tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post6947357828993868381..comments2024-03-26T02:35:07.114-07:00Comments on A Slice of Mind: Happiness is...Lowering Your Expectations?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876754891701386069noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-89969810770576836442012-11-21T18:50:53.225-08:002012-11-21T18:50:53.225-08:00I've heard a rant like this before...
(See w...I've heard <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L99ghiZFHDw" rel="nofollow">a rant like this before...<br /></a><br /><br />(See what I did there? Quoted Loki from "Dogma," but it's Loki from "Avengers," yeah, two different Lokis...)<br /><br />Coming from one of those "brainless atheists"...<br /><br />The fact is that we all need to strive for truth and perfection, even if we don't achieve it. I'm thankful for having all these choices to make, even if the grass sometimes seems greener on the other side. I'd rather be free to be a miserable curmudgeon than have all my choices made for me. Even if I do mess up, I'm going to learn something from it. So an abundance of choices means an abundance of opportunities to learn.Austincovellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13685474977478547454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-89482389637092527242012-11-19T19:14:46.159-08:002012-11-19T19:14:46.159-08:00Thank you! Glad to know that I'm progressing a...Thank you! Glad to know that I'm progressing and thanks for reading.<br /> Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13876754891701386069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-36533554832525944802012-11-19T08:53:25.372-08:002012-11-19T08:53:25.372-08:00Renee my dear, Glad to see you've progressed f...Renee my dear, Glad to see you've progressed from being an atheist without a brain to being a philosopher with a brain. You're heading in the right direction - it now only takes a little push and a shove to get to where you need to be to become a religious wacko like me. Keep it up!! AGP, 19th Nov 2012.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-65743786111625877072012-11-18T21:09:47.751-08:002012-11-18T21:09:47.751-08:00I really like your points here and thank you for p...I really like your points here and thank you for posting. I think I remember in the book...he discusses the idea about being able to improve oneself or "strive for better" by being affected by disappointment.Sometimes we need to experience these feelings to improve our situation....possiblyAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13876754891701386069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-49666585404951465152012-11-18T21:06:57.200-08:002012-11-18T21:06:57.200-08:00I personally thought Barry Schwartz suggests a ver...I personally thought Barry Schwartz suggests a very interesting idea here that has explanatory power. He discusses it in greater detail in his Ted Talks video. <br /><br />Expectations are things that I think naturally and automatically come to a person’s brain during the choice-making process. I do agree, however, that it is then up to the person to be mindful of this and to change this thinking pattern…to preclude or reduce feelings of disappointment that might arise. <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13876754891701386069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-52594564295640856752012-11-18T20:09:39.105-08:002012-11-18T20:09:39.105-08:00Wow,"assault you, and niggle at your mind&quo...Wow,"assault you, and niggle at your mind" awesome line Renee! Disappointment always does seem to be a constant. It has become more and more apparent to me that the more I strive for a serene state of mind the less disappointment I experience in making choices, as I've endeavored to see the bigger picture and thereby don't place too much importance on individual choices.There are many clichés that could describe this philosophy my favorite being "Grin & Bear It". Nice to see you posting again.Could you please get back to your atheist dialog on the other channel. I could use some advice on how to deal with my devoutly religious redheaded girl friend.Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13293996220900476719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-35182127792607854432012-11-18T17:12:21.221-08:002012-11-18T17:12:21.221-08:00Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they&...Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours. <br /><br />Expectations can only be placed on ones self, only you have the power to fulfill them. <br /><br />Placing expectations outside of yourself, beyond your control, will only lead to disappointment. It is trying to control the possibilities that exist at each moment to arrive at one point in time.<br /><br /><br /><br />Sententia Liberumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16501647098065909272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-89349059182456409802012-11-18T10:34:41.298-08:002012-11-18T10:34:41.298-08:00Three words.....
Star Wars fans. For years I have...Three words.....<br />Star Wars fans. For years I have been hearing how the fans saying that their chilhood has been destroyed becuase of the prequels. These are people who invested some much time and love on something they have enjoyed since childhood. While I see their point on how bad the prequels are I still enjoy them. However they did bring so much anticipation on the prequel being so good. I often wonder on an scenario that if the original trilogy was brought out today for the first time, would they be as excited about then when they were kids. I often tell people that kids can watch and enjoy both good and bad cartoons because of two reason....<br />1. They are below the age of ten.<br />2. They have absoulutly no standards. <br /><br />I know the whole point of this blog is about dissapointments in life due through to many choices avialible but I think that choices made at an earlier age can also brought in. If you invested in something at a young age and you like it, It would be a mistake to belive that it will always be good when more is added to it. This happens in pop culture all the time. They have not been taught that even things you like at first can bring dissapointment in the future. this could help as a life lesson on life in general. If people could lower their expectaions,take thing for what they are, and reflect on both merits and flaws on what they experianced, they would come out enjoying life a little better with less dissapointments....statistacally anyway.johnsuttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04548989640535234663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-50475082120135122042012-11-17T23:30:32.949-08:002012-11-17T23:30:32.949-08:00Perhaps an alternate perspective on what we can ch...Perhaps an alternate perspective on what we can change might be the importance placed on such a decision. If we alter the value placed on a decision we can still have high expectations as to the results of the choice, but the impact of a 'bad' decision is less. Take, for example, the purchase of jelly at the market: there are many jellies and jams to choose from at the market, and I have a high probability of not choosing the 'best' one. I can maintain my expectation of what a good jelly tastes like, while simultaneously realizing that choosing the wrong jelly was not that big of a deal; that is I can make the same choice next shopping trip.<br /><br />Of course this is not the best of examples since jelly is not an important part of most people's lives. However we can do the same with other decisions: where to eat, where to live, what car to buy, and so on. <br /><br />Another way around this problem (without lowering expectations) is to accept that wrong decisions will be made, and information can still be garnered from a 'bad' decision. returning to jelly we would have learned that a certain brand or flavor was not to our liking, or maybe that it is good for baking instead of toast.<br /><br />As should be obvious by my response: I don't think lowering one's expectations is the right way to go about solving the paradox of choice, though it is a valid enough solution.<br /><br />p.s. I may be a robot, can't seem to pass the captchaSojournerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13145885901168149556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-37081550124255751592012-11-17T17:03:49.294-08:002012-11-17T17:03:49.294-08:00Hey Renee, glad to see a new post; you obviously s...Hey Renee, glad to see a new post; you obviously spend a lot of time on these, so thanks for sharing your thoughts. Given the choice of blogs, I'll keep reading yours - until a better one comes along, of course! :D<br /><br />I think I see your line of argument; we're presented with a universe of choices where there are little advantages/disadvantages to each one, but we actually pursue an idealised choice that has all the advantages, even though such a choice does not exist.<br /><br />And it's even worse, as we're often given so many choices, that it's not possible to even make that kind of analysis, so we're left with this strange ennui about having to decide something, but feeling that we haven't been given enough time to consider all choices, and knowing the decision we're making is imperfect.<br /><br />Perhaps just accept that you are fallible, make the most of what you have, and don't worry about the 'what might have been's?Ben Papworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01173488226033260026noreply@blogger.com