Slavoj Žižek | Why Be Happy When You Could Be Interesting? | Big Think

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  • Опубліковано 12 гру 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 4,2 тис.

  • @shankarlakshmanan6167
    @shankarlakshmanan6167 3 роки тому +6269

    “There are only two tragedies in life: One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” - Oscar Wilde

    • @jamespower5165
      @jamespower5165 2 роки тому +8

      I thought it was Bernard Shaw?

    • @martinlavic1082
      @martinlavic1082 2 роки тому +31

      @@jamespower5165 he heard it on simpsons

    • @michaelwright8896
      @michaelwright8896 2 роки тому +48

      @@jamespower5165 The quote by Shaw is not quite that it's: “There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it.”

    • @ducatusmediolanensismappin8292
      @ducatusmediolanensismappin8292 2 роки тому +14

      @@jamespower5165 well, it's actually a Wilde's quote. I think he read it in "The picture of Dorian Gray", as I did. Bernard Shaw's quote is quite different.

    • @TheOmerCookie
      @TheOmerCookie 2 роки тому +18

      Damn that's wilde

  • @fsands69
    @fsands69 4 роки тому +5884

    his accent makes him sound even wiser. Sounds like the wise man in the mountain you find when you're lvl 90

    • @namanshah8354
      @namanshah8354 4 роки тому +30

      Lmao I get this 101 and I've started implementing it already

    • @patrikburda
      @patrikburda 3 роки тому +21

      @ThyPeasantSlayer the fuck.. no :D

    • @patrikburda
      @patrikburda 3 роки тому +22

      @ThyPeasantSlayer no its not.. Obviously you know shiat about Czechia so I dont really get why you even argue with me. Edit: I'm from Czechia so that should settle it...

    • @Capytain
      @Capytain 3 роки тому +74

      @ThyPeasantSlayer don’t spread wrong information, he is from Slovenia

    • @mariag5306
      @mariag5306 3 роки тому +6

      @ThyPeasantSlayer he is Slovenian. My dad used to speak with the same accent.

  • @King_of_carrot_flowers
    @King_of_carrot_flowers 9 років тому +13702

    These pieces should be better named. He criticized the true desirability of happiness, but said nothing about being interesting.

    • @Medytacjusz
      @Medytacjusz 7 років тому +203

      Maybe, but you can treat the title as adding to the lecture not just a summary. Reading the title again might be a key to prompt new interpretations of what has been said.

    • @Proud2btongan109
      @Proud2btongan109 7 років тому +148

      +Bartosz Szafarz If so, that is called manipulation of content. The media does it all the time. "See it the way I see it, you fucking idiot"

    • @Medytacjusz
      @Medytacjusz 7 років тому +68

      Indeed, sometimes it is. You see it all the time in articles on "science": "scientists prove that X kills cancer", when they have neither proven, nor does it kill it completely, nor is it cancer in general (perhaps specific type under specific conditions). But here? I don't know. I think there's fine line, especially when it comes to more creative content (opinions, interpretations, art) as opposed to just facts. Look at titles of books, for example. This video is not really reporting on Zizek, this video is Zizek. It's not like the title contradicts what is being said. Plus we shouldn't treat consumers as idiots who just read the title. They will get the difference if they watch the whole thing and they should know, that it might not be Zizek himself who wrote the title (but he might have been involved - we don't know!).

    • @juanmoralesvideo
      @juanmoralesvideo 7 років тому +22

      Perhaps it is a typo. May be it should be *be INTERESTED on something*, I guess.

    • @laurenmodotti3053
      @laurenmodotti3053 6 років тому +29

      i agree, this is a recurring problem with žižek’s interviews. the title vulgarizes what he said which causes him to be brushed off by his critics and deters people from taking him seriously or even watching the interview at all!

  • @samuelmontenegroserniotti7146
    @samuelmontenegroserniotti7146 3 роки тому +8295

    Land owner: Your rent is late.
    Me, as a man of culture: *You dont really want what you think you desire.*

    • @valberm
      @valberm 3 роки тому +227

      Besides, if me paying you would make you happy: why be happy if you can be interesting?

    • @ButterBeanCW
      @ButterBeanCW 3 роки тому +73

      If the tenet goes away, so does the house. You just need the tenet as an object of desire. ;)

    • @aperture0
      @aperture0 3 роки тому +60

      Bully Maguire: "You'll get the rent when you fix this damn door!"

