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Post by cato on Apr 20, 2021 16:53:02 GMT
Dr Brendan Kelly is an Irish psychiatrist and mental health writer. I read his history of psychiatric care in Ireland last year which is an excellent survey of attitudes to mental illness and treatment in Ireland.
His latest book is on happiness. The blurb on the back cover states rather provocatively conservatives are happier than liberals. I haven't bought the book yet but it set me thinking. Despite all the gloom and defeat by and large most conservatives are usually more grateful, conscious of the value of nation , family faith and tradition. Most have a highly developed sceptical sense of the absurdities of modern living and can laugh even at themselves .
Any thoughts?
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Apr 20, 2021 20:58:06 GMT
Dr Brendan Kelly is an Irish psychiatrist and mental health writer. I read his history of psychiatric care in Ireland last year which is an excellent survey of attitudes to mental illness and treatment in Ireland. His latest book is on happiness. The blurb on the back cover states rather provocatively conservatives are happier than liberals. I haven't bought the book yet but it set me thinking. Despite all the gloom and defeat by and large most conservatives are usually more grateful, conscious of the value of nation , family faith and tradition. Most have a highly developed sceptical sense of the absurdities of modern living and can laugh even at themselves . Any thoughts? I think conservatives tend to have a gloomier view of the present situation but an ultimately more optimistic view of existence in general. |
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Post by Stephen on Apr 20, 2021 21:12:38 GMT
Dr Brendan Kelly is an Irish psychiatrist and mental health writer. I read his history of psychiatric care in Ireland last year which is an excellent survey of attitudes to mental illness and treatment in Ireland. His latest book is on happiness. The blurb on the back cover states rather provocatively conservatives are happier than liberals. I haven't bought the book yet but it set me thinking. Despite all the gloom and defeat by and large most conservatives are usually more grateful, conscious of the value of nation , family faith and tradition. Most have a highly developed sceptical sense of the absurdities of modern living and can laugh even at themselves . Any thoughts? Interesting topic for discussion. Problem is most conservatives today are yesterday liberals. |
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Post by Tomas on Apr 21, 2021 10:32:24 GMT
Dr Brendan Kelly is an Irish psychiatrist and mental health writer. I read his history of psychiatric care in Ireland last year which is an excellent survey of attitudes to mental illness and treatment in Ireland. His latest book is on happiness. The blurb on the back cover states rather provocatively conservatives are happier than liberals. I haven't bought the book yet but it set me thinking. Despite all the gloom and defeat by and large most conservatives are usually more grateful, conscious of the value of nation , family faith and tradition. Most have a highly developed sceptical sense of the absurdities of modern living and can laugh even at themselves . Any thoughts? Wish there was more time for reading a book like that. Last similar for me had UK insights by Dr Anthony Storr on theme loneliness and art (all arts including writers and musicians). It lined out connections between great artists and their lonely childhoods' impact to the most important achievements. I believe old school conservatives might be slightly better off due to their "underlying" mental health status making them open to life and somehow more deeply ready for living in joy in terms of overall outlook, however also more open to communal hostilities by having that nature too. So in contemporary environments I very much doubt it. Being targeted by everything from modernist conditioning to psychological warfare must most certainly take its toll in some ways also in levels of measurable (=physical) happiness. Globalist-run society tends to be so liberal as only liberal people (including present neo-socialist hords, making up the majorities, driven into the liberal/globalist by sheer materialist devices) find it enjoyable. Especially thus Stephen's mark ought to be held before any analysis. It is the liberal mindset that is taking our time. Or even taking it hostage. Setting the tables for all-inclusive "happiness" without making room for any other truth. |
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Post by Séamus on Apr 24, 2021 8:44:35 GMT
Possibly depends on the definition of happiness. There's stoic happiness and there's extroverted happiness and probably much inbetween. I've come across a lot of forced jolly-ness that seems to hide many stratas of unhappiness which I've noticed can be the case with extroverted persons in general. I'm more for equilibrium,call it mediocrity if you must.
It mightn't be entirely irrelevant to mention headline story that broke in Perth last week of a court case which had had media suppression until it's conclusion. A clinically depressed fifteen year old suicided. Her parents were fighting over her ashes...the father acknowledged the birth gender only,the mother the assumed (male) gender. As the 'transition' was 'incomplete' the birth name hadn't officially changed. Eventually both parents were rewarded half the ashes with permission to inter as the gender and with the name of their choice, providing both male and female names were displayed (the other in brackets).
Several editor-letters followed,gay activists asking why the health and wellness of transitioning children wasn't being looked after. No mention that maybe someone in their early teens possibly doesn't have total perception of their own happiness and that gender changing before the age of consent is not solving any problems they might have.
