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As I have grown up I have noticed a pattern in humans, and how we respond to being content. Having food and water shelter and friendship I have no reason to be unhappy yet like many fellow North Americans I find myself continually feeling bored . Yet I look to my German Shepard who has all of the same things I do and he is just in a perpetual state of happiness.
I have come tot he conclusion that humans are probably one of the only animals on the planet who when they have everything they need and want they get bored instead of being happy that life is good because of having all their needs met! We have too much time on out hands I think having excess free time is actually BAD for you and allows you to have time to be bored.
One example is that without a job you'd probably just sit at home and do nothing most likely BEING BORED. AS much as you probably hate working ( some of us are blessed with a job we enjoy ) it saves you from being perpetually bored for hopefully ( 8 ?) hours of the day.
Thoughts? Discuss? Conflicting opinions ?
 
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Happiness doesn't require activities, money or anything to acquire.
No one likes work, but it's necessary to buy necessities. So without a job, you'd have nothing. Boredom doesn't matter when you can't afford utilities, food, etc.
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United States11320 Posts
On June 20 2012 07:39 Clicker wrote:
Happiness doesn't require activities, money or anything to acquire.
No one likes work, but it's necessary to buy necessities. So without a job, you'd have nothing. Boredom doesn't matter when you can't afford utilities, food, etc.
I think he means hypothetically. Like you lived with your mom or retired or a contractor on break or something.
I agree. But maybe the dog is bored too. I have three dogs, most of the time they sleep. I don't think dogs need a lot more sleep than humans, but when they're done playing with each other and it's not time to go outside/get food, what else are they to do?
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You just need to know how to spend your extra time. There's always something that needs to be done, or something that can be learned.
when they have everything they need and want they get bored instead of being happy that life is good because of having all their needs met!
I think you need to look out for arguments with holes like this. Being bored, someone would obviously not have everything they want, would they? Would they not want entertainment?
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On June 20 2012 07:39 Clicker wrote:
Happiness doesn't require activities, money or anything to acquire.
No one likes work, but it's necessary to buy necessities. So without a job, you'd have nothing. Boredom doesn't matter when you can't afford utilities, food, etc.
I don't think this is really true. Having a job that challenges you and allows you to have a feeling of success and importance can be a really good thing. I wouldn't like to be a cashier at a supermarket or a salesman but I really enjoy doing research and pushing my knowledge further and further, learning and understanding more and more (yeah you get it, I'm a student but I also work as a student scientist or whatever the name is). I also think it is this boredom that really keeps us moving forward. If noone wanted to work actually, there wouldn't be much input to research at universities and at big companies, leading to maybe no technology at all (after all, isnt it enough to feed everybody and give him a home, then we wouldnt have to work any more!)
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Happiness and everything is internal. Without the mind, nothing exists including boredom. Rest on that thought.
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It is hilarious when people think that you have to work to not be bored.
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^
There is always something to do.
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On June 20 2012 07:35 ShakAttaK wrote:
As I have grown up I have noticed a pattern in humans, and how we respond to being content. Having food and water shelter and friendship I have no reason to be unhappy yet like many fellow North Americans I find myself continually feeling bored . Yet I look to my German Shepard who has all of the same things I do and he is just in a perpetual state of happiness.
I have come tot he conclusion that humans are probably one of the only animals on the planet who when they have everything they need and want they get bored instead of being happy that life is good because of having all their needs met! We have too much time on out hands I think having excess free time is actually BAD for you and allows you to have time to be bored.
One example is that without a job you'd probably just sit at home and do nothing most likely BEING BORED. AS much as you probably hate working ( some of us are blessed with a job we enjoy ) it saves you from being perpetually bored for hopefully ( 8 ?) hours of the day.
Thoughts? Discuss? Conflicting opinions ?
The exact reason we are the king of this planet, why science is where it is, why the business mindset dominates etc
If we were cool with life we'd give up right now. Although I dont ascribe to the idea that we'd have given up thousands of years ago... people seem to forget that life was actually really really horrible only 100+ years ago for the vast majority of people, starvation, disease and a life of relentless manual labour to keel over before 40.
Also I would say that the content you describe isn't the content we really 'need' to feel content. We are sentient, but we are not fully aware, we have a conscious and subconscious and often we rationalize our immediate desires as our true desires... oh if I only I had that cool car, all the people would like me and I'd be happy and sociable.. we associate the car with the thing to attain when really its the people.
We're social creatures after all, we are content being around others who like us, our friends, our family. Modern life has crammed more people into smaller spaces and communities have grown to a scale that is difficult to fathom so we get confused by it. I know for a fact that I will be bored if I sit around the house all day by myself, add in a friend and suddenly, despite no change in surroundings I will no longer be bored because someone else is there and we can think up things to do.
Thats why some of the happiest nations aren't the wealthiest, they're the ones who have community festivals and dance in the streets with their neighbours, true story. As much as it might make you cringe, that's the kind of stuff people really need to stop themselves getting bored and to be content.
TL;DR - we are social creatures and we forget it.
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On June 20 2012 07:35 ShakAttaK wrote:
As I have grown up I have noticed a pattern in humans, and how we respond to being content. Having food and water shelter and friendship I have no reason to be unhappy yet like many fellow North Americans I find myself continually feeling bored . Yet I look to my German Shepard who has all of the same things I do and he is just in a perpetual state of happiness.
