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Happiness and the Meaning of Life — Transcript

by Jeffrey Nall · 5,222 words · 867 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:03happiness and the meaning of life
0:06in the varieties of religious experience
0:08written in 1902
0:10the renowned psychologist william james
0:13wrote that the pursuit of happiness is
0:16for most people
0:17the secret motive of all they do and of
0:21all they are willing to endure
0:24terry eagleton writes that if the
0:26meaning of life
0:28it lies in the common goal of human
0:30beings then there seems no doubt about
0:33what this is
0:34what everyone strives for
0:37is happiness
0:39as aristotle recognizes in his
0:41nicomachean ethics it operates as a kind
0:44of baseline in human life in the sense
0:47that you cannot reasonably ask why we
0:51should seek to be happy desiring it just
0:54seems to be part of our nature here then
0:57is a foundational term of sorts and by
1:00that eagleton means that
1:03we may arrive
1:04at a
1:06at an idea where there is no further
1:09recourse to defend there is no way to
1:12further elaborate on or explain you know
1:16why we want to be happy uh it's just
1:19that happiness is such a foundational
1:22concern of ours that you either get it
1:25or you don't get it but the problem as
1:28you can maybe anticipate
1:31is
1:32what is happiness though
1:34and this is i think nicely summed up by
1:37eric from
1:38important cultural critic humanistic
1:40psychologist of the uh early and mid
1:4420th century in his book the art of
1:46being from writes the following that we
1:49want to live that we like to live are
1:52facts that require
1:54no explanation
1:56but if we ask how we want to live what
1:59we seek from life what makes life
2:02meaningful for us
2:03then indeed we deal with questions to
2:06which people will give many different
2:08answers some will say they want love
2:12others will choose power other security
2:15other sensuous pleasure and comfort
2:18others fame but most would probably
2:20agree in the statement that what they
2:22want is happiness
2:25this is also what most philosophers and
2:27theologians have declared to be the aim
2:30of human striving however if happiness
2:33covers such different and mostly
2:36mutually exclusive contents as the ones
2:38just mentioned it becomes an abstraction
2:42and thus rather useless
2:44what matters is to examine what the term
2:46happiness means for the layman as well
2:50as for the philosopher now just to be
2:52clear on what frahm is saying here
2:54if on the one hand we ask people
2:57you know uh
3:00why do you like to live we know that you
3:02like to live we know that you want to
3:03live but why
3:05how is it that you
3:06want to live what is it that you're
3:08living for what is it that makes life
3:10meaningful then what people give are a
3:13variety of answers they talk about love
3:16they may talk about power they may talk
3:17about success or simply security about
3:21pleasurable indulgence or uh you know
3:24grandiose
3:25desires to become famous but the thing
3:28that's strange
3:29is that
3:31almost every one of these people will
3:33agree
3:34that what they want above all is
3:36happiness
3:37and yet their idea about what
3:40constitutes happiness or what what gives
3:43rise to happiness
3:45seems to be so very different and so
3:47this is an important example of where we
3:50may be using the same word
3:53but we have very different meanings that
3:56are being affixed to this concept it's
3:59as if two people are both saying that
4:02they love each other but one of them
4:04means by love care respect uh the other
4:08one means
4:10maybe something quite different maybe
4:12one means loyalty the other doesn't mean
4:14loyalty by it and so we have people who
4:17think that they understand what the
4:19other is saying to them or communicating
4:22but until we dig beneath um the word
4:26until we ask what does it refer to what
4:30are you talking about when you say that
4:33the most important thing to you is
4:34happiness
4:36what is it that happiness as an idea
4:39means to you is happiness the same thing
4:42as
4:43getting what you want is happiness the
4:45same thing as having love in your life
4:49what does happiness actually mean and
4:52that ends up being the crucial question
4:55that we are going to explore in this
4:58lecture
4:59eagleton says something similar to from
5:01the writing many decades later
5:04eagleton says the problem is that
5:06happiness is so desperately
5:09indeterminate the idea of happiness
5:12seems both vital