Olympic medallist Daley Thompson recently named Bruce Jenner as a favourite athlete and gave the usual fluffy talk about Jenner's supposed bravery in turning into Caitlyn,the usual throwaway line that ignores the fact that the example of these people of celebrity doesn't translate into happiness for the average person.
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Post by assisi on Apr 24, 2021 12:56:20 GMT
I think there are 4 main types of, for want of a better word, happiness. In ascending order:
1. Pleasure Enjoying the sensual things in life. However, like eating too much chocolate or drinking too much alcohol, the more we partake of pleasure the less pleasurable it becomes. There is also the danger of addiction, bad health and self loathing.
2. Happiness Usually this is snippets of time or events where we feel good, our feelings elevated. Like a meet up with friends, a holiday, an event. Someone can look at an old photo and say they were 'happier' times, usually meaning something like more secure, innocent or simpler times. Happiness is not a constant state.
3. Contentment This is a level where a person comes to be more at ease with their personality. It is usually underpinned by that person having a particular philosophy in life which they feel comfortable following and it is a philosophy that accords well with the reality of life. Unlike the sporadic nature of happiness and pleasure, this can be an enduring feeling. This 'philosophy' has the added plus of giving life an overall meaning.
4. Joy This is where a person is not only content and at ease with themselves but also seems to exude a positive feeling of goodness, charity and friendliness amongst other pleasant values. This is not the unfortunate person who has the highs of a bipolar type personality followed by terrible depressive lows. Rather it is an inspired person who is generally speaking at a very high level of contentment to the point where their enthusiasm and goodness is infectious and easily seen by all.
I would be happy to dwell in the 3rd category, or at least aim for that level, but would feel more discontented abiding in the first 2 states only.
Although I have a 4th category, 'Joy', I cannot think of many people I have met in my life who are in this category, but I must have come across several people like this because I can picture this state in my mind.
I think most non-conservatives reside in the first 2 categories, while quite a few conservatives, of the Christian variety, are in or about category 3.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Apr 24, 2021 13:12:50 GMT
I think there are 4 main types of, for want of a better word, happiness. In ascending order: 1. Pleasure Enjoying the sensual things in life. However, like eating too much chocolate or drinking too much alcohol, the more we partake of pleasure the less pleasurable it becomes. There is also the danger of addiction, bad health and self loathing. 2. Happiness Usually this is snippets of time or events where we feel good, our feelings elevated. Like a meet up with friends, a holiday, an event. Someone can look at an old photo and say they were 'happier' times, usually meaning something like more secure, innocent or simpler times. Happiness is not a constant state. 3. Contentment This is a level where a person comes to be more at ease with their personality. It is usually underpinned by that person having a particular philosophy in life which they feel comfortable following and it is a philosophy that accords well with the reality of life. Unlike the sporadic nature of happiness and pleasure, this can be an enduring feeling. This 'philosophy' has the added plus of giving life an overall meaning. 4. Joy This is where a person is not only content and at ease with themselves but also seems to exude a positive feeling of goodness, charity and friendliness amongst other pleasant values. This is not the unfortunate person who has the highs of a bipolar type personality followed by terrible depressive lows. Rather it is an inspired person who is generally speaking at a very high level of contentment to the point where their enthusiasm and goodness is infectious and easily seen by all. I would be happy to dwell in the 3rd category, or at least aim for that level, but would feel more discontented abiding in the first 2 states only. Although I have a 4th category, 'Joy', I cannot think of many people I have met in my life who are in this category, but I must have come across several people like this because I can picture this state in my mind. I think most non-conservatives reside in the first 2 categories, while quite a few conservatives, of the Christian variety, are in or about category 3. I have been thinking about this and would add a fifth type: delight. I've noticed that delight is something that seems to almost exist outside of time, for instance, in moments of contemplation. Delight is an almost poetic pleasure in something. It is the kind of happiness someone feels in a hobby, or a field of study, or an occupation they enjoy very much, or identification with a common cause. It's not as generalised as joy, nor as tied to circumstance as happiness. |
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Post by assisi on Apr 24, 2021 20:27:45 GMT