    • @SuryaSen001
      @SuryaSen001 3 роки тому

      @@aperture0 beat me to it

    • @aperture0
      @aperture0 3 роки тому

      @@SuryaSen001 lol

  • @JoeMcKenzie888
    @JoeMcKenzie888 8 років тому +10401

    In German, passion is called "Leidenschaft", the ability to endure "Leid" (suffering).

    • @KristianKoci
      @KristianKoci 8 років тому +56

      Amazing (y)

    • @briandonovan1584
      @briandonovan1584 8 років тому +249

      Interesting ... I have suffered long and profoundly. My endurance of that suffering and surviving that suffering has made me the passionate, decent, kind and charitable man that I am today.

    • @JJDvorshak
      @JJDvorshak 8 років тому +7

      Me too.

    • @KrisVesel
      @KrisVesel 8 років тому +277

      In English passion used to mean "suffering", such as "The Passion of Christ". It's not about da Geezus getting it on.

    • @briandonovan1584
      @briandonovan1584 8 років тому +10

      Kris Vesely Jeeezus was a mentally deranged homeless guy.

  • @ChrisKogos
    @ChrisKogos 3 роки тому +7215

    *Sniffs philosophically*

    • @Blud6966
      @Blud6966 3 роки тому +59

      😢 (philosophically)

    • @ChrisKogos
      @ChrisKogos 3 роки тому +34

      @@Blud6966 that's what I said yes

    • @kshitiztiwari8227
      @kshitiztiwari8227 3 роки тому +3

      🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

    • @xHannibal
      @xHannibal 3 роки тому +8

      A very accurate statement.

    • @tripney6745
      @tripney6745 3 роки тому +13

      He says nothing about being interesting bcoz if happiness is a cliche and everyone tries to avoid discomfort and you know this and you find the sweet gray area that Grey area is f*ckin interesting I'm tell you

  • @ulasgursoy2838
    @ulasgursoy2838 5 років тому +3078

    “Ultimately, it is the desire, not the desired, that we love.”
    “Whoever reaches his ideal transcends it eo ipso.”
    F. Nietzsche

    • @MrVarunparmar
      @MrVarunparmar 5 років тому +23

      Nietzsche was the most inaccurate mind scientist out there.Every single theory of his is falsified.Quoting him is like quoting Churchill as a hero

    • @krainex
      @krainex 5 років тому +97

      @@MrVarunparmar how so

    • @MrVarunparmar
      @MrVarunparmar 5 років тому +3

      @@krainex maybe just Google..Freud falsified or something..

    • @krainex
      @krainex 5 років тому +101

      @@MrVarunparmar i just did and google didnt show anything conrete. Elaborete

    • @milkbath
      @milkbath 5 років тому +155

      Kradisasht and who the fuck are you?

  • @Killerean
    @Killerean 2 роки тому +2866

    We're not really pursuing happiness, we are pursuing the pursuit of happiness.

    • @mattvoica4617
      @mattvoica4617 2 роки тому +19

      this is why will smith with his son are still one of my favourite influences. ( relatable )

    • @_randomyoutubeuser
      @_randomyoutubeuser Рік тому +4

      @@mattvoica4617 "that's how we do it"

    • @co-bruh1423
      @co-bruh1423 Рік тому +5

      Life is the journey, not the destination

    • @aesshole876
      @aesshole876 Рік тому +13

      ​@@mattvoica4617 yeah same my dad loves to slap people too

    • @ryandainsberg8997
      @ryandainsberg8997 Рік тому +2

      They call this the “Utopia Paradox”

  • @schroeder666
    @schroeder666 9 років тому +3097

    People misunderstand the point of this video. Slavoj is not laying out an argument on what happiness is, or saying happiness is bad. He is saying that attempting to establish a lucid, conscious category of substantive happiness is faulty and delusional because you are really chasing the strength of your desire, and the sustainability of that desire as it lingers on some horizon, rather than happiness itself.

    • @swat22camden
      @swat22camden 8 років тому +171

      Well said. For example, a guy with a bike will say if I only had a car I would be happy. Then he gets a car. If I only had a nice house now. Then he gets a nice house. If only I had a few more friends. If only I had more likes. If only I had a girlfriend. If only I had [insert anything here]. I used to live that way but once you have that you're like "now what?" Then coming up with another excuse like "if I only had" a better version of whatever. That's not happiness.

