This navel gazing was prompted by a quote related on radio by Cal Thomas that was along the lines of
"If our reach is not greater than our grasp, then what is there in the heavens for us" - or something to that effect. It means, I think, that if we get everything we look for then we have nothing to aspire to, which would be a pity.
Got me to thinking about what makes people happy.
Academic Theory
(forgive the vaguesness, mining distant memory!)
On a theoretical level theres a triangle of needs (Maslow??) which at the bottom has food & shelter and at the top has "self actualisation" which more or less means being all you can be. The point being that unless you meet the lower need you cant progress to meeting the higher level need, so you wont be self actualising if you're hungry & homeless. Another theorist, in relation to work, stated that there are "hygiene" factors that dont really make you happy but without them things would be unbearable - e.g. having an open sewer outside your window, the fact that there isnt one doesnt make you happy but you'd be fairly fuming if someone opened up one. If I recall correctly there was a controversial view that pay is such a hygiene factor.
Keepin' it Real
Relating this to life in Ireland today, I suppose a lot of it boils down to the debate "Does money make you happy?"
So maybe the list of things that are perceived as making people happy includes:
Wealth - am of the view that wealth is like one of the hygiene factors described about, theres no doubt but that some is a necessity but blinkered pursuit of it to the exclusion of other things is not a road to happiness IMHO. I'm sure everyone has heard of surveys of Lotto winners who, 3 years down the line feel not greatly happier - I'd like to do some personal research on that one .....
Status - Particularly dangerous one I think. In my experience those who see their status as being very important to them tend to think about everything in terms of how it affects their status. Therefore are more likely to play the blame game because as long as they can hang someone then they think their "impeccable status" is preserved. Also leads to arrogant behaviour, tendancy towards snobbishness to differentiate themselves from "lesser" mortals, a need to impress upon people their achievement of status. Must be underlined by some sort of insecurity - those who are the best know it and dont need someone to stroke their ego, nor do they need to be ostentatious about their status.
Relationships - Your family, partner, friends, dog/cat. Surely this is the "gold" in terms of happiness. People make people happy (ok it can go the other way too!). Whos gonna love ya when you're 64/bedridden??, it aint the people your bored the ar*e off telling them how great you are.
Personal Achievement -A bit different to status because you are doing it for yourself, you can achieve without telling the world about it. People generally feel happy when they know they've made the best of themselves. This can apply to career, sport or whatever it is that is important to the individual.
Religion/Spiritual Fulfillment- Am a bit undecided about this one. On one level I think it can be the worst form of escapism & justification for laziness - "God loves us all so why should I bother getting out of bed" - "I pray so that'll fix everything", and then when you hear someone say that "I found God/This post will be deleted if not edited immediately and its changed my life, I now feel spiritual fulfillment" you might think a) they're a bit scary but b) sounds great all the same. Would it be fair on your partner if you turn into someone other than who they hooked up with, you were Joe Soap, now you're Holy Joe??
Add in Others Categories ....
Overall Wild Generalistation
Anyone else get the feeling that the country has become obsessed with the first 2 factors above and the need to show them off. The vulgarity of new wealth (& this isnt begruding old wealth talking ... any wealth would be nice ....). Was it for this the men of '16 died (sure you have to throw in an emotive historical irrelevance - thems the rules
)?
Where to now?
So in view of the above I'd like to think that I wont ever go for the Beemer/Merc cliche because in my rural area I think I'd only be alienating people - that bit harder to be one of the lads when you're splashing the cash. Now you could call them begruders but equally you could ask me why do I think I need a €80k+ car.
"If our reach is not greater than our grasp, then what is there in the heavens for us" - or something to that effect. It means, I think, that if we get everything we look for then we have nothing to aspire to, which would be a pity.
Got me to thinking about what makes people happy.
Academic Theory
(forgive the vaguesness, mining distant memory!)
On a theoretical level theres a triangle of needs (Maslow??) which at the bottom has food & shelter and at the top has "self actualisation" which more or less means being all you can be. The point being that unless you meet the lower need you cant progress to meeting the higher level need, so you wont be self actualising if you're hungry & homeless. Another theorist, in relation to work, stated that there are "hygiene" factors that dont really make you happy but without them things would be unbearable - e.g. having an open sewer outside your window, the fact that there isnt one doesnt make you happy but you'd be fairly fuming if someone opened up one. If I recall correctly there was a controversial view that pay is such a hygiene factor.
Keepin' it Real
Relating this to life in Ireland today, I suppose a lot of it boils down to the debate "Does money make you happy?"
So maybe the list of things that are perceived as making people happy includes:
Wealth - am of the view that wealth is like one of the hygiene factors described about, theres no doubt but that some is a necessity but blinkered pursuit of it to the exclusion of other things is not a road to happiness IMHO. I'm sure everyone has heard of surveys of Lotto winners who, 3 years down the line feel not greatly happier - I'd like to do some personal research on that one .....
Status - Particularly dangerous one I think. In my experience those who see their status as being very important to them tend to think about everything in terms of how it affects their status. Therefore are more likely to play the blame game because as long as they can hang someone then they think their "impeccable status" is preserved. Also leads to arrogant behaviour, tendancy towards snobbishness to differentiate themselves from "lesser" mortals, a need to impress upon people their achievement of status. Must be underlined by some sort of insecurity - those who are the best know it and dont need someone to stroke their ego, nor do they need to be ostentatious about their status.
Relationships - Your family, partner, friends, dog/cat. Surely this is the "gold" in terms of happiness. People make people happy (ok it can go the other way too!). Whos gonna love ya when you're 64/bedridden??, it aint the people your bored the ar*e off telling them how great you are.
Personal Achievement -A bit different to status because you are doing it for yourself, you can achieve without telling the world about it. People generally feel happy when they know they've made the best of themselves. This can apply to career, sport or whatever it is that is important to the individual.
Religion/Spiritual Fulfillment- Am a bit undecided about this one. On one level I think it can be the worst form of escapism & justification for laziness - "God loves us all so why should I bother getting out of bed" - "I pray so that'll fix everything", and then when you hear someone say that "I found God/This post will be deleted if not edited immediately and its changed my life, I now feel spiritual fulfillment" you might think a) they're a bit scary but b) sounds great all the same. Would it be fair on your partner if you turn into someone other than who they hooked up with, you were Joe Soap, now you're Holy Joe??
Add in Others Categories ....
Overall Wild Generalistation
Anyone else get the feeling that the country has become obsessed with the first 2 factors above and the need to show them off. The vulgarity of new wealth (& this isnt begruding old wealth talking ... any wealth would be nice ....). Was it for this the men of '16 died (sure you have to throw in an emotive historical irrelevance - thems the rules
)? Where to now?
So in view of the above I'd like to think that I wont ever go for the Beemer/Merc cliche because in my rural area I think I'd only be alienating people - that bit harder to be one of the lads when you're splashing the cash. Now you could call them begruders but equally you could ask me why do I think I need a €80k+ car.