Post0417

I was talking to my high school friend yesterday, whom I have been staying in touch with often. There came a point in our discussion when I asked him how he liked his life/lifestyle. He told me that he worked on his classes and dedicated time to his hobbies, and thus enjoyed his lifestyle. When I tried to answer the same question myself, I thought of the difference between being happy with my life and being satisfied with my life. Perhaps "happy" and "satisfied" aren't the best descriptors for each category, so allow me to explain.

Obviously, there are some actions that people take just to feel instant happiness. Browsing YouTube or social media are some of these examples. Most people who engage in these activities, I imagine, would agree that such pleasure-generating actions have little or no contribution to the sense of meaning that they derive from life. Unlike working hard to study for a test or waking up early every day, hedonistic acts provide little long-term value to the mind. Often, they bring the opposite, by leading to the development of bad habits or addictions, such as alcohol/drug addictions or addiction to social media.

On the other hand, there is a certain class of actions that create a long-term sense of meaning, and beauty in the mind of the actor. Maintaining a daily habit, persevering through difficulty, reading a book, finishing a bucket list, and working to perfect a piece of music or art--are all actions that the human mind often takes pride in or derives meaning from, though they may be difficult in the short term. In fact, perhaps it is in part because of their difficulty that these actions create a sense of accomplishment in the mind of the person who has undertaken them.

Asking the question of whether someone is happy or not creates the possibility of being confused with asking whether someone has experienced bliss or pleasure, regardless of that feeling's personal value. Asking instead whether someone is satisfied eliminates this ambiguity by connoting a long-term, permanent, indelible sense of meaning that may be imprinted in some person's mind.

I had another idea today about creating a map of computer science or writing short stories about computer science. I plan to discuss that topic tomorrow.