    • @hanawana
      @hanawana 5 років тому +25

      Schroeder my god, you’re eloquent! Beautifully articulated.

    • @MichelleHell
      @MichelleHell 5 років тому +65

      i became happier when i stopped trying to be happy.

    • @carlrdbro1230
      @carlrdbro1230 5 років тому +38

      @@swat22camden "If only I had awareness that attempting to achieve happiness by actively searching for it wouldn't work, I could be happy" It's a little bit of a paradox isn't it?

    • @everlastingideas8625
      @everlastingideas8625 5 років тому +56

      It could be said like this: happiness is not a goal and should never be seen as such, it s a line that gets further away the more we chase it. It s better to give up in it as a goal, find happiness in the little things of everyday while accepting the suffering that we have to ensure in this life to be and achieve.
      That s how I see it.

  • @tylerelliott4516
    @tylerelliott4516 9 років тому +4837

    What a fantastic combination of accents and speech impediments. He sounds incredible.

    • @dejureclaims8214
      @dejureclaims8214 9 років тому +26

      +Tyler Elliott Wowee! That your girlfriend? Ahem... Bravo.

    • @tylerelliott4516
      @tylerelliott4516 9 років тому +14

      +Alex Stein Yep.

    • @mikeandvickyinshanghai
      @mikeandvickyinshanghai 8 років тому +156

      +Tyler Elliott The great thing is, Zizek would probably be laughing with that statement as well and that's why I love him.

    • @leninalopez2912
      @leninalopez2912 8 років тому +29

      +Tyler Elliott I keep saying... is the only thing with a worst english than an Indian or Australian and, yet, perfectly intelligible!

    • @tylerelliott4516
      @tylerelliott4516 8 років тому +50

      +Dan iel I'm not sure if English if your first language, so I'll forgive you. 'Fantastic' and 'incredible' are not insults. I was being genuine.

  • @michaelgonzalez2415
    @michaelgonzalez2415 4 роки тому +2665

    "He who has a why for his existence can bear almost any how."
    Friedrich Nietzsche

    • @remhawk73
      @remhawk73 4 роки тому +99

      Not syphilis though

    • @thegingerbreadman5149
      @thegingerbreadman5149 3 роки тому +54

      “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” A great quote for when I was in a very dark place.

    • @ClarkPotter
      @ClarkPotter 3 роки тому +7

      Thank you for the quote. It helped me today. I'm writing it down and posting it.

    • @thewatermelon3831
      @thewatermelon3831 3 роки тому +22

      I saw this phrase first in 'Man's Search for Meaning' by Viktor Frankl. Didn't know it was Nietzsche who coined it!

    • @elpatas8879
      @elpatas8879 3 роки тому +5

      A good way to justify being in hell.

  • @Eemes1000
    @Eemes1000 4 роки тому +589

    In the immortal words of Don Draper: what is happiness? It's the moment before you want more happiness.

    • @sontinos528
      @sontinos528 3 роки тому +9

      or as Adorno said, happiness only exists in our memories...

    • @ce6236
      @ce6236 2 роки тому

      @@sontinos528 do u care or just a comment

    • @fikus5903
      @fikus5903 Рік тому +1

      wtf i never expected to see a tf2 comp veteran in a random yt comment section

    • @Eemes1000
      @Eemes1000 Рік тому

      @@fikus5903 lmao

    • @markofsaltburn
      @markofsaltburn Рік тому

      He was an alcoholic who had traumatised his daughter by shagging in front of her.

  • @patodiblasi
    @patodiblasi 8 років тому +2567

    We - don't - really - want - to get - what... we...... think - that we want.

    • @patodiblasi
      @patodiblasi 8 років тому +53

      ?

    • @briandonovan1584
      @briandonovan1584 8 років тому +73

      Ummm ... I think you mean "raping" not "rapping."

    • @limitless1692
      @limitless1692 8 років тому +4

      +patodiblasi
      so he is thinking for me
      so i am a stupid moron person who doesn't know nothing
      and i have , MUST fallow him !
      THAT IS A DANGEROUS PATH MY FRIEND .