5:13and vacuous and what he means here again
5:16is that you know to get rid of the word
5:19happiness
5:20would would leave us impoverished
5:23we need the word happiness it it does
5:26convey
5:28something of great importance to us
5:31the issue of course is that it's also
5:34often used in a vague imprecise
5:38and even as from points out
5:40contradictory manner and so we can't
5:43necessarily get rid of it but we can't
5:45necessarily expect that the word alone
5:49is going to do all the heavy lifting we
5:52needed to do and thus as you would
5:54expect from a humanities course critical
5:56thinking reflection creative thinking
5:59uh self-examination is required in order
6:02for us to really get to the bottom of
6:05what happiness is about and what its
6:08role ought to be in our lives and so
6:11eagle thing goes on to say the idea of
6:13happiness again seems both vital and
6:15vacuous what counts as happiness what if
6:18you find it
6:20what if you find happiness in
6:22terrorizing old ladies someone who is
6:24determined to become an actor may spend
6:27fruitless hours auditioning while living
6:30on a pittance for much of the time she's
6:32anxious dispirited and mildly hungry she
6:35is not what we would usually call happy
6:38her life is not pleasant or enjoyable
6:41yet she is so to speak prepared to
6:43sacrifice her happiness
6:45to her happiness
6:47and there
6:48the issue is what kind of happiness are
6:51we willing to sacrifice to achieve other
6:53kinds of happiness
6:54what do we mean by happiness and what
6:57are we to make of the fact that uh in
6:59for some of us
7:00happiness is is pleasure and yet there
7:04are things that are so important to us
7:06and that give us a deep uh we might say
7:09sense of happiness which has nothing to
7:12do with pleasure are we misunderstanding
7:15these experiences are we using one word
7:19too loosely where perhaps we need a
7:21couple of different distinct concepts
7:24how do we make sense of happiness
7:28now
7:28uh early on it's it's interesting to
7:31note here that in uh an essay on man
7:34written in 1733 the english poet
7:37alexander pope suggested that there
7:40really wasn't much uh
7:43value in exploring visions of happiness
7:47from the past that really were kind of
7:50wasting our time uh pope wrote ask of
7:53the learned the way
7:54the learned are blind this bids to serve
7:58and that to shun mankind some place the
8:02bliss in action some in ease those call
8:05it pleasure and contentment these
8:08who thus define it say they more or less
8:11than this that happiness
8:13is happiness
8:15and of course what he's getting at here
8:17is
8:18everybody is using the same dang word
8:21the same idea mouthing the same phrase
8:23the same uh the same idea but they don't
8:27mean the same thing and at the end of
8:29the day it comes down to something as
8:31basic as happiness is happiness and we
8:34don't really know how to communicate it
8:36i communicate about it so we might as
8:38well just uh go with it but to this
8:41sissel about
8:43objects she argues that pope's dismissal
8:47of the competing and yes at times
8:49discordant contradictory conflicting
8:52definitions and visions of happiness is
8:55misguided
8:56according to bach grappling with these
8:58competing visions
9:00enables us to better understand the
9:03human condition and even give us a
9:06better chance at happiness and so this
9:09is what bach writes helping us to
9:11understand happiness better is hardly
9:14the aim of those thinkers who are most
9:16certain that their own definition of
9:18happiness is the only legitimate one
9:22there is no one definition of happiness
9:24i suggest that should exclude all others
9:28much less be imposed by force or
9:30indoctrination we need to look at the
9:34different ones together and consider the
9:37roles they have played in human lives
9:39weighing the evidence they offer and the
9:41practical implications for how to live
9:44and how best to serve pursue happiness
9:47and so i'll just add here that you know
9:50you will encounter a variety of visions
9:53of what happiness is and i'm going to
9:55present some criticisms of some of those
9:57visions we're also going to be exploring
10:01throughout
10:02this particular portion of the course
10:04different visions of what might be
10:07credible theories of a good life and i
10:10certainly am not here to tell you what
10:12happiness is definitively or what a good
10:15life is definitively
10:17however i think that bach has got a
10:19really important point here in that
10:22even if we don't have some concrete
