Okay, a bit of misunderstanding between me and Hans there, so here is the actual article he was asking for.
So, if someone asked me to step into a "happy box", I would not.
I am getting a little ahead of myself there. A happy box is apparently a boxlike enclosure that you can go into, and it immediately makes you happy. But being happy means only sitting there, having an artificial happiness overtake you.
I wouldn't step in the happy box because of a few reasons. First of all, an artificial happiness never makes you as happy as happiness that is earned through hard work. If you get a really good score on your math test because you studied really hard for it, you get a amount of happiness like no other. If you get artificially happy inside a box, then you will be happy, staring at a wall. Think about it, it is really strange and unsatisfying. Another reason that I wouldn't step in to the happy box is that it would be really boring. Boring and happy contradict each other, but if you think about it, it really does make sense. If you are happy because you are forever dropping from the sky with the excitement like that of when you ride a roller coaster, then you will eventually get bored because it would feel normal falling from the sky, and you would yearn for hard ground under your feet. It is the same for the happy box. Eventually, you are going to get very bored sitting in a box,and will yearn for pain and suffering. That brings me to yet another point. There would be no pain an suffering inside the happy box. That may sound strange, to actually want to be hurt and suffer, but it is true. For example, when I was a small child, I always took leisure time and fun for granted. But as I grew up and had more homework and less time to idle, I began to appreciate rest and playtime. I wouldn't have that happiness if it wasn't for all the countless hours of working.
The happy box does have some benefits at first, but as you stay in there longer and longer, you will realize that it isn't as good as living life how it normally is.
Assume that you will never get bored of the happy box. You will never feel unsatisfied. You will never yearn for pain and suffering or anything at all - you will merely be as content and as happy as humanly possible.
ReplyDeleteThe effect never wears off. Take the happiest, most ecstatic moment/memory you have ever experienced, multiply that by ten, and then extend it indefinitely - forever. It's like pouring all your neurons/dopamine into a shot glass and then slamming them down your throat in one go; again and again and again.
"First of all, an artificial happiness never makes you as happy as happiness that is earned through hard work." The artificial happiness the box gives you is roughly twenty times more potent than the happiness you just earned through hard work.
That is the happy box. That is what you are arguing against. You have a very good direction; you just need to formalize your thoughts.
Why is real life better than the happy box? Maybe it's because there's more to life than being happy. You're getting into deep philosophical waters here. I know you can do this. Discuss this with your parents/friends if you need ideas on how to argue against the happy box.
You know that your opinion is correct - all you have to do right now is justify it. Best of luck.