abuse that christianity thrives on in US and EU- you can't reply with a simple case for ontology.

[wtfoof]

@Asiablue, I think you have it inverted 180 degrees. I am no Atheist, but most atheist want merely to be left alone. Christians, in particular, want to have religious tests for politicians, press their beliefs into our laws, and condemn all that don't think ans they do.

[Asiablue]

@wtfoof And there are atheists who want to check academic credentials for like-beliefs. Remember: Richard Dawkins defines faith as a mental disease. Its no stretch to see how you could be denied a job for this reason. The book "The Dawkins Delusion" refers to it.

[wtfoof]

@Asiablue, There are current members of congress that homosexuality is a mental disorder. Most atheist are people of science not conjecture. Plus, there are many jobs the mentally challenged are capable of.

[Asiablue]

@wtfoof There is medical evidence that homosexuality really is a mental disorder, starting way back with Dr. Carl Jung. And Canada has had a successful, though not well publizied, treatment of this for years. And yes, there are many jobs the mentally challenged are capable of and even better qualified for than normal people. The point is a test for non- belief will be part of the future atheist utopia of the good Dr. Dawkins & Co.

[Mastikator]

What a load. Do people really believe that they'll find happiness only by buying crap? I seriously doubt it.

The pursuit of happiness is what pulled us out of the stone age all the way to here, without this pursuit we would live short and miserable lives.

[jmsneptuneonfire]

I am more apt to blame the consumerism in our lives that prevents us from happiness. Knowledge, education, family bonds, gainful employment...these are enriching experiences and can make a person happy. Mortgages, car leases, credit card debt, college loans....these things are supposed to lead to happiness, but ultimately trap us.

[furChrist]

that was good and so true

[MegF142857]

Creative discontent is what drives many wonderful things that come in life. Agree to live in the moment and find joy in it when you can. I do not see how goal setting and pursuit of other happiness in the future should take away from happiness in the present.

[Asiablue]

@Workingclassathiest You are a negative pessimist who thinks death is the end. I think you died long ago.

[kldini]

I have a rational question for Petrea King: Which one is better, to believe that everything will be better or to believe that everything will be worse? I believe that the pursuit of happiness is the reason of life, to better in all possible ways is what makes us humans, rational human beings with dreams and goals. Petrea King's speech is vague and without grounds; to expect something better than today is what has made civilization possible.

[TonyTheSamurai]

this is an interesting arguement. But she doesn't say where this enculturation comes from? Where does rampant consumerism come from? Scheming marketers and entrepreneurs? They are only human as well, how are their desires different to anyone elses? This lady is criticizing human nature, not the pursuit of happiness

[tyrannicoystercult]

@Workingclassathiest her Aum pill is pathetic on that level yeah, but it aims at breaking the relationship with products or a shitty government that give and support medium-scale desire only, not large scale desire that one can only recognize after moments of dropping out of the desire-cycle given to you. The freedom of re-definition of your goals and beliefs on your own terms is indeed a higher form of satisfaction than freedom to humbly partake in normal culture, never modifying it.

[AussiePolitics]

it doesn't have anything to do with spiritualism. she's just stating the obvious - if you always believe that the only thing that can make you happy are material objects in the future then you'll never be happy.

[McPrfctday]

Fatboy Slim... right here right now... I love when people use those words!!! She speaks the truth. We all know that truth. It's always good to have someone say it again.

[greenhell666]

One of the best videos I have seen on ForaTv

[MultiUniv3rsal]

Australians should stop worrying about everyone else and get back to fighting the prehistoric monsters that live in their yards.

[MrRichardKranium]

@MultiUniv3rsal For someone who claims NOT to be a troll you sure do troll a lot.

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@MrRichardKranium Wow, what you just did there is the epitome of trolling. Not to mention you didn't catch the humor in that statement.

Now please stop pretending to be a hard ass and stick to being a paranoid, antisemitic, twat.

[MrRichardKranium]

@MultiUniv3rsal Spoken like a true troll. You claim it is "bull shit" without any proof or reference of your own, just " your opinion" followed by more condecending remarks to get a rise out of whomever you are trolling. Ya know, for a troll your pretty lame. We think you can do better. ;) lulz. If you don't like it troll, then stop trolling. lol

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@MrRichardKranium It must suck ass to be you.

[MrRichardKranium]

@MultiUniv3rsal LMMFAO I was just thinking the same thing about you. Your not running out of things to say are you?

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@MrRichardKranium I cannot believe you're still talking. Go slap your dick around and help make the internet a better place.

[MrRichardKranium]

@MultiUniv3rsal It would seem there is A LOT you fail to believe in, and why would I do that when your mother does it for free.

