Would you rather be intelligent or happy?

[turionx2]

I remember watching The Pursuit of Happyness and how the subliminal definition of happiness in the movie didn't line up with my experience of happiness. The movie equated financial success with happiness while I equate physical activity(ie. adequate serotonin levels), a healthy diet and a minimalist approach to life with happiness.

I've also observed that society is driven towards acquiring intelligence and not happiness.

 

If you had a choice to be either intelligent or happy but not both even though it is possible to be both. Would you rather be intelligent or happy? And why?

Edited October 30, 2013 by turionx2

[Phi for All]

What are your parameters? How intelligent would I be, and if I pick happy, how unintelligent would I be? If I'm intelligent, how unhappy is not happy?

[CaptainPanic]

I choose really happy, and extremely unintelligent, over really intelligent and extremely unhappy...

 

Luckily, in reality I am rather intelligent, and happy as well.

[Phi for All]

If there is a neutral position, an average state where I can be brilliantly intelligent but neither blissfully happy nor miserably unhappy, I might choose that. Or if I can be blissfully happy but neither brilliantly intelligent nor staggeringly stupid, that might also appeal. If I have to be miserably unhappy to have any kind of intelligence then it's not worth it.

 

Overall though, if I'm already blissfully happy, my intelligence must not be a factor in that, so I suppose I could live super happy with even minimal intelligence.

 

Luckily, in reality I am rather intelligent, and happy as well.

 

Only because you're so damn good-looking on top of it.

[CaptainPanic]

so I suppose I could live super happy with even minimal intelligence.

 

When I read that, I visualized Homer Simpson with an infinite supply of donuts and beer.

[imatfaal]

On the whole isn't the question along the lines of 'if you weren't you what would you be..?' and completely unanswerable without huge dollops of self-negation/delusion - as popeye says "I yam what I yam."

 

However I speak as someone who is so permanently blissed out that I hadn't noticed till now that Phi had stolen my infinite supply of donuts and beer

[Phi for All]

 

When I read that, I visualized Homer Simpson with an infinite supply of donuts and beer.

 

For the alternative, I visualize every superhero EVER. Massive intelligence, but they can never be happy, forced always to watch those they love die, and so they never let themselves be vulnerable, never let their guards drop. You sacrifice happiness for the knowledge that justice is being done. It's like the minute you see a superhero start smiling, watch out for some industrial-strength woe to rain down on the brooding braniac.

However I speak as someone who is so permanently blissed out that I hadn't noticed till now that Phi had stolen my infinite supply of donuts and beer

 

Stolen is such a harsh word. And some of those other words are just too damn big to understand.

[imatfaal]

Einstein and Godel are pretty good examples of the Super-intelligent and were great friends at IAS - and whilst one can never know the inner workings and happiness of another - it seems that Albert cracked the knack of being both happy and bright and Kurt had to suffer being only amazingly intelligent. I think our model of the exceptional genius too often sways towards the brooding melancholic - the Kafka Newton model (as it often also moves to the lone maverick stereotype). And when it doesn't Einstein seems the only alternative - but of the great scientists I have been privileged to meet - the abiding impression is how normal they are apart from their jaw-dropping insight and understanding of their own subject.

[john5746]

I remember watching The Pursuit of Happyness and how the subliminal definition of happiness in the movie didn't line up with my experience of happiness. The movie equated financial success with happiness while I equate physical activity(ie. adequate serotonin levels), a healthy diet and a minimalist approach to life with happiness.

 

I've also observed that society is driven towards acquiring intelligence and not happiness.

 

If you had a choice to be either intelligent or happy but not both even though it is possible to be both. Would you rather be intelligent or happy? And why?

I chose happy, but in reality happiness comes in temporary states, whereas intelligence sticks with you.

 

I think the pursuit of happyness was about realizing your potential. Gattaca was a better movie on this theme.

 

I think society is driven towards acquiring, not intelligence.

 

How about happy or empathy?

[Bill Angel]

I've also observed that society is driven towards acquiring intelligence and not happiness.

I would not necessarily agree with your observation. Most advertisements that I see on TV appeal to the viewers' presumed desire to acquire products and services that will enhance their happiness, rather than products and services that will enhance the use of their minds. Also people want to become wealthy because they think that it will make them happy. If they were intelligent they would realize that this wasn't the case. I think that the acquisition of intelligence in our society ranks below the acquisition of either wealth or of happiness.

From a personal perspective, I derive pleasure (i.e. happiness) through reading about cosmology and by doing photography.

[imatfaal]

... I think that the acquisition of intelligence in our society ranks below the acquisition of either wealth or of happiness.

 

QFT +1

[Mrs Zeta]

Those who are intelligent know it, and this provides a certain inner happines/satisfaction. From the evolutionary point of view I prefer to be intelligent, as this is the main criterion for evolutionary fitness (in the case of Homo sapiens sapiens). Being happy does not have any evolutionary value.