    • @ИванФедорович-с2ч
      @ИванФедорович-с2ч 7 років тому +37

      It's so amazing for entry level english practicing

    • @patricksputnick5094
      @patricksputnick5094 5 років тому +1

      How do you know that ? I want what I want and You and Zizek want what you want. Or did I miss something.

  • @sreeharip8901
    @sreeharip8901 5 років тому +880

    This topic is so interesting and he even forgot about touching his nose.

  • @SkyeFische
    @SkyeFische 11 років тому +98

    Happiness erases boredom and boredom is the root of learning and exploration. People don't want to be bored, but boredom motivates us to create, investigate and discover.

    • @pander22
      @pander22 11 років тому +3

      What if you're happiest when you're creating or discovering and the suffering/difficulty makes it that much more fulfilling. I sense a fallacy in this video...

    • @SkyeFische
      @SkyeFische 11 років тому +9

      pander22 The problem with that is, and I know many people that suffer from this, if you are happiest most in the struggle of trying to answer a problem/create something/etc. -- then your happiness will immediately cease to exist once you realize that your task can be completed, once it is no longer challenging. People like this tend to start many ambitious things, prove they are possible, then never put them to good use/finish them.

    • @pander22
      @pander22 11 років тому +3

      This may apply to some but not all, therefore it is not a universal truth.

    • @libertynerd2562
      @libertynerd2562 10 років тому +3

      What if studying and creating is not boring for one, but instead makes them happy? This pursuit leads to more studying, more creation. It varies from person to person. So, in essence, this video creates a paradox. It condemns people achieving only the state of happiness. However, it seems to urge people to conform towards being only interesting, and not happy.
      I understand if what I said is vague.

    • @SkyeFische
      @SkyeFische 10 років тому +1

      Uhm, your comment is exactly what I said. If you are bored, it motivates you to go out and study and create and learn things. If you are not bored, you're no longer motivated to do that. If you're already happy and fine, you'll never get up off your ass and do stuff.

  • @opedromagico
    @opedromagico 3 роки тому +2538

    Lesson learned: get a mistress. Thanks Slavj!

    • @MeMyself-rt3on
      @MeMyself-rt3on 3 роки тому +25

      In your imagination

    • @Elias_Cepeda
      @Elias_Cepeda 3 роки тому +29

      Or get married. Be unhappy to have an excuse for leaving your wife. Then keep being unhappy pretending you want the opposite.

    • @Ioanides001
      @Ioanides001 3 роки тому +46

      No, get a wife AND a mistress

    • @brucetenet6140
      @brucetenet6140 3 роки тому +1

      sai daqui BR

    • @floriancazacu4504
      @floriancazacu4504 3 роки тому +25

      @@Ioanides001 a mistress implies you have a wife. Otherwise it's just your girlfriend...

  • @Nicole-rq8ix
    @Nicole-rq8ix 8 років тому +468

    "After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true"-Spock

    • @kirklandau2826
      @kirklandau2826 5 років тому +13

      How is "wanting" pleasing? I guess it can be sometimes, if it's like a form of daydreaming or pleasurable anticipation. But many other times "wanting" can be unpleasant, a feeling of being unfulfilled or lacking.

    • @pedrorodriguez-tirado5329
      @pedrorodriguez-tirado5329 4 роки тому +13

      The price of getting what you want is getting what you wanted. Sandman

    • @sauliusltcool6902
      @sauliusltcool6902 4 роки тому +1

      @@kirklandau2826 well If you are addicted to something then wanting can be bad, but that's not what she said

    • @kirklandau2826
      @kirklandau2826 4 роки тому +1

      @@pedrorodriguez-tirado5329 But *why* is that a price to pay? I don't get it. The only scenario in which I could see getting what you want being a bad thing is if you never had it before and the reality turns out to be different from the ideal, or if you were foolishly presuming that getting desire X would fulfill you completely and then it doesn't, especially if its something shallow or materialistic. However if you already had something and know what it's like and want to have it again, you're not going to be disappointed by what you're already familiar with and if what you desire is something deep and fulfilling on a spiritual level then it's not going to leave you feeling empty because there will be a net decrease in emptiness/unfulfillment, thus as long as you temper your expectations and don't expect to be *perfectly/completely* fulfilled then getting what you want is always a good thing and an improvement of your life condition so long as you want the right things and have the right mentality.

