imo, false happiness is something that takes more than it gives. So drugs is good example, maybe they make you feel good but eventually they stop doing that and start taking from you.
They come with a high cost, sure. But this applies to a lot of other things as well (like MTG cards or rescuing animals or learning how play drums really good etc).
with mtg cards, they drain your money so that kind of works too. But rescuing animals or learning something doesnt apply here because it doesnt take anything from you (unless you are kind of insane). Or rather they dont cost too much in terms of invaluable resources like your mental or physical health, just your time which you have to give to everything anyway. Stuff like drugs diminish you being able to enjoy other things and drain your health and relationships. Even if you keep those under control, it still takes something from you, just a bit less.
Though anything can become an addiction too, but if positive things become that then you might have other underlying issues rather than those things themselves causing it.
But none of this matter for the time you were happy.
Another approach: Let’s say you make it up to the age of 80 and then you die. You spend 78 years without love - not loving someone, not being loved by someone. But for two years you loved and were loved. Would this mean that this love was not true love just because it wasn’t “balanced” enough?
again this does not apply to what i was saying, loving someone doesnt cost you.
Frankly i cant tell how you are interpreting me, so i dont know how to clarify what i mean.
You can either steal a premade chocolate cake or you can bake one yourself. Neither turns the chocolate cake into a true or false one. It’s still only a chocolate cake.
If our feelings are formed by chemicals and waves in the brain, then what would be false about happiness from those sources? Is it actually false happiness, or is it possibly just happiness derived from stigmatized/alternative sources?
Allow me a question about your premise: If there is such a thing as true happiness, what is false happiness then?
imo, false happiness is something that takes more than it gives. So drugs is good example, maybe they make you feel good but eventually they stop doing that and start taking from you.
They come with a high cost, sure. But this applies to a lot of other things as well (like MTG cards or rescuing animals or learning how play drums really good etc).
with mtg cards, they drain your money so that kind of works too. But rescuing animals or learning something doesnt apply here because it doesnt take anything from you (unless you are kind of insane). Or rather they dont cost too much in terms of invaluable resources like your mental or physical health, just your time which you have to give to everything anyway. Stuff like drugs diminish you being able to enjoy other things and drain your health and relationships. Even if you keep those under control, it still takes something from you, just a bit less.
Though anything can become an addiction too, but if positive things become that then you might have other underlying issues rather than those things themselves causing it.
But none of this matter for the time you were happy.
Another approach: Let’s say you make it up to the age of 80 and then you die. You spend 78 years without love - not loving someone, not being loved by someone. But for two years you loved and were loved. Would this mean that this love was not true love just because it wasn’t “balanced” enough?
again this does not apply to what i was saying, loving someone doesnt cost you. Frankly i cant tell how you are interpreting me, so i dont know how to clarify what i mean.
I guess “true” and “false” are misleading.
now i’m even more confused
Should I stop?
Usually people regard using drugs as false happiness. Or like having a parasocial relationship with a famous person.
You can either steal a premade chocolate cake or you can bake one yourself. Neither turns the chocolate cake into a true or false one. It’s still only a chocolate cake.
If our feelings are formed by chemicals and waves in the brain, then what would be false about happiness from those sources? Is it actually false happiness, or is it possibly just happiness derived from stigmatized/alternative sources?