10:26sense of what is objectively
10:29and with certainty
10:31counted as happiness
10:33just by exploring
10:36the
10:36arguments and the critiques
10:39this conception
10:41juxtaposed with this conception
10:43we are given an opportunity to reflect
10:46on which of these visions
10:49best
10:50sits well with us which of these visions
10:53resonates with our own
10:56fundamental beliefs and values and which
10:59one of them does appear to be
11:02problematic which one of the criticisms
11:06that you hear
11:07does a really good job of pointing out
11:10what is wrong
11:11with one way of thinking about happiness
11:13that you might have been hanging on to
11:16or holding on to and so i think that
11:18even if we can't get to some you know
11:20perfect clarity on what happiness is or
11:23which of these conceptions is best at
11:26the very least by going through them and
11:29hearing out different points of view and
11:30working through some thought experiments
11:32and doing some reflections we gain some
11:35vital clarity that really does much more
11:38than a grade or a mere class really does
11:41give us some resources
11:44to draw on in order to live lives uh of
11:48of more happiness
11:50whatever happiness happens to be
11:52so i want to ask you at this point
11:55to take a moment
11:57and
11:58put some initial thoughts to paper or to
12:03uh keyboard so to speak
12:05so for
12:06part one of what is going to be a
12:09multi-part journal entry on happiness
12:13i'm going to ask you first of all
12:15to
12:17reflect on the question and i i'm only
12:19asking that you spend
12:21maybe let's give it a total of like
12:24three to five minutes
12:26um what do most people mean by happiness
12:30um
12:31what do most people you think based on
12:34your experience you've probably been
12:36around some people at some point in your
12:37life
12:38what do you think most people
12:41understand happiness to mean to be about
12:44what is happening when they say they
12:45want to be happy or that they are happy
12:47or that they're going to be happy
12:49what are they referring to what are they
12:52pointing to
12:53what are they what are they trying to
12:55convey
12:57what meanings are they
12:59are they discussing so again this the
13:01very basic question is
13:04what do most people mean by happiness uh
13:06just pause the video here take
13:09three to five minutes uh there's no word
13:12count requirement on this uh you know at
13:14least a couple of sentences bare minimum
13:16uh what do most people mean by happiness
13:19as far as you can tell
13:21okay and now i want you to take another
13:23three minutes three to five minutes
13:26again a few sentences bare minimum
13:29paragraph would be great
13:31but again no word count requirement here
13:34i just want you to put your thoughts on
13:35paper
13:38what is your
13:40notion of happiness
13:42now again you may not have a super
13:43refined idea here
13:46there's no point in going to you know
13:49a web search or a google search here i
13:52mean just put the first thoughts that
13:54come to your mind uh on paper on
13:57keyboard uh just just write out your
14:00thoughts what does happiness mean what
14:02is happiness about uh to you and also
14:06just add uh out a line or two on
14:10do you agree that happiness is of
14:13central concern is happiness um one of
14:16the most important things to human
14:19beings or do you have a different take
14:21on the importance of of happiness so
14:24again the first question that i asked
14:25you to briefly reflect on is what do
14:28most people mean by happiness and then
14:31now i'm asking you to write what your
14:34vision of happiness is what it looks
14:36like what it emphasizes and whether or
14:38not you agree
14:40with the idea that happiness is of
14:44central
14:45importance in human existence and let me
14:48also ask you to go ahead and weigh in on
14:52whether or not
14:53you think
14:54that
14:56there are things that are more important
14:58than happiness
15:00is there anything more important than
15:02happiness that's a crucial question give
15:05at least your brief two cents on that
15:08question
15:09is
15:10um are there things more important than
15:12happiness and if so if you got a couple
15:14ideas jot one or two down bullet points
15:17are perfectly fine
15:19all right so with those ideas in mind
15:22just set that aside we'll we'll come
15:23back to that in a bit well actually
15:25sooner than later
15:27i want to take up the question is
15:30happiness all that really matters now
15:32the last question that i asked you was