    • @kirklandau2826
      @kirklandau2826 4 роки тому +2

      @@sauliusltcool6902 If you're addicted to something then wanting is bad and having is great. The problem with addiction is only a matter of sustainability. Addictive drugs and their hefty monetary cost and their legal obstacles and their practical challenges and the build up of tolerance over time leading to increasing dosage, decreasing effect/euphoria/novelty, and decreasing satisfaction... are usually not sustainable, for the aforementioned reasons. However, some forms of addiction are in theory sustainable. If I am addicted to a woman who is my soul mate who I want to spend the rest of my life with her then what's wrong with embracing that addiction? Well, to answer my own question partly, the only real problem is that you don't always truly know if the other person can be trusted or if they truly love you as much as you love them. You can't guarantee that they won't just abandon you. In which case you're fucked. Love is even more dangerous that heroin. I'm not joking. I'm not exaggerating. I've experienced both addictions. Heroin put me through a really rough patch in life, but love destroyed my soul and has doomed me to an existence of torment and regret and longing and obsession and unfulfillment and bitterness and despair and literal insanity. It's like withdrawal but imagine that it never goes away. Since getting abandoned by my soul mate I have been in hellish withdrawal for over a year now, and it's not getting any better. Acute heroin withdrawal lasts less than a week with maybe a couple weeks of milder post-acute withdrawal symptoms afterwards. It's been over a year since my soul mate inflicted emotional and spiritual armageddon on me and it's only becoming more torturous over time. I can't live without her and I feel like I'm dying at an accelerated rate. Plus I'm cracking up psychologically, I'm possibly on a gradual route to going insane.

  • @brunobonisiol
    @brunobonisiol 10 років тому +918

    Slavoj Zizek VS Pharrell Williams. The final clash!

  • @quantumastrologer5599
    @quantumastrologer5599 3 роки тому +355

    Zizek on a lifelong quest to make everybody miserable. Love this guy so much.

    • @nicolasmemmolo4785
      @nicolasmemmolo4785 3 роки тому +14

      ​@@RihardNovacan Exactly. It's far easier to sell the idea that one's sole goal is to achieve happiness, and it's far more profitable to do so, also. It's the desire for something what keeps us moving. We may achieve it, enjoy it and, eventually, move on to the next thing. Happiness is a temporary condition, not the goal.

    • @FreedomOfTħought
      @FreedomOfTħought 3 роки тому +8

      @@RihardNovacan Exactly. I think what people fail to comprehend time and time again is how we acclimate to our achieved desires. We as humans adapt so quickly to a change in circumstances, whether that means new material possessions or living under more desirable conditions. Every new positive change becomes the norm after a short while at which point anything less will seem like a serious downgrade.

    • @ClaytonLivsey
      @ClaytonLivsey 2 роки тому +5

      He has been known to say 'the first task of philosophy is to make you realize what deep shit you are in'

  • @an6350
    @an6350 2 роки тому +80

    i think the reason we willingly face pain is because we seek happiness that will come from it... like creative ventures might be painful and frustrating and exhausting, but it's because we want to create something that is interesting and will cause some type of happiness/peace.

    • @adino20
      @adino20 Рік тому +6

      I think it’s this state where you feel like you are during something important and difficult that people (atleast me) truly are “happy”. But it doesn’t feel right calling it happiness. It’s like fulfillment. But notice how how you don’t need to “get” anything out of it. So a painter slaving away at his creation will cultivate this sense of fullfillment even if at the last second he accidentally drops a can of paint on the canvas and ruins it. The process is what I think we should be after and not the result.

    • @an6350
      @an6350 Рік тому +2

      @@adino20 i think it has to be a mix of the process and result to be fulfilling. like i run, and it's very difficult for me... it almost feels like i'm running endlessly every time because it's so uncomfortable and the time feels like it's moving so slow. I really do enjoy it in a way though, because after i'm done i rest and feel accomplished and healthy. but if immediately after i ran, the physical action was erased from space (no dopamine, health benefits, soreness, etc), i would feel cheated and miserable. that's just how it works for me at least.

    • @AnimatedStoriesWorldwide
      @AnimatedStoriesWorldwide Рік тому

      Its all well and good to speak of "suffering for creating art".
      The problem: the majority of people suffer to get to a dead-end job, the next day. Not on their way to becoming living gods of fame and wealth.

