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Originally Posted by namako
Compsin: Yes, I see that happiness is an emotional response. Perhaps I'm not sure what an end state is. Or maybe I'm equating happiness with satisfaction, comfort, fullness, and so forth? Can I be so naive?
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I simply meant to say that the concept of... the product known as "happiness" is merely an intangible. You can't buy it in a vending machine, you can't eat it or cuddle with it, you can't box it up and take it home with you. Happiness is something our bodies manufacture through various chemical reactions in our brains and for various reasons ranging from a new puppy to a toe-curling BJ.
I don't think happiness is any person's goal. I think the people, places, things, and ideas that we populate our personal world with are what we seek. Happiness is a measure of that journey, a product of that journey.
Getting a good job, getting married, being successful in your hobbies... things you want. Happiness just happens to be the thing you can use to measure it to see if it fills your needs.
Sure, there are plenty of rich people with huge mansions, nice cars, and the most plastic trophy wife money can buy that aren't happy... but that proves another point entirely.
Things make you happy. You go after these things, not happiness.