Happiness

Hello there,

I'm writing an article about Happiness and I have a few questions for you people which I hope you'll answer.

1. Can you truly say you are happy?
2. What makes you happy?
3. Do you think happiness can be taught in school? If yes, why? If no, why?

It would be really helpful to have some answers on this! And thank you very much if you take your time to answer.

Reply 1

Nord

Any answers would be appreciated greatly.

Reply 2

hellomoto170

1. Can you truly say you are happy?

Do you mean me personally, or are you asking if I think people in general have the right to say they are happy? I would say the answer to both of these is yes. Personally I would say right now I am not as happy as I was say, a few months ago, but generally I am feeling alright!

2. What makes you happy?

Mountain Dew, pizza, bacon and philadelphia bagels, spending time with my friends, Manchester United winning, playing football, getting good grades in exams, seeing my friends happy, people retweeting me on twitter.

3. Do you think happiness can be taught in school? If yes, why? If no, why?

I think happiness itself cannot be taught because of the fact that different things make different people happy.
However, it is I suppose possible to teach an individual from a young age, some sort of logical framework or at least a guidance to thinking rationally, learning to value things in their lives, knowing how to cope with possible barriers to happiness such as stress etc.
Instead of teaching this directly however, it's probably best to just ensure kids have as little reason as possible to be unhappy! There is only so much a school can do but it would help if the next generation of kids don't hate school...

Reply 3

Airfairy

Original post by Nord

1. No, I can't.
2. Money
Sunshine
Good friends
My relationship in my boyfriend being a good place
Sleep when exhausted
Losing weight
Junk food (until afterwards)
Doing well at uni
Buying new clothes that I love
+more I can't think of atm.

3. No, I don't. Happiness is to subjective to have a school curriculum of sorts. I don't know how that would work at all.

There could be more effective PSHE lessons regarding financial matters and future prospects that could contribute to happiness, but at the same time no-one cares at that age. When we were 15 we played some weird 'life game' in PSHE which was designed to get us thinking about the difficult choices early, but I can't really remember anything about it. :colondollar:

Reply 4

Nord

Question 1.: I do mean YOU personally, yes.

Thanks for the answers so far!

More to come I hope!

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5

Nutty_Psychologist

Hi OP,

Well thats a tough one. I think the main answer is I don't think it's possible for everyone to be happy because by the ways that would make one person happy could make someone not. Look at relationships for example. There's always one person in that relationship that finds happiness in something that the other does not. On a global scale, your going to get that too. I mean christ look at Governments, the crap they do that make themselves very happy and leave us seething. However, to answer your question...

1) Right now, no. I'm not. I should be but I'm not, mostly due to pressure and stress at the minute, but the point is I know I will be. Just not right now

2) The simplest things make me happy. Material things not as much as just being sat in the sunshine with friends with a cold beer laughing hysterically to the point where my face hurts. Watching a sun set. People make me happy, I think they have the largest influence over me of all (which is quite sad really), but they do. People make me really happy, telling me a joke, paying me a compliment, making me laugh... telling me they love me.

3) No I don't think they can directly teach us because that is something we have to find within ourselves, and again the same things aren't going to make everyone happy. Thats the beautiful diversity of human nature. But what they can do is teach us skills, just simple ones, like reflecting on things, teaching the importance of looking after yourself, stress management techniques. These are a lot of the reasons that we are not happy when we should be because we let stupid things in life get in the way when we really should be happy.
Like now, I'm upset about something that shouldn't let get in the way of everything else. I have my health, starting a career, a good family. But we forget that those things make us who we are, and ultimately make us very sad when they go wrong. But we don't see that until it's too late. So in a nut shell I'm not sure how they'd fit that in a lesson plan lol.

Sorry for long post, obviously in a very thinky mood today lol :colondollar:

Reply 6

M'Ling

I suppose happiness is about the acceptance of oneself as one is, without the envy of others. What springs to mind is Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone:"The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is."

Of course, I think this is a very rare thing to have. True happiness, true contentedness, is a sort of individualism in which nothing can phase you. Most people only achieve this, I think, in patches.

As for myself:
1 - No - I'm not truly happy and, like most people, have no idea how to achieve real happiness.
2 - I think happiness for me comes from the knowledge of a safe future, whether that future is in the near future or in the long distant future. Things like money, safety, good grades, a sunny day, etc. All these things are about a comfort in fore-thought.
3 - No, happiness cannot be taught in school. They can teach you what it is through philosophy, but not how to achieve it. Indeed, perhaps one has to experience unhappiness in order to appreciate happiness?

Reply 7

Nord

Hello.

Please give me more answers :smile:

Reply 8

Lemonique

Original post by Nord

1. Nope.
2. Laughing, money, friends.
3. Well you can be happy when you're surrounded by your friends and all! School stress and HW might negate that though.......depends on the individual.
Happiness can't be taught as a subject in school by teachers.

Reply 9

Mockery

1. No

2. Power and women

3. I don't think it would be appropriate to teach children how to abuse power and to get the most enjoyment and satisfaction out of having several women.

Reply 10

Gilgamesh

1. Can you truly say you are happy?
I believe so.

2. What makes you happy?
When I finish a poem or piece of art I am really proud of. When I get a good exam result.

3. Do you think happiness can be taught in school? If yes, why? If no, why?
No. I don't think it should either. Happiness isn't supposed to be forced or trained. It needs to come naturally. Depression is a problem, but lessons on how to be happy would become a ridiculed and worthless waste of time.

Reply 11

ashtoreth

1. Can you truly say you are happy?

I can say I have ‘moments’ of true happiness tho they are fleeting due to its very nature but I would say I feel contentment (which is the prolonged version/outcome) generally speaking/overall.

2. What makes you happy?

It varies. It can be something as simple as stuffing my face with a bar of choc to stuff that’s complex.

3. Do you think happiness can be taught in school? If yes, why? If no, why?

Contrary to current responses, yes, I believe schools can lend a hand in teaching us how to be happy. Happiness is after all, a conditioned response, and I think from an early age we are taught how to place ourselves under pressure/stress, which is what usually tends to lead to unhappiness. I am only taking into account the influence of schools in my response and not stuff like love etc

Schools serve as the socialisation process for the state/societal values at large. So far so simple, however, what happens if u belong to an acquisitive and materialistic society that only places value on monetary success? Within schools you create a culture that only looks favourably upon academic achievement (because after all, do well in your exams an u get to go to the best uni’s and get the best/highest paid jobs etcetc) and indeed, determines what is considered achievement. Schools by their very nature and purpose then seek to reinforce this by rewarding the more able student with acceptance and praise, and marginalise those that do not fit this neat little package.
Ergo, schools are training/conditioning us on the outcomes that should make us happy and the outcomes that will lead to unhappiness. If success is happiness then anything less is inadequate, which puts pressure on the individual to push themselves in order to achieve as much as poss, so that they too may enter the hallowed state of state determined happiness.

My response is deliberately simplistic and extreme but, I hope the point is made adequately. Schools don’t have to teach happiness in the accepted sense, just foster a culture of happiness by lowering the bar and allowing for all levels of ability, thereby decreasing pressure that subsequently leads to unhappiness.