    • @rijakhalid9011
      @rijakhalid9011 Рік тому

      @Frutadi Thank you for putting this in words. It's an idea I have never been explain to anyone. People think you are after something aka the result, when all you really want is fulfilment. You just want the emptiness to go away. You don't want to "get" anything out of it in the traditional sense at all. The satisfaction is in the process and in the knowledge that you were able to do something that you wanted to try.

    • @adino20
      @adino20 Рік тому

      @@rijakhalid9011 It definitely helps make the emptiness go away. It may even be a cure. But I think my way of thinking of it in my last comment might be too general and its actually part physiological.
      So, when I try to understand a difficult concept, like when I study, between 20 minutes to 1 hour I start to feel a light euphoric feeling. My brain feels well-oiled and like every part of my brain is engaged and like I could study or do anything and find it reallllly interesting. It makes me feel like I'm getting the same benefits someone in the middle of an amazing meditation session is getting.
      Also, it does not align with having finally understood a difficult thing, it just randomly happens 20 minutes to one hour from doing this. Isn't that weird? So it's THIS difficult and important thing that I'm talking about specifically. Maybe not ALL things that are difficult and important give people this level of pleasure. Maybe I've just uncovered a way to release dopamine into my brain without realizing it. I mean, I also feel good about exercising (which is difficult and important and feels good even in the middle of it and not after I finish it), but that is not fulfilling like this state I can get to when I study.

  • @Karlwasright
    @Karlwasright 11 років тому +67

    "Happy" is an emotion. Happiness is a misconception.

    • @WillGaylord
      @WillGaylord 5 років тому +24

      Agreed. However, I think that people mistakenly use the word "happiness" instead of "peace" and fail to realize that having peace in one's life isn't about constantly feeling happy.

    • @skyinuri8868
      @skyinuri8868 3 роки тому

      Baller

  • @thefasco4424
    @thefasco4424 5 років тому +352

    "When you are in a creative endeavour, that wonderful fever; 'my god I'm onto something' happiness doesn't enter"
    This is because happiness is already present from the moment the endeavour starts. This view that Zizek has comes about when you see happiness as the goal rather than the process, like Aristotle implied 'Happiness is constant, if you feel happiness arising and subsiding you are not experiencing happiness'.

    • @pedrosantos6183
      @pedrosantos6183 4 роки тому +9

      Purpose is more important than happiness

    • @joeschmoe1193
      @joeschmoe1193 4 роки тому +7

      Happiness is doing something useful. That is called whistling while you work. If you whistle while you work you are doing what you like to do as opposed to drudgery. One doesn't whistle when doing drudgery.

    • @Ray2311us
      @Ray2311us 4 роки тому +6

      The worst of happiness is when something or someone comes to disturb it. Now whatever that thing or someone is, they or it becomes tainted into the mind that was in a happy bliss to be a red flag or a trigger. Happiness is but a chemical reaction within us that feels like dancing without judgement. The moment the dancer senses judgement is the moment the dance becomes tainted with hatred or resentment.

    • @Ray2311us
      @Ray2311us 4 роки тому

      People with bipolar disorder have this because in low states of chi, the chemical reactions are very suggestible towards switching between happiness and or anger/sadness.

    • @Ray2311us
      @Ray2311us 4 роки тому +1

      You also see this in older people.

  • @girlatendofrwjishot
    @girlatendofrwjishot 11 років тому +275

    In the introductory business course that most colleges offer (foundations of business thought), it's theorized that humans strive for a goal, and then once it is achieved they set the bar higher and strive for a new goal. Our lust for "more" and "better" is never truly satisfied because you're always trying to nudge your way into the social class above the one in which you reside. In layman's terms: the pursuit of happiness is not about finding happiness as an end result of the pursuit, but rather finding happiness through the persuit of happiness itself.

    • @bergweg
      @bergweg 11 років тому +29

      Kinda like (economical) growth for the sake of growth, which is like cancer.

    • @girlatendofrwjishot
      @girlatendofrwjishot 11 років тому +1

      I'm not sure I follow. How is that like cancer?

    • @bergweg
      @bergweg 11 років тому +11

      Cancer cells multiply/spread exponentially, similarly like economical growth, i.e. non-linearly, %.