15:35do you think that there are some things
15:37that are even more important than
15:39happiness
15:40now there are at least quite a few
15:42people whose intuition initially says
15:46no i mean
15:48happiness is kind of the crown jewel of
15:50human existence it's
15:52it's perhaps
15:53the the main thing it's it's what what
15:56everything gives everything else
15:58significance or meaning
16:00is
16:01happiness happiness as the end happiness
16:04as the goal as ultimate purpose
16:07yet there's a very interesting thought
16:09experiment
16:10by robert nazak called the experience
16:12machine
16:13which calls that into question
16:16robert nasik was an american philosopher
16:19and he used the the experience machine
16:22to challenge the idea that happiness
16:25itself alone was sufficient for a good
16:28life his intuition was that we needed
16:32more than happiness to lead a truly good
16:34life and so he gave us this thought
16:36experiment in 1974 he says
16:39suppose there were an experience machine
16:42that could give you an experience you
16:44desired super duper neuropsychologists
16:47could stimulate your brain so that you
16:50would think and feel you're writing a
16:52great novel or making a friend or
16:56reading an interesting book
16:57all the time you would be floating in a
17:00tank with electrodes attached to your
17:03brain should you plug into this machine
17:06for life
17:07pre-programming your life's experience
17:10and that's the question
17:12now i want to just flush this uh this
17:14this thought experiment out just a
17:15little bit more
17:17and i'm sure you have some cultural
17:19encounters with film or graphic uh
17:22comics or tv series or books you've read
17:25that present a similar
17:27sort of scenario
17:29but i want you to imagine
17:31that
17:32if you enter this machine
17:34you are going to
17:36believe you are important
17:40you are going to you are going to feel
17:42that you are
17:43developing your potential
17:46you are going to in this machine
17:49the machine will be programmed with
17:51everything that's important to you your
17:53family members are going to be there
17:56you're going to have the most perfect
17:58amazing love
17:59in your life and if you're worried that
18:01you know a perfect experience machine is
18:04going to give you a utopia that would
18:06actually hinder you don't worry about
18:08that the experience machine is going to
18:10also feature some ups and downs because
18:13as people like to say it's hard to know
18:15when you're up if you've never been down
18:17it's hard to know what pleasure is if
18:18you haven't suffered and the experience
18:20machine is going to give you all of that
18:22it's been worked out perfectly
18:25the only thing is
18:27you're guaranteed to succeed now if you
18:30stay out here in life you might do
18:32wonderful things you might
18:35achieve great things have wonderful
18:37professional life uh have wonderful
18:39relationships with other people but you
18:42and i both know that out here in the
18:44real world there's always a chance of
18:46failure and it's not just a small chance
18:49is a pretty big chance and actually our
18:51lives even though they often may feature
18:54some important success
18:56there's lots of failure along the way
18:59and the difference is the experience
19:02machine is going to look almost exactly
19:05like life
19:06the only difference is
19:08everything is going to work out now
19:10there's only one problem with all that
19:12in that it's completely fake
19:14there's nothing real about the
19:16experience machine it's a purely virtual
19:19reality there's no actual people the
19:22person that you're in love with doesn't
19:23actually exist the family members that
19:25are part of your life don't actually
19:27exist who knows what's going on with
19:28them outside in the real world
19:31it's just you now if you want to make
19:34this thing a little more interesting you
19:36say well um you know maybe i'll bring
19:40some of my loved ones and we'll plug
19:41into the same machine first of all it's
19:43not exactly clear that you're all going
19:45to get the same virtual experience
19:47because maybe your utopia isn't theirs
19:50but i'm asking you once again the
19:51question and i'm going to have you
19:53pause the video here in just a moment to
19:56answer this question
19:58um
19:59would you
20:01enter the experience machine imagine
20:05that the experience machine is going to
20:07simulate adversity and it's going to
20:10simulate all
20:11of the loved ones necessary to give you