I have come tot he conclusion that humans are probably one of the only animals on the planet who when they have everything they need and want they get bored instead of being happy that life is good because of having all their needs met! We have too much time on out hands I think having excess free time is actually BAD for you and allows you to have time to be bored.
One example is that without a job you'd probably just sit at home and do nothing most likely BEING BORED. AS much as you probably hate working ( some of us are blessed with a job we enjoy ) it saves you from being perpetually bored for hopefully ( 8 ?) hours of the day.
Thoughts? Discuss? Conflicting opinions ?
A dog can't compare 2 separate states of well being like having sex and winning a game for ex, as we do. Once we do it, we realize that we have preferences.. and it goes downward spiral from there because we sacrifice our current state of well being for the prospect of a future, better one.
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My Grandma always used to say if you're bored then you're boring. Boredom is another word for depression. Get outside.
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Boredom happens when your mind isn't busy. Happiness doesn't come from being content to just live and survive, but from keeping your mind occupied.
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I am happy, and would probably be happier if I didn't have to work that much.
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There are many books filled with interesting thoughts. It is like having very smart people who live on your shelf and tell you things.
Working is what's boring.
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Whenever i watch shows like House, or Dollhouse, it makes me envy the characters who never seem to leave the workplace, and always are thinking about work even when they are off. I wish i could have an absorbing job that eats my freetime and spits outs pride.
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I don't think you've taken a large enough look at what contentment is like for everyone. Some people have very little, don't really want anymore and are happy. Some have far more than enough, but are never happy. Happiness doesn't come from luxury or moments or memories, it comes from your heart.
Also, human consciousness is expressed very differently than dogs are other intelligent animals. The human brain is the largest in terms of brain-to-body size ratio, and this gives us aspects of conscious thought that animals do not possess. We can be creative, innovative, logical and have problem-solving and comprehension skills that animals do not possess. It stands to reason that the human mind needs more than an animal mind.
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yeah we arent very good at living lawl
or we are too good ಠ_ಠ
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I think having satisfying work is important
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If you stop thinking about happiness and mental state in terms of fulfiling needs and such, it is much easier to appreciate life that way.
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Spend your time trying to be yourself, better.
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Dno what ur talking about dude o_0. I'm almost never bored. Only when I'm forced to stay somewhere like DMV, jail, etc, where I don't have freedom. Even then, a Kindle keeps me occupied just fine. So yeah, I dno. I'm not bored at all.
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Blargh. Dogs are dumb. I know someone who said he was jealous of mentally handicapped guy who was always happy.
I don't care. I am myself. I wasn't born mentally handicapped (afaik).
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I think that Louis CK quote is appropriate here..
"I'm bored" is a useless thing to say. You live in a great, big, vast world that you've seen none percent of. And even the inside of your own mind is endless. It goes on forever inwardly. Do you understand? The fact that you're alive is amazing, so you don't get to be bored
But hey, what would you do without a job? I never had an answer to this until recently.. because I could never think of things particularly important to me. But now, I look back on my 5 years of university and actually thought about what made those years worthwhile. What do I remember in detail? It's nothing to do with studies or assignments -- I do remember one or two stunning exceptions from amazing profs that changed my view of the world. But apart from that, I don't think there was anything valuable (long-term) there. Nothing to do with gaming (I literally care not at all for all the games I've played; of course they were fun at the time.. but years later, no fucks given), nothing even to do with the usual drinking, smoking etc that college students do. Just like gaming, fun nights but long-term, no care. Definitely had nothing to do with the 2 years of fulltime work I did between my studies... I give not a single fuck to any day spent in the office, when looking back on it several years later. Sure, at the time it was kind of exciting and challenging, but it's similar to gaming/etc in that respect.
No, really, it was just the memories I had with friends and family that was the most important. The only things I remember in detail tbh. Actually it's kind of a big realization for me. So would I be bored without a job? Not at all. I'd welcome the extra time and spend as much of it with friends and family as I could. I do my best now, but it's only constrained to a couple of nights during the week and weekends. A few hours here and there.. dwarfed completely by my daily work grind which I know I won't give a fuck about, years later. Kind of sad actually.
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who says you can't be happy like your dog? Hell, I'm content in everything I do. I enjoy hard work, yet I appreciate the moments of "boredom" spent lounging in the summer sun or in front of TV as well. Just enjoy life. There doesn't have to be any divine purpose to it, just do what you want and try to accomplish something meaningful. Wake up every morning and say "this is going to be the best day ever". It works, I'm not kidding.
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Happiness is a state of mind. It's a choice. You can be happy now. You don't have to get x achievement or x thing to be happy. Everything is an illusion anyway.
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On June 20 2012 12:13 matiK23 wrote:Everything is an illusion anyway.
Some things are real.
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What's the problem with having nothing to do anyway? Modern society's pandering to the obsessive need to succeed, constantly improve, or do something is a pretty big fail imo. The next time you find yourself bored, go read a book by Henry Miller or Theodore Dreiser.
But it's really all about perspective.
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On June 20 2012 12:37 sam!zdat wrote:Some things are real.
The illusion's existence is real. BOOM
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Living things like to have food + shelter + water + love. Most living things spend 100% of their awake life just trying to obtain food and maintain a safe shelter. Since humans have pretty advanced societies, we don't have to worry so much about it and have more time to play. Humans aren't the only animals that play; primates and dolphins also do, since they're intelligent as well.
Just play more and you won't be bored.
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Maybe it's your interpretation of humanity that sucks.
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EPT