    • @lynneperkins494
      @lynneperkins494 11 років тому +9

      Ahmad's right. It's the process, not the goal. Blame it on our huge brains. If the drive weren't there, we'd still be in the trees in the Transvaal.

    • @bergweg
      @bergweg 11 років тому

      What do you mean by process? And to which part of the brain is it linked?

  • @DougWIngate
    @DougWIngate 3 роки тому +42

    "Why be happy when you can be interesting" is the most eastern european statement in history

  • @JoeCorneli
    @JoeCorneli 7 років тому +21

    2:00 well spent

  • @marcofabiocarosi2996
    @marcofabiocarosi2996 2 роки тому +10

    The pursuit of happiness is exactly that journey that doesn’t get you instantly what you think you want. I believe that aligns to the message of this video.

  • @wcyee26
    @wcyee26 5 років тому +59

    From my understanding, happiness is a state of living totally, if you start chasing it, u created distance to it urself, u lost that state. It is like when you play music, you're playing it, if you think about music, then you're not playing it. You missed the whole point by only thinking about it.

    • @Ray2311us
      @Ray2311us 4 роки тому +1

      It's Flow

    • @Ray2311us
      @Ray2311us 4 роки тому +1

      Disturb that flow and good luck fixing it.

    • @beastmasterbg
      @beastmasterbg 4 роки тому +3

      my feeling is that happiness is waking up for the day and do what you have to and when you finish you do what you want to.

  • @BlindSwami_
    @BlindSwami_ 3 роки тому +21

    Listening to zizek ramble for me is like reading those great old Nietzsche quotes. You aren’t really sure you fully grasp or believe in what they’re trying to convey but it’s so electric that you’re just completely invested for that short period of time

    • @spacepimpkevin1184
      @spacepimpkevin1184 2 роки тому

      He's got a pretty strange way of saying that basically the desire and the want will be more enjoyable than the thing you desired.

  • @edg2726
    @edg2726 6 років тому +51

    Neurological studies that I'm too wasted to cite right now suggest wanting something is different from liking it. So I think zizek is onto something here.

    • @adrianmontero4682
      @adrianmontero4682 3 роки тому +3

      I know is like 3 years late, but you could send that studies, it sound interesting

    • @PBAmygdala2021
      @PBAmygdala2021 3 роки тому

      @@adrianmontero4682 I was just thinking that!
      Maybe he's still too high.

    • @SDMF20
      @SDMF20 3 роки тому +2

      @@PBAmygdala2021 Wasted suggests alcohol not psychoactive drugs.

    • @oreziopancrazio3685
      @oreziopancrazio3685 3 роки тому

      Actually he is completely out of way, he is too cinical to understand such concepts

    • @sadyoshhours2769
      @sadyoshhours2769 3 роки тому

      @@SDMF20 alcohol (drinking) is ethanol which is definitely a drug

  • @masterofnuggets7342
    @masterofnuggets7342 5 років тому +13

    You dont want the thing, you want the émotions associated with it. But émotions are never linear.

  • @full6330name
    @full6330name 10 років тому +47

    I can't belive how little recognition he gets in Slovenia.

    • @joaotavares078
      @joaotavares078 4 роки тому +5

      maybe cause he is happy not interesting hahaha

    • @draganostojic6297
      @draganostojic6297 3 роки тому +9

      It's his English accent (which he doesn't have when he speaks Slovenian)

    • @stamatios_sterg99
      @stamatios_sterg99 3 роки тому

      @@draganostojic6297 yes but slovenia is balkan country

    • @astrolillo
      @astrolillo 2 роки тому

      @@stamatios_sterg99 uh oh, you are opening a big can of troubles here, if my experience is correct those guys will kill you if you call them "balkans/slavs/FYS", they will say they are more Italian/Austrians, the funny thing is that those 2 nationalities dont even register them LOL

    • @stamatios_sterg99
      @stamatios_sterg99 2 роки тому

      @@astrolillo Austria is a big country, a big nation. Slovenia isn't even half of Austria in population. Northern Italy yes they have a lot in common

  • @Wyatt19961212
    @Wyatt19961212 4 роки тому +61

    Of all modern thinkers & philosophers, Zizek reminds me of The Greeks (Plato, Aristotle *sniff* and so on). I think it’s his logical & sequential presentation of ideas that seals the deal

    • @ClaytonLivsey
      @ClaytonLivsey 2 роки тому +1

      I don't think you know much about Zizek then lol. You never even tried to understand what Zizek thinks about his forefather, Lacan. Do your like posing on the internet? For people who are just as ill informed as you?

