Can we really measure happiness?
How to measure happiness: questionnaires. There are now many questionnaires that are widely used by academics and scientific researchers to assess happiness levels across the globe. Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper) Satisfaction With Life Scale (Deiner, Emmons, Larsen and Griffin)
Can suffering be measured?
Suffering can take so many forms and can involve such a range of emotions. Suffering can be measured from different angles and a common one is to look at quality of life. It is a more generic measure, so if you are interested in suffering purely from a physical perspective then it will not be useful.
Is understanding suffering essential to happiness?
Though people desire to be happy, they tend to know more about suffering, which does not, in isolation, help build happy lives. Since suffering and happiness are interwoven, LeGuin suggests that understanding suffering is an essential part of becoming happy.
What is the price of happiness according to the story?
The price of happiness, in other words, is suffering, and without one the other cannot exist. Therefore, the story suggests not only that suffering enables joy, but also that suffering and joy are always intermingled, and that achieving happiness requires an intimate understanding of grief.
Is suffering a product of desire?
Suffering is a product of desire. The Buddha became a living God by seeing the present as it is, by seeing pain as it is. Nietzsche became a prophet by telling a story about the future, by embracing the complex beauty of suffering. When I fuck, I feel powerful. When I love, I feel connected.
What is the difference between pain and suffering?
Pain and suffering are different. Pain is a sensation. Suffering is a narrative. Pain is objective. Suffering is subjective. Pain is biology. Suffering is literature. Pain can exist without desire. Suffering is a product of desire. The Buddha became a living God by seeing the present as it is, by seeing pain as it is.