[maze-le]

I am not sure if this is a good state in the long run. What do you live for when everything is always/mostly positive in your head -- but reality is as sad as it ever was. Do you really have an incentive to change something to the better if you are in a constant state of happiness?

I think happiness is a state the brain produces to reward itself for good outcomes in life decisions. The fact that it is only of limited time and intensity has its (evolutionary) reasons -- they are not the worst of all reasons.

Like with depression as chronic sadness and fatigue, chronic happiness is not something we are capable of handling long-term if we want to optimize outcomes for ourselves and others.

[kranner]

> I am not sure if this is a good state in the long run. What do you live for when everything is always/mostly positive in your head -- but reality is as sad as it ever was. Do you really have an incentive to change something to the better if you are in a constant state of happiness?

That's why Morality (Śila) is one of the pillars of Buddhist training. Tibetan monks are taught to cultivate compassion for others at the same time as they are trained in meditation. At least that's the theory, not sure how well it works out in real life.

[monadic2]

> Do you really have an incentive to change something to the better if you are in a constant state of happiness?

I'm not sure what a constant state of "happiness" is because I certainly don't consider it en emotion in and of itself, (I consider it contentment, or perhaps euphoria on an occasion, or perhaps lack of suffering), so I'm not sure the concept of "chronic happiness" even makes sense vs the very real physiological effects of chronic stress on the body and mind.

Suffering is only informative as a signal. You have to parse it out and identify the source yourself in order to translate it into effective motivation. This same process is likely necessary to achieve the "happiness" in the first place.

Optimizing outcomes will likely be easier if you're able to focus on the task at hand with a clear mind, or you're able to address background stress, and will let you know if your stress is pushing you in the wrong direction (say, towards a career, but because of social pressure and not your own volition).

[pkos98]

there's no 'better' state when you're already happy. They don't need to change anything when their reality is 'happy'.

[maze-le]

Yes, but only for you. The people you live your life with (some of whom you even love) are in the same state of mind as before, and you have no (or at the very least less) reason to change something for the better for them.

[TomMarius]

I can't understand this position. A positive person often does positive things without a reason or need, especially for their loved ones, as that brings more happiness.

[hutzlibu]

The position is: you are sitting smiling happily and doing nothing, while the nazis come to take your family and you away to the KZ.

(read stories about that actually happened in reality. Basically a form of madness/strategy of the brain to deal with a situation it seems impossible to solve)

[TomMarius]

I don't think this is how people usually think of positive people. This is resignation, not positivity. IMHO a positive person in this situation would believe in their chance of surviving and fight back.

[monadic2]

That seems a sane response to obvious, impending doom, tbh. Panicking doesn't seem like it would help much, either.

In any case that seems like a separate emotion than "happy"... "traumatized" seems more like it.

[monadic2]

That's not true if you consider the world around you and your interactions with it to be part of your "state".