20:16a feeling of that kind of complete
20:19happiness my question to you
20:22is
20:23two part one would you enter the
20:26experience machine or would you continue
20:29to risk it out here in the real world
20:31and do do yourself a favor don't get
20:34caught up in the fact that this is a
20:37thought experiment don't say to yourself
20:39oh well it's it's like the humanities
20:41and philosophy to give us some
20:44silly scenario first of all um and
20:48really last of all the purpose of the
20:50thought experiment
20:52is to help us
20:55think more clearly
20:57and in order to really test our
21:00beliefs and our ideas
21:02about happiness we have to go outside of
21:05the purely empirical
21:07uh world we have to go into the world of
21:10the mind and this thought experiment
21:13gives you that opportunity to develop
21:16some clarity about what you really
21:18believe in and also about what you value
21:21so again the two-part question is this
21:23would you enter the experience machine
21:27or continue in the real world and
21:29secondly what would be the pros and cons
21:31of your decision i mean even if you're
21:33going to do it or not do it presumably
21:35you can see a few pros and cons on both
21:38sides of this question
21:40and so why would you make your choice
21:43would you enter the experience machine
21:45or not and why would you make that
21:48choice what would the pros and cons be
21:50now for this i want you to spend a solid
21:53seven minutes
21:55give us you know a decent paragraph
21:59this is essentially part three
22:02uh though the earlier two questions were
22:05really quite short
22:06uh so you know this should be you know
22:08at least the same length as the first
22:11two shorter questions that i asked you
22:13so give this a solid uh five to seven
22:16minutes would you enter the experience
22:18machine why or why not
22:21go ahead and pause the video and put
22:23your thoughts to paper
22:25so sis laba contends that
22:28nazic's thought experiment raises key
22:31questions about the meaning or nature of
22:35happiness
22:36bach writes should we care whether the
22:38experience making us happy is real
22:41and if so
22:42real in what sense for example if your
22:46experience is a simulation
22:48you may be having a physical response to
22:52the
22:53stimuli that is a part of that
22:55stimulation so uh simulation so there is
22:58something real
22:59that you are uh experiencing uh you
23:03might be feeling uh excitement you might
23:06be feeling a sense of of pleasure
23:09and so if we are to say that the
23:12experience machine is not real in a way
23:15that the life outside of the experience
23:17machine is then what do we mean by that
23:20word real what makes something real and
23:24something else that's not and just so
23:26that you don't think that i'm i'm being
23:28too
23:30uh superficial with the language here
23:32just consider an example like this let's
23:34say that there was an original artwork
23:37by picasso
23:38and
23:39that
23:41another artist found a way to reproduce
23:44it perfectly
23:45so perfectly that there is literally no
23:49detectable difference between one and
23:51the other
23:52imagine that there's no technology that
23:53will ever be discovered or created that
23:56will ever be able to tell these two
23:57pieces apart in fact if you mix them up
24:00you would never be able to know which
24:02one was the original and which one
24:04was the secondary
24:06work now if i were to ask you which one
24:08of these is real
24:11you might be a little
24:13frustrated or have some difficulty in
24:15answering that question because
24:17typically you'd say well one is real
24:19because
24:20it's uh
24:22it looks different
24:24there's some difference in style
24:26and in fact if i asked you which one was
24:28real after i mixed them up
24:30you would not be able to say which one
24:32is real now you might still say look i
24:34don't know which one's real because you
24:36mix them up but i can tell you the one
24:38that was done first was real but i could
24:40say well what makes that one real and
24:42the other one not i mean i can feel both
24:44of them
24:45i could see both of them and you might
24:47say yeah you can feel them you can see
24:49them but what makes one real on the
24:51other is about uh which one came first
24:55and so in that sense
24:57something being real isn't just about
24:59how it appears or how we experience it
25:02but it also has to do with certain
25:04values certain ideas that something
25:07coming first
25:08has a greater value than something that
