Greatest Cause of Human Misery

[Laura]

Humans. Money is a good start, but it's only relative to what those around you have.

[Nenga]

4chan?

 

 

 

That or death.

[Pinkbullet3]

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.

 

In which here, balance comes into play. Balance is what keeps this world together, and if you look at it, the more happiness there is, the more misery comes along with it.

 

 

 

[Stilev]

we dont appreciate what we have, thats all

[Star_Fox]

women working.

[Cynic]

In short, anything and everything. Misery is so widespread that those things must be the cause of that. If not that, then desire.

[issy2]

As a race we never stop complaining but take little notice of the things that should bring about happiness.

 

 

 

So one of the greatest causes of human 'misery' must be ignorance... I know how vague that is but I mean ignorance in the sense that we refuse to let things make us happy, if that makes sense.

 

Often misery is a choice - not always, but often, certainly in our day-to-day lives. In my own experience being happy is a decision, not a destination.

[PURESMITHER]

Politicans + Beaurucrats + Greed. Or are they all the same thing? O_o

 

 

 

IMHO, we'd be better off if we still lived as Hunter-Gatherers like the few remaining Aborginals of the world.

[Returned3]

Lack of sleep.

 

 

 

I'm not kidding.

[EdgedThesis]

Unlimited wants.

 

 

 

All it takes to be happy is to be content with what you have--but that also leads to stagnation.

 

 

 

We need misery so we keep struggling for more. It is a motivator. A tool.

 

 

 

It is useful.

[unkn0wnwarrior]

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

 

Bingo. No universe, no humans, no misery. Those are some great books, though.

 

 

 

But I think desire wins it, in my view. Whether you desire love, power, (99 in a skill by tomorrow, perhaps?) whatever. If you cannot get it, you will eventually find misery. And without it, failure wouldn't be noticed, since there is no desire to achieve a task.

[Lemeja]

I agree with love.

[The_Gabe]

Lack of sleep.

 

 

 

I'm not kidding.

 

 

 

This.

[wild_goat_14]

Death.

[EdgedThesis]

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

 

Bingo. No universe, no humans, no misery. Those are some great books, though.

 

 

 

But I think desire wins it, in my view. Whether you desire love, power, (99 in a skill by tomorrow, perhaps?) whatever. If you cannot get it, you will eventually find misery. And without it, failure wouldn't be noticed, since there is no desire to achieve a task.

 

 

 

Hey, if it is desire, let's all recognize misery as a tool that allows us to achieve greater things.

 

 

 

Let's start to desire misery, and make for one humongous human thought paradox which will hopefully make our brains explode in spectacular, video-recordable fashion.

[tintin113]

The exact same thing as the greatest cause of human happiness: Other people.

[EdgedThesis]

Ah, Tip.It.

 

The one-time meeting place for Asperger's sufferers everywhere.

[Zierro]

Let's start to desire misery, and make for one humongous human thought paradox which will hopefully make our brains explode in spectacular, video-recordable fashion.

 

 

 

I think some people already do desire being miserable. Van Gogh would go to the asylum because it would put him into a state of mind that spurred his creativity.

[mmmcannibalism]

evolution

 

 

 

The natural pattern of becoming a more surviving species makes us miserable because the drive for more is imprinted. If the need to survive didnt exist, we wouldnt desire/envy and we would be in tranquil bliss.

[armourdilo]

The greatest cause of human misery must be emotions.

 

 

 

For starters, without emotion we cannot feel miserable. It's that simple. Emotions also incite actions. These actions can be good but they can also be bad. Anger brings murder and hate. Hate brought us the holocaust and many, many wars. In a world with emotions we have Murder, Poverty, Suicide, Hitler, etc.

 

 

 

But yes, emotions can also do great things. They can bring people together in times of need. They allow us to reproduce (sure it can be forcibly done, but the result isn't all that good.)and protect each other. Without emotion there'd be lots more suffering. In a world with emotion is World Vision and cancer research funds, there are people putting their lives on the line in other countries just to help.

 

 

 

Now here's the paradox - if without emotion there is suffering, but if there isn't any feeling is it suffering?

 

 

 

If you're interested, Equilibrium might be worth watching.

[InkofDeath]

No one in this thread, including myself, will ever be able to answer such a question.

 

 

 

We're either to emotionally inclined to answer, or conditioned too much by todays descriptions and appeals to the words we'd use to say why we're miserable or feel miserable or at least think we are miserable.

 

 

 

Basically our intelligence has been groomed but been injected with too many ideas on what is good and what is bad, or what morals even are to answer such a question.

 

 

 

Majority of you say negative things like greed, but is it not happiness that spawns greed? If one person is happy, then someone else must be envious or jealous about their happiness, because they won't be able to achieve whatever made that person happy. Thus they desire for that void that they think will bring them happiness if they fill. Thus comes the different routes in which you can achieve whatever to fill the void. Greed, power, money...etc.

 

 

 

Human misery in my opinion is thinking too small to understand why we feel misery.

 

 

 

I don't believe we have found the answer yet in the cosmos to fully understand ourselves, our planet, and the universe and whatever else is out there that truly affects whatever it is that we are.

 

 

 

If we ever catch a glimpse of whatever this is, then we'll have a further understanding of ourselves and how we're interacting with the universe, and then we'll be able to ask such insignificant questions as "Greatest misery to humans".

 

 

 

Just my thoughts on basically every single question that tries to pinpoint an exact and elegant answer, when it will never be a single or elegant answer.

[i_love_burritos]

We could consider the alternative, [not answering the question, but who cares].

 

 

 

Anyway, who said we were meant to be happy in the first place ?

[Teeg]

Consciousness. I don't mean being awake or asleep!!

 

 

 

The very ability to perceive feelings of happiness, misery, envy or love etc., has led man to try and define these emotions. Instead of basic instincts driving humans on; food, shelter, a mate, we now want to have what the next man has (or better).

 

 

 

Yes, call it desire, greed or envy, but it all boils down to the same thing. Instead of being happy with our lot, accepting that this is it and getting on with enjoying it, we want more and more, see others with more and more, see advertisements promising more and more; AND WE BELIEVE IT!

 

 

 

When people talk of "bettering themselves" what exactly do they mean? What is the benchmark they are using? Everyone should try to be the best THEY can, and not look in envy at others. Make your own decisions, that's probably the one true freedom we all have.

 

 

 

I've ranted on long enough. Need coffee.

[Mollerz]

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"

 

 

 

In an attempt to not sound +1ish...

 

 

 

I totally agree! :lol:

[Dexek]

Other humans.