[StringJunky]

Mrs Zeta, on 01 Nov 2013 - 12:48 PM, said:Mrs Zeta, on 01 Nov 2013 - 12:48 PM, said:

Being happy does not have any evolutionary value.

If it had no evolutionary value, why do we pursue it and indeed why does it even exist within us? Because, on the whole, it makes us more productive, which benefits the individual and spins off to those around them enhancing group cohesion and .adaptability in various forms like creativity, empathy etc The more individuals that can cohabit peacefully in a given area the greater the, chances of mating and hence progeny occurs....happiness facilitates this.

 

Are you more likely to have sex when you are happy or not happy?

Edited November 1, 2013 by StringJunky

[Phi for All]

Are you more likely to have sex when you are happy or not happy?

 

I would wager more children have been conceived after "happy hour" than after "intelligent hour". Bars don't have Jeopardy playing on the TVs for a reason.

[Ceasium]

It's a choice between two devils. You can't have one without the other. I think I'd choose happiness over intelligence. Yet if you are not that intelligent, you are missing out on a whole lot amizing, and beautiful science. But you wouldn't care anyway in that case.

[WWLabRat]

 

I would wager more children have been conceived after "happy hour" than after "intelligent hour". Bars don't have Jeopardy playing on the TVs for a reason.

And yet many bars will have a Trivia night... Although I must not be going to the most intelligent bar because I've had to correct their answers on more than one occasion...

 

In regards to OP, I would rather be exceedingly intelligent than happy. If I were that intelligent, don't you think it would be reasonable that I could figure out what would make me happy and pursue it? Well, so long as happiness didn't require a lobotomy and going A Clockwork Orange to Jersey Shore...

[turionx2]

I've been busy painting the apartment. My apologies.

I choose really happy, and extremely unintelligent, over really intelligent and extremely unhappy...

Luckily, in reality I am rather intelligent, and happy as well.

Why does happiness trump intelligence in your case? And how are you able to use technology and still be happy?

I chose happy, but in reality happiness comes in temporary states, whereas intelligence sticks with you.

I think the pursuit of happyness was about realizing your potential. Gattaca was a better movie on this theme.

I think society is driven towards acquiring, not intelligence.

How about happy or empathy?

In my experience, I was happy(internal stimulation) all the time when I removed all the external stimulation. Maybe it is impossible to be always happy in our present society with all the external stimulation.

Pursuit of happyness was also about "realizing your potential" but I was mainly talking about the underlying premise of the movie. How the main character acquired knowledge and used his skills, basically intelligence, to succeed in coming out on top at the end of the movie, basically equating the acquisition of a well paid job with happiness. As for Gattaca, I couldn't take it seriously because ethan hawke smokes.

But a person requires intelligence to acquire objects.

What about empathy?

I would not necessarily agree with your observation. Most advertisements that I see on TV appeal to the viewers' presumed desire to acquire products and services that will enhance their happiness,

- I think that the acquisition of intelligence in our society ranks below the acquisition of either wealth or of happiness.

Its more of a presumed desire to fill that empty hole they feel inside themselves and those who make ads use the sale of products with a happy woman against our psychology.

 

A person requires intelligence to get a job though, so they can eventually acquire products and services.

rather than products and services that will enhance the use of their minds.

They do still buy these type of useless products and services. Such as Omega 3 fatty acids.

Also people want to become wealthy because they think that it will make them happy. If they were intelligent they would realize that this wasn't the case.

I agree and this mostly applies to the 25 year old and younger not fully developed mind.

From a personal perspective, I derive pleasure (i.e. happiness) through reading about cosmology and by doing photography.

Are you sure you aren't confusing passion with happiness?

 

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I hope I am not asking too much, can we take it a little further and define happiness?

Edited November 3, 2013 by turionx2

[Iota]

I'd rather have the freedom that comes with an intelligent/thinking mind, than the 'happiness' that comes with just not knowing. There's nothing better than knowing the truth/ being able to see the facts, having a fuller view, it's a lucky gift. Life is too short and the universe is too amazing. I'd rather have an interesting, fulfilling life with sadness, rather than a sedated form of mind that's happy.

 

Being ignorant of the things which make an intelligent person unhappy, also comes at the cost of being ignorant of all the wonder, amazement an intelligent person experiences also; in the way we perceive and understand the universe. Ignorance isn't bliss, it's a false sense of it. It's not knowing any better. During my one and only, short time in this universe, I'd rather be concious throughout the duration and have a clear view of it. I pity those whose day to day concerns are never beyond that of superficial inconsequential meaningless nonsense, whose minds never ponder life or the universe.

 

I'd liken an unintelligent person to a person constantly high on laughing gas or some sort of sedation; they're happy, but they don't really know what's going on and so long as they're sedated, they'll never have a clear view of their surroundings. All the intelligent people around them are the sober one's, wiping their drool.

 

Edit: It's beyond me how 5 people have voted happy.

