Is happiness for idiots?

[noname223]

I think Slavoj Zizek said that. I am not sure about it. Are intelligent people really more likely to be depressed or unhappy? I am not sure. Maybe they can better articulate which hell they are going through. Their descriptions are more sophisticated and accurate.

I have met several people who described similar psychosomatic pain as in my case when I talked with them. But in contrast to me they could not articulate it very well. They were only vague and I had to ask them to be more precisely. I would not say they suffered less than me. Though sometimes my thoughts were racing and my precise analysis of my behavior fucked me up extremely hard. I have met some idiots in psychiatry who coped way different to me. They were pretty ignorant and had way less self-doubt. Being self-aware can sometimes be extremely stressful and painful. Maybe people with low IQ can fade that out.

Though maybe one should make the differentiation between being intelligent and being thoughtful. I think I sometimes confuse that. I am for sure very thoughtful and deep but I am not sure how smart I really am.

I absolutely don't think the pain of people with low IQ was negclectable. Those people also can endure horrible pain.

 

[YourNeighbor]

No. It's extremely arrogant to think that those who aren't suicidal are somehow ignorant or do not experience pain.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

It's certainly easier to be happy if you are an idiot but even so, happiness still has to be earned to feel its true effects whether that's by skill or by luck.

 

[Lebensunwertes]

I think the main merit of this argument is that intelligent people have a broader understanding of the world and are able to see different aspects of life which in turn makes them depressed. The Roman phrase "bread and circuses" defines that easy attainable appeasement well. People in general require very little to enjoy life. Just allow their basic needs to be fulfilled and they will continue their existence, probably because that's literally what they've been programmed to do.

I don't think being depressed is directly correlated with higher intelligence. In many cases people get depressed over absolutely shallow and meaningless things. Morons can get suicidal too.

 

[Nolan96]

Look up "depressive realism" and "the dunning-kruger effect" if you haven't already. These touch on what you're talking about.

 

[befree]

Yes. Stupid people think less, analyze less and therefore worry less.

 

[FuneralCry]

I'm not sure that such a thing as happiness even exists, how could anyone even be happy in such a horrible world. Things could easily get so much worse for anyone, and they could end up in the worst pain possible. Often having hope, just leads to more suffering. After all, life itself is extremely depressing and I could never understand anyone who wants to live.

 

[Graham]

I think Slavoj Zizek said that. I am not sure about it. Are intelligent people really more likely to be depressed or unhappy? I am not sure. Maybe they can better articulate which hell they are going through. Their descriptions are more sophisticated and accurate.

I have met several people who described similar psychosomatic pain as in my case when I talked with them. But in contrast to me they could not articulate it very well. They were only vague and I had to ask them to be more precisely. I would not say they suffered less than me. Though sometimes my thoughts were racing and my precise analysis of my behavior fucked me up extremely hard. I have met some idiots in psychiatry who coped way different to me. They were pretty ignorant and had way less self-doubt. Being self-aware can sometimes be extremely stressful and painful. Maybe people with low IQ can fade that out.

Though maybe one should make the differentiation between being intelligent and being thoughtful. I think I sometimes confuse that. I am for sure very thoughtful and deep but I am not sure how smart I really am.

I absolutely don't think the pain of people with low IQ was negclectable. Those people also can endure horrible pain.

The title of this thread made me laugh

Reminds me of the 'happy go lucky' 'nice but dim' 'ignorance is bliss' expressions

Plenty of not so happy idiots and blissful smart assess

I think its just a perception of the world to being with ... only you know how the world / your life is through your own experience

Clever or daft

 

[onlyanimalsaregood]

I don't think it has to do with being smarter or not. I think it has more to do with the fact that some people have fewer life goals or are content with less. And it makes sense.

Capitalism has made us think that we need to have the best house, the best car, the best salary, etc to be really happy and successful but in reality those are just material goods and the truth is happiness is much more than that.

Happy are those who can differentiate from all the "noise" what really matters. But it's very difficult to reach that level.

And I agree that ignorance can be a blessing, in the sense that sometimes it is better not to know everything that is going on in this world because there is so much cruelty.

 

[Graham]

I don't think it has to do with being smarter or not. I think it has more to do with the fact that some people have fewer life goals or are content with less. And it makes sense.

Capitalism has made us think that we need to have the best house, the best car, the best salary, etc to be really happy and successful but in reality those are just material goods and the truth is happiness is much more than that.

Happy are those who can differentiate from all the "noise" what really matters. But it's very difficult to reach that level.

And I agree that ignorance can be a blessing, in the sense that sometimes it is better not to know everything that is going on in this world because there is so much cruelty.

Think some people are naturally / genetically happy

Never been one of those people - have to force myself to be happy via excess

Workout like mad, party like mad, be the fool like mad

All a bit mad

 

[WorthlessTrash]

Happiness is for those that have the ability to enjoy their life.

 

[onlyanimalsaregood]

Think some people are naturally / genetically happy

Never been one of those people

Me either :/

Happiness is for those that have the ability to enjoy their life.

Also true

 

[Pluto]

A lot of interesting points.

The word happiness is difficult to define accurately. Sometimes people with low IQ are happy because they are enjoying life's simpler pleasures without engagement with distressing issues like the state of the environment. High-IQ people are often busy enjoying the spoils and challenges of lives of material success. Many average people straddle a middle ground.

It's easy to see how certain situations can cause people to fall out of this societal structure and the various escapes from reality that it offers to the masses. For them, life either needs to have some more substantive meaning, or else it may be viewed entirely negatively. Keep in mind that we could also distinguish life itself from the dysfunctional systems of humanity and the harm they cause to the majority of life forms on the planet.

 

[TheBroken]

Happiness is a choice .....

Sorry, just had to throw out a shitty cliche.

I and other like me analyze everything to death - things, people, circumstances, whatever. It's like a crazy perspective wherein all life's issues and problems can be figured out or solved if just thought about long and hard enough. This is of course not true.

 

[Sibyl Vane]

I believe that before delving deeper into the topic it is important to first categorize what exactly you mean when you talk about happiness. Usually, when I see people discussing the subject it comes with a lack of understanding about the nuances it carries when dealing with different individuals.

But if we try to speak in a more general term and make the assumption that the main source of someone's unhappiness is the state of the world around them, indeed makes a lot of sense to ascertain that fewer capabilities and willingness to think and analyze the reality that surrounds will grant more contentment.

Something that I also notice is the hyper-focus most people tend to put on material things (either too much or too little) as the sole source of happiness or unhappiness while I think the relations we have with one another, most prominently the absence of it, plays a bigger role in most of ours despair.

 

[Journeytoletgo]

Ignorance is bliss

 

[Enigmatic Sailor]

I fucking hate the concept of generalization of intelligence. People are professionals in their own fields. A person can be highly intelligent in motor functions such as sports but be bad at history analysis. A person can be genius at mathematics but poor in functioning in social interactions. The world is way more complex than we can imagine.