[MrRichardKranium]

@MultiUniv3rsal Don't tell me your done? Come on, keep it up troll. 5 ppl have invited me to be their friend since I started spanking you around little troll. LMAO

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@MrRichardKranium I bet.

[MrRichardKranium]

@MultiUniv3rsal OH so now you need to spare what is left of your ego by getting in the last word. Like I said, for a troll your pretty lame. but we think you can do better lmao

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@MrRichardKranium Uh huh.

[MrRichardKranium]

@MultiUniv3rsal Yes you did bet.... and you lost LMMFAO

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@MrRichardKranium Is that so?

[MrRichardKranium]

@MultiUniv3rsal Is that so?

[MrRichardKranium]

@MultiUniv3rsal You know a good way to verify if someone is a troll? Google their screen name. Doing so you will find months if not years of the same person expressing the same one sided know it all overly opinionated sociopathic statments that only they express without fact or proof of your own. One might think you would get a clue if everyone disagrees with you. But you don't, what is it like always being in the minority?

[TipoftheSlung]

Deeply inculturated?

Oh fuck off and stop flapping your gums. Does anybody else remember when ForaTv had standards and you would get intelligent interesting and thought provoking clips.

They have been really lazy of late.

[polymath7]

@TipoftheSlung

I abandoned any serious expectations for Fora when I saw the first twenty seconds of a talk by Alicia Silverstone.

[eudoxus3]

@TipoftheSlung Agreed. This is the discussion that all people have

during or even before college times.

[TipoftheSlung]

@eudoxus3

100% This is what happens when you give a microphone to a hippy. XD

[Asiablue]

@TipoftheSlung Actually, it's hippie. And it means Help In Producing Peaceful Individual Existence. Your failure to spell it correctly goes far in explaining why you do not understand this video.

[tyrannicoystercult]

@eudoxus3 it has a basic element yeah but becomes more useful if you change the word happiness to Self Defense. This is one of the most abused topics in any ideology. People are tricked into indecision by the simplest tactics when it comes to politics, international or domestic. All that matters is one's own personal tragicomic life, this is the root of the outside problems that become our problems through indecision, the corruption and resource depletion on the margins. simple but important

[polymath7]

@TipoftheSlung *chuckle*

If the word "culture" makes me want to reach for a gun, "inculturated" makes me want to reach for a flamethrower, and turn it upon the panel.

[TipoftheSlung]

@polymath7

Quite right, but don't forget that it scores double in bullshit bingo!

[Asiablue]

@polymath7 Examples are very educational. Use it on yourself first.

[tyrannicoystercult]

@TipoftheSlung i agree her definition of first and second nature is sloppy as hell, thought and categorization of events and good and bad is a natural aspect of the brain. She's right to say it's made dangerous by culture though, in advertizing and ideology. we're simplified to consumeristic pleasure. state planning of the economy consults citizens only in the most vulgar, simplified, and happiness-related way possible, 'will this directly hurt me or you now or in a few years? probably not!'

[Asiablue]

@TipoftheSlung Meaning: the world is thinking but not you.

[TipoftheSlung]

@Asiablue

You would have to be a cretin not to understand this. My original point was that i expect better than the blindingly fucking obvious from ForaTv.

[Mrmoc7]

@TipoftheSlung

**** you.

[TipoftheSlung]

@Mrmoc7 Oh go and marinate in a mantre you fucking hippy cunt.

[doggamer5]

"if ur into god"

[thedude69ification]

you know, its like a reversed doggy style. She's right, it really does make a lot of people happy.

[johnstall5350]

4:42 i love when people validate god and/or religion as just something people are into. Such a simple statement, said with the intent to show respect for people that have a belief in god, shows how in reality many don't truly believe, but just think they believe.

[XMonsieurMeursaultX]

Well, I agree that happiness should be sought after in the present moment. However, I do not think finding happiness through the pursuit of a goal or calling is ultimately detrimental to one's well-being. That's non-sense.

[bigsteelguy]

The Pursuit of Material possessions and Profit is what is making us all miserable

[greenhell666]

right on @bigsteelguy, right on

[tHecOmMeNtErSrEtUrN]

Well ironically we are happy when working towards the goals rather than achieving them and gaining from them, I would think its because we don't think about anything while doing stuff.

[ndyt]

I was raised to want nothing and to think that less is more, I think it has made me happier and more relaxed then others around me, but, I am less productive and indecisive. I think this lady has been reading J. Krishnamurti too long, just like my dad did.

[1RadicalOne]

Well, if someone views happiness as something that must be aimed for and is not yet acheived, then yes, the phrase can contribute to depression.

[Thedaykeeper]

Dido. FACE YOURSELF

[Th3Wab3]

well said lady well said.. one of the better fora discussions...