25:10is reproduced and so that brings us back
25:13to sicily box point that the thought
25:15experiment
25:17um challenges us with figuring out um
25:21why one kind of reality so to speak is
25:25held in higher regard or more important
25:27than the other
25:28she also writes that uh nausic's thought
25:30experiment uh produces these questions
25:33like what role should friendship
25:36love or altruism which is to say not
25:39just uh you know self-interested action
25:42but also
25:43a genuine uh primary concern for others
25:47have for happiness to be most valuable
25:50um what role should friendship love
25:52altruism have for happiness to be most
25:55valuable and then also is there more to
25:57happiness
25:59than feeling happy
26:01and more to life than happiness in other
26:03words are there some experiences are
26:06there some
26:07parts of human life
26:08that are more important than happiness
26:11and if so what are they
26:13and also uh is that mere feeling of
26:17happiness
26:18is that what we mean when we talk about
26:20happiness or does that feeling need to
26:23accompany
26:24something
26:25real or true
26:28in order for that happiness or that
26:30feeling of happiness to be
26:33valuable
26:34so here i'd like to give you just a
26:36couple of very brief responses to the
26:38thought experiment uh and of course you
26:41have your own thoughts there written out
26:44robert nozick's perspective on this is
26:46that we should say no to the experience
26:49machine
26:50the activity that yields happiness
26:53is important to us
26:55not simply the feeling we get when we
26:57believe we have done the activity so for
27:00nausic it's not just the question is not
27:02just does the machine make me feel good
27:05the feeling good
27:07should follow
27:08the actually having actually done
27:11something of consequence or importance
27:14if we get the feeling good without the
27:17actual doing something important
27:21and we think that that's all that
27:22matters we're actually very confused he
27:25thinks about what is most important to
27:27us as human beings
27:29sisa labach says something similar she
27:31says again for herself the answer to the
27:33question is no the experience machine
27:36she writes eliminates all choice
27:38all concerned for a meaningful life all
27:41reciprocity as well as the capacity to
27:44exercise genuine empathy and the reason
27:47for that is everything is programmed
27:49everything is designed everything is is
27:51set up to ensure
27:53that you are perfectly
27:57happy if that perfect happiness requires
28:00some adversity some trial and error
28:02things that look like they aren't
28:03working out but then they work out fine
28:05we'll work that we'll work that all of
28:07that into the system but this is a
28:09narcissist paradise because all that
28:12matters is what you want um all that
28:15matters the whole
28:17experience machine world revolves around
28:21what you want you get what you want you
28:23want it you got it right um and so that
28:27on the one hand
28:29is pretty appealing to a lot of us if
28:31we're really honest about it
28:33i mean it's kind of appealing that yeah
28:34i mean all right things don't always go
28:36our way but it would be nice if they
28:38ended up at the end of the day going our
28:40way we could all deal with some
28:42adversity but when the adversity is
28:44non-stop when we end up in failure again
28:48i mean we can try fail try again fail
28:51again but if every time we try we always
28:54up and end up in failure a lot of us can
28:56be
28:57pretty discouraged just to put it mildly
28:59and if you knew that after a few you
29:02know experiences of trial on air you'd
29:03finally succeed
29:05and you can make sure of that by
29:07entering the machine at least for some
29:09of us that would sound like a pretty
29:11good deal now in conversation with
29:14students in the classroom i've heard a
29:17lot of really interesting ideas and
29:19we've really sort of like teased this
29:21thing out in lots of different
29:23directions uh and i'm sure you have your
29:26own interesting thoughts and i tend to
29:28find that whereas nausic uh and bach are
29:32under the impression that there's kind
29:34of quite a few people who are clearly
29:37against entering the machine
29:39i found that quite a number of students
29:41are willing to seriously entertain
29:43the thought of going into the machine
29:45and there's some really interesting
29:46cases to be made what if you're a person
29:49living in a terribly unfair
29:52uh environment where the the the world