I think there are 4 main types of, for want of a better word, happiness. In ascending order: 1. Pleasure Enjoying the sensual things in life. However, like eating too much chocolate or drinking too much alcohol, the more we partake of pleasure the less pleasurable it becomes. There is also the danger of addiction, bad health and self loathing. 2. Happiness Usually this is snippets of time or events where we feel good, our feelings elevated. Like a meet up with friends, a holiday, an event. Someone can look at an old photo and say they were 'happier' times, usually meaning something like more secure, innocent or simpler times. Happiness is not a constant state. 3. Contentment This is a level where a person comes to be more at ease with their personality. It is usually underpinned by that person having a particular philosophy in life which they feel comfortable following and it is a philosophy that accords well with the reality of life. Unlike the sporadic nature of happiness and pleasure, this can be an enduring feeling. This 'philosophy' has the added plus of giving life an overall meaning. 4. Joy This is where a person is not only content and at ease with themselves but also seems to exude a positive feeling of goodness, charity and friendliness amongst other pleasant values. This is not the unfortunate person who has the highs of a bipolar type personality followed by terrible depressive lows. Rather it is an inspired person who is generally speaking at a very high level of contentment to the point where their enthusiasm and goodness is infectious and easily seen by all. I would be happy to dwell in the 3rd category, or at least aim for that level, but would feel more discontented abiding in the first 2 states only. Although I have a 4th category, 'Joy', I cannot think of many people I have met in my life who are in this category, but I must have come across several people like this because I can picture this state in my mind. I think most non-conservatives reside in the first 2 categories, while quite a few conservatives, of the Christian variety, are in or about category 3. I have been thinking about this and would add a fifth type: delight. I've noticed that delight is something that seems to almost exist outside of time, for instance, in moments of contemplation. Delight is an almost poetic pleasure in something. It is the kind of happiness someone feels in a hobby, or a field of study, or an occupation they enjoy very much, or identification with a common cause. It's not as generalised as joy, nor as tied to circumstance as happiness. Perhaps 'Delight' could be placed above happiness and below contentment (if only for the reason that I see contentment as a more enduring and settled type of happiness). If I understand what you are saying then, in my case for example, I might experience delight in reading a particular author in who's work I can keep finding little intellectual epiphanies whilst enjoying the work at the same time; or taking walks in beautiful surroundings and being awed by the scenery. Or the feeling of achieving something like the satisfaction of finishing of a difficult crossword or the building of a piece of furniture.. something more cerebral, mysterious or spiritual than happiness? |
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Apr 24, 2021 21:14:38 GMT
I have been thinking about this and would add a fifth type: delight. I've noticed that delight is something that seems to almost exist outside of time, for instance, in moments of contemplation. Delight is an almost poetic pleasure in something. It is the kind of happiness someone feels in a hobby, or a field of study, or an occupation they enjoy very much, or identification with a common cause. It's not as generalised as joy, nor as tied to circumstance as happiness. Perhaps 'Delight' could be placed above happiness and below contentment (if only for the reason that I see contentment as a more enduring and settled type of happiness). If I understand what you are saying then, in my case for example, I might experience delight in reading a particular author in who's work I can keep finding little intellectual epiphanies whilst enjoying the work at the same time; or taking walks in beautiful surroundings and being awed by the scenery. Or the feeling of achieving something like the satisfaction of finishing of a difficult crossword or the building of a piece of furniture.. something more cerebral, mysterious or spiritual than happiness? Yes, that was pretty much my conception. It seems more constant than happiness, which tends to flicker in and out. A huge politics nerd, for instance, delights in politics all the time, or pretty much all the time. Towards the end of my father's life, one of the few pleasures left to him seemed to be politics. He'd come alive for big political events. |
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Post by cato on Apr 25, 2021 7:38:32 GMT
I picked up Brendan Kelly's book yesterday and will in time reveal what he meant with the happiness claim.
I have been thinking about this quite a bit as conservatives have taken a tremendous battering in Ireland in particular in recent years and aren't exactly over the moon with joy. We are a small endangered species "despised and rejected".
The actual quote says "happier" not "happy" which is interesting as it implies perhaps that the victorious liberals are simply more miserable than the defeated conservatives? They should be triumphant but are still racked with guilt and self loathing for their priviledge.
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Post by Tomas on Mar 11, 2022 17:15:57 GMT
I picked up Brendan Kelly's book yesterday and will in time reveal what he meant with the happiness claim. I have been thinking about this quite a bit as conservatives have taken a tremendous battering in Ireland in particular in recent years and aren't exactly over the moon with joy. We are a small endangered species "despised and rejected". The actual quote says "happier" not "happy" which is interesting as it implies perhaps that the victorious liberals are simply more miserable than the defeated conservatives? They should be triumphant but are still racked with guilt and self loathing for their priviledge. Happier, more than happy, might be the realistic option. But then the Conservative mind is also open to the imaginary. Came to think about Brideshead Revisited and somewhere in that Arcadia would lie the nearest in category joyous happy times. Fewer cultural resting and strengthening places by the year now. Being in love with an impossible life? |
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