Edited November 3, 2013 by Iota

[Endercreeper01]

I would rather be intelligent because you can use intelligence to make you happy

[Kowalski]

Happiness is the purpose of every human being , everybody is dedicating all his capacities to live a happy life including time , money , physical activity , and obviously intellectual abilities including intelligence .

what's the point of being intelligent and unhappy !!

for me the answer to this question is quite obvious , we all should choose happiness .

And for those who chose intelligence , they must use it to seek happiness otherwise it's useless .

[Iota]

for me the answer to this question is quite obvious , we all should choose happiness .

And for those who chose intelligence , they must use it to seek happiness otherwise it's useless .

 

Intelligence is most useless when it's only used to serve yourself. That's the sort of thinking that makes society a worse place for everyone.

[Delta1212]

If being intelligent made it impossible for me to be happy, and being happy made it impossible to be intelligent, then I would choose to be happy.

 

Luckily, this isn't a plausible real world situation, and intelligence can lead to a great deal of happiness even if it also costs you some. Under those circumstances, I'd rather be intelligent and of average happiness than sacrifice my intelligence for greater happiness.

[turionx2]

I'd rather have the freedom that comes with an intelligent/thinking mind, than the 'happiness' that comes with just not knowing. There's nothing better than knowing the truth/ being able to see the facts, having a fuller view, it's a lucky gift. Life is too short and the universe is too amazing. I'd rather have an interesting, fulfilling life with sadness, rather than a sedated form of mind that's happy.

 

How do you feel about knowing the truth and not being able to do anything about it because it is out of your control?

 

Are you the type who rushes through life thinking life is too short?

 

Being ignorant of the things which make an intelligent person unhappy, also comes at the cost of being ignorant of all the wonder, amazement an intelligent person experiences also; in the way we perceive and understand the universe. Ignorance isn't bliss, it's a false sense of it. It's not knowing any better. During my one and only, short time in this universe, I'd rather be concious throughout the duration and have a clear view of it. I pity those whose day to day concerns are never beyond that of superficial inconsequential meaningless nonsense, whose minds never ponder life or the universe.

 

I'd liken an unintelligent person to a person constantly high on laughing gas or some sort of sedation; they're happy, but they don't really know what's going on and so long as they're sedated, they'll never have a clear view of their surroundings. All the intelligent people around them are the sober one's, wiping their drool.

 

Edit: It's beyond me how 5 people have voted happy.

 

I use to be the sedated type of person you describe because of malnutrition, and I was far from happy during my first 23 years of life. Physical activity with eating more plants increased my happiness, awareness and intelligence.

 

People choose happiness because happiness eventually leads to greater intelligence. We partake in physical activity for the reward of the endogenous opioids, endocannabinoids and other neurochemicals that stimulate the production of neurotrophins, proteins that regulate neurogenesis(the production of new neurons), and this production of new neurons eventually increases our intelligence. Take out the chase for happiness and we don't have intelligence to begin with.

 

I would rather be intelligent because you can use intelligence to make you happy

 

Intelligence and happiness are two seperate entities though. How can you use intelligence to make you happy?

Edited November 3, 2013 by turionx2

[Iota]

 

How do you feel about knowing the truth and not being able to do anything about it because it is out of your control?

 

Are you the type who rushes through life thinking life is too short?

 

Nah I definitely don't rush through life. I just try to bare in mind the fact life's short when considering things like this, it helps put things in perspective sometimes.

[Tridimity]

I would rather be intelligent than happy because I do not want to be a salmon.

 

TAR and I were discussing this recently in a different context so my apologies for the wholesale paste:

 

The unexamined life: those who follow their biological urges and have children then slumber their way through the rest of their life, finding ways to pass the time in comfort or in a shallow pleasure that will dull the senses and stunt personal development. A life lived in only watching garbage TV programmes, shopping in an unconscious attempt to fill the void created by the questions that they are not asking of themselves, the challenges that they allow to go unmet. It is well known that salmon hatch in freshwater streams before developing to sexual maturity in the open ocean before making an epic journey back to their original freshwater streams in order to reproduce – they then die. To me, all of the people living unconsidered lives are just following the same blind unconscious biologically programmed desires, without even realising the natural forces that coerce then into so doing, and then pass on without having once used their brain to achieve something magnificent. These people are no better than salmon. I do not want to be a salmon. This state of unconscious comfort and subjugation to the will of natural selection is most obvious in the domesticity of suburbia – although it is not exclusive to suburbia. In this sense, some hardship is actually a hallmark of the pursuit of objectives worth pursuing.

 

You may recognise in these statements the intellectual positions of Socrates and Nietzsche - I have recently been watching ‘Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness’:

 

http://www.channel4....o-happiness/4od

 

Being unintelligent would necessitate living the unexamined life. Besides which, even if intelligence does not necessarily confer happiness (and definitely would not in the proposed hypothetical), it does at least allow for a modicum of self-respect, which is, I think, more important.

Edited November 4, 2013 by Tridimity