29:55is just utterly stacked against you
29:58and you know things are not going to
30:00turn out well i mean we like to think
30:01that if we try hard enough anything is
30:03possible but that's not always the case
30:06uh clearly some people will try try try
30:10and fail fail fail and that may not even
30:12be because of their own
30:14failure to make an attempt but because
30:17the social arrangement is such that
30:19they're almost just guaranteed failure
30:22and so i've i've heard some very
30:23interesting uh arguments uh in favor of
30:26entering the machine especially if one
30:28is in the position of profound
30:31disadvantage and i think it's
30:33interesting to hear out those
30:34perspectives i for one and this is my
30:38take
30:39i for one
30:40care about which is to say i value uh my
30:43children um my partner
30:46and as i bond with him and i'll focus on
30:48my children in particular
30:51and as i bond with them and as i help
30:53them in life
30:54i get a feeling of happiness
30:57a sense of fulfillment i gain
31:00a sense of again fulfillment and also
31:03even contentment
31:05similarly i care about things like my
31:08students intellectual development so
31:10when i help facilitate you know a really
31:12good class discussion
31:14or when a student shares that
31:17they've gained some significant insight
31:20due to
31:21the class a reading you know an
31:23assignment and so forth i also feel a
31:26significant sense of satisfaction which
31:29i might describe as i would describe as
31:31happiness
31:32now the experience machine promises to
31:35give me these very same feelings the
31:38same experiences happiness fulfillment
31:40satisfaction and so on the only
31:43difference
31:44is that entering the machine
31:46uh is going to come at the
31:49cost of actually bonding
31:52with my children of actually helping
31:54those in my life
31:56it will come at the cost of actually
31:58participating in helping students gain
32:01key insights i mean i will have the
32:03feeling that all those things are
32:05happening
32:06but they actually won't be happening it
32:08will simply be a program there won't be
32:10any actual people at all that i'm
32:12interacting with i will simply be
32:14interacting with
32:16phantasms
32:18and for me this is an intolerable cost
32:22as wonderful as that feeling that sense
32:26of happiness is it is not at least for
32:29me
32:30my central objective in life
32:33rather happiness is the byproduct
32:35of achieving or advancing however
32:38temporarily
32:40our foremost goals in life or honoring
32:43our foremost goals in life honoring our
32:46values our deepest commitments uh
32:48developing our fullest potential and so
32:50on it is the byproduct of actually
32:54supporting and bonding with the people
32:57that i
32:58actually care about it's the byproduct
33:01of caring about and helping
33:04people in my world uh in my world of
33:07human interaction and relations and the
33:10experience machine gives us happiness
33:12by giving us the illusion of achieving
33:15our foremost values the illusion of
33:18having connected with others the
33:20illusion of having written a book
33:23saved a life affected others uh achieved
33:27great things and so on but for me my
33:30foremost values aren't to merely pretend
33:34to care about and help others not merely
33:37to be
33:39fooled into believing that i have helped
33:42or um partly uh responsible for
33:47a connection uh
33:48shared with someone else for me at least
33:51my foremost values are to actually
33:55be in relation to others to be of
33:59service to be in contact and meaningful
34:03connection to others and so to the
34:06extent that the experience machine
34:08deprives me of that opportunity
34:11then as wonderful as it would be to have
34:14everything work out all the
34:15relationships go the right way all of
34:18the attempts to do creative things
34:22pans out um while it would be very nice
34:25to know that all of those efforts will
34:28be
34:28ultimately rewarded
34:30the fact that there will be actually no
34:32effort at all that it will all be an
34:34illusion and that the actual real world
34:37will stand unaffected is to me
34:42not really much better
34:44than
34:45being put to death
34:46but i would imagine that at least some
34:48of you may think differently and i hope
34:50that you will continue to develop those
34:52thoughts those ideas uh as you make your
34:55way through this section uh and and
34:58through the relevant readings uh that
35:01we're doing in this module

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