What is the greatest cause of human misery?

Death. Or life, depending on how you interpret it.

The desire for money/power.

 

I can't think of anything that has caused more trouble than that. Possibly religion, but the end desire of many 'religious' people in power tends to be er.. more power, with religion used more as a front for their actions.

Failure, because failing at something will very rarely bring happiness.

everything.

 

except magic. magic is too magical to be sad. to bad magic doesn't exist.

Their governments.

Their governments.

 

 

 

Couldn't agree more :thumbsup:

It depends on how specific you want to get. My answer would have to be desire in general.

The desire for money/power.

 

I can't think of anything that has caused more trouble than that. Possibly religion, but the end desire of many 'religious' people in power tends to be er.. more power, with religion used more as a front for their actions.

 

I'd agree with this. Many other causes of misery are a means for this, I would think (war, etc.)

In the beginning, the universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry, and has been widely regarded as a bad idea.

In the beginning, the universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry, and has been widely regarded as a bad idea.

 

"Sorry for the inconvenience"

The desire for money/power.

 

I can't think of anything that has caused more trouble than that. Possibly religion, but the end desire of many 'religious' people in power tends to be er.. more power, with religion used more as a front for their actions.

 

 

 

How about love?

 

 

 

A source for both great joy, and great misery.

Greed is the original sin for sure. Ultimately, that greed for superiority is able to turn the search of self-improvement into a petty competition against others.

 

 

 

Love can bring out the best of people, but the desire for power can't.

I think desire itself is the greatest cause of misery.

 

 

 

Desire for love, desire for power, desire for money etc.

 

 

 

Even the desire for peace or equality can cause some misery. Human emotions suck.

Greed is the original sin for sure. Ultimately, that greed for superiority is able to turn the search of self-improvement into a petty competition against others.

 

 

 

Love can bring out the best of people, but the desire for power can't.

 

 

 

Well, you never know.

 

 

 

The desire for power can encourage someone to do their best to help others, hoping it will get them their power.

 

 

 

Rarely happens though.

What is the greatest cause of human misery?

 

Other humans. :lol:

What is the greatest cause of human misery?

 

Other humans. :lol:

 

 

 

Or the lack of other humans can cause misery.

The person that tells you what you can't do.

I think humans as they are now are inherently unhappy creatures. It's possible that over millions of years that evolution might balance our brain chemistry more correctly, but as it stands, the characteristics that make us dominant also make us miserable. Intelligence has a terrible price.

I think humans as they are now are inherently unhappy creatures. It's possible that over millions of years that evolution might balance our brain chemistry more correctly, but as it stands, the characteristics that make us dominant also make us miserable. Intelligence has a terrible price.

 

Ignorance really is bliss then.

I think humans as they are now are inherently unhappy creatures. It's possible that over millions of years that evolution might balance our brain chemistry more correctly, but as it stands, the characteristics that make us dominant also make us miserable. Intelligence has a terrible price.

 

 

 

I see our unhappiness as a means of progression. We don't like something, we complain about it, we try to make it better. Of course sometimes we reach a wall and can't possibly simplify things any further and sometimes we make things a lot worse, like the government for example. It is constantly being changed to theoretically become a better system, but does anything actually get much better in reality? No, problems are just being rearranged instead of solved.

 

 

 

We make things easier by inventing televisions and building roads because we think it's what we want, but yet we're probably one of the most depressed generations to ever live.

 

 

 

PS: This got me thinking... Can unintelligent creatures experience happiness?

I think humans as they are now are inherently unhappy creatures. It's possible that over millions of years that evolution might balance our brain chemistry more correctly, but as it stands, the characteristics that make us dominant also make us miserable. Intelligence has a terrible price.

 

 

 

I see that as our means of progression. We don't like something, we complain about it, we try to make it better. Of course sometimes we reach a wall and can't possibly simplify things any further and sometimes we make things a lot worse, like the government for example. It is constantly being changed to theoretically become a better system, but does anything actually get much better in reality? No, problems are just being rearranged instead of solved.

 

 

 

We make things easier by inventing televisions and building roads because we think it's what we want, but yet we're probably one of the most depressed generations to ever live.

 

 

 

PS: This got me thinking... Can unintelligent creatures experience happiness?

 

 

 

I believe in their ignorance, they are happy.

 

 

 

We who possess intellegence, can never reach the point of true happiness. We find the flaws in things, and with the awareness of death, we know that such things are not meant to last.

Stereotypical OT Answer: I blame religion and the media.

The limited degree to which we can empathize with others, I believe, has long been a source of lasting human misery. I would argue that all of our worldly problems can originally be traced back to acts of general disregard of the sensibilities of other people.

 

 

 

Intelligence, or, rather, "Consciousness," is probably the root of our misery (as others have already mentioned). It truly is a curse; ignorance breeds a great many of the problems we struggle with today, yet intelligence, while solving--perhaps--a few of our problems, only seems to ultimately generate more. Essentially, I agree with everything Lateralus has already said; we are inherently unhappy creatures.

 

 

 

I see that as our means of progression. We don't like something, we complain about it, we try to make it better. Of course sometimes we reach a wall and can't possibly simplify things any further and sometimes we make things a lot worse, like the government for example. It is constantly being changed to theoretically become a better system, but does anything actually get much better in reality? No, problems are just being rearranged instead of solved.

 

I see the concept of "progress" as being an illusion. I don't believe we, as part of our modern society, are any happier or more satisfied with our lives than were our hunter-gatherer forebears ten thousand years ago. It certainly makes for an interesting discussion though, whatever the case may be.

Desire.

 

If you desire anything you will have hope. If your hope is diminished, you become disappointed. Disappointment leads to misery.

 

 

 

alternatively

 

 

 

Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.