    • @Wyatt19961212
      @Wyatt19961212 2 роки тому

      @@ClaytonLivsey nobody cares that much about the semantics but you bruh 😃
      I was making a general observation
      No need to get booty tickled about it lmao 🤣

    • @abelmbaakanyi1000
      @abelmbaakanyi1000 2 роки тому +2

      “Sniff” 😭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

    • @kubermr29
      @kubermr29 Рік тому +1

      Cool. Back to the past. Nothing new. And no progress.

    • @Wyatt19961212
      @Wyatt19961212 Рік тому

      @@kubermr29 Humanity is doomed to repeat its own mistakes

  • @evelindiana
    @evelindiana 7 років тому +42

    "We don't really want what we think we desire" soo true, sometimes we work hard for something and once we get it we soon realize that it doesn't make us happy. Sometimes we stumble upon something unexpected and that does make us happy. I guess we should always be open to anything and try things out, and not be set on a specific thing that we think will make us happy.

  • @icykarma2122
    @icykarma2122 10 років тому +12

    We don't really desire to be happy or interesting, we desire something interesting which makes us happy. If you find something interesting you are inherently "happy". Happy isn't so much something you feel as much as a state of mind.

  • @williammelendez9174
    @williammelendez9174 7 років тому +21

    He wants to make it sound more confusing than it actually is, by linking happiness to the concepts of safety and confort, or the attendance to a certain craving. You can get to happiness by also finding meaning in your work and vocational path, which also comes with self sacrifice in every step of the way. Maybe it can be a never ending road, but fulfilling throughout.

  • @abosnjak
    @abosnjak Рік тому +2

    "Freedom is not achieved by satisfying desire, but by eliminating it."

  • @SankyEON
    @SankyEON 3 роки тому +9

    The real happiness was the friends we made along the way

    • @StavrosSkunk
      @StavrosSkunk Рік тому

      The hapiness can be the loving families too.

  • @waterkingdavid
    @waterkingdavid 9 років тому +344

    A great antidote to "The Secret" and its billion dollar industry.

    • @Kathikmuthu
      @Kathikmuthu 4 роки тому +1

      ♥️♥️♥️ yes indeed

    • @МарияЛесниченко-б4я
      @МарияЛесниченко-б4я 3 роки тому

      What do you mean?

    • @rumo510
      @rumo510 3 роки тому +16

      @@МарияЛесниченко-б4я I think they meant something like, when we fall into ideas that "philosophies" like the Secret push, we are operating on selfish, base desire. The elusion I see in this comment is that there is so much more to explore than simply asking the cosmos for whatever we want. Akin to a spoiled child throwing a fit til satisfied. Imo the secret has bastardized the practice of positive affirmation to make it seem like some solution to everything. It operates purely on self-centeredness, which deprives us of life's true experience, which is everything, good and bad.

    • @Earthad23
      @Earthad23 3 роки тому

      Just use the law of attraction …..

    • @krzysztofbroda5376
      @krzysztofbroda5376 3 роки тому +4

      two working braincells are sufficient antidote for this

  • @MariaKhordina
    @MariaKhordina 10 років тому +44

    "Protect me from what I want" -Jenny Holzer

  • @acidz0043
    @acidz0043 3 роки тому +2

    happiness is fleeting and momentary… i strive for contentment…😌😌😌

  • @siberianTiger639
    @siberianTiger639 4 роки тому +11

    My God, this guy is absolutely spot on. The pursuit of hapiness chains us and imprisones us into doing only the things that make us "happy". You want more. Poeple want do DO somethig. Change something. Create somethibf if you like. Whatever.
    The pursuit of hapiness only ends up making you miserable and tied down. You only end up trying to break those chains (and feeling guilty for doing it) and you're not avare you created them in your search for happiness.
    Whoever said it's all about being happy and happiness is the most important this is either an idiot or am very evil man.

    • @citrusjuicebox
      @citrusjuicebox Рік тому

      I say it's the latter. If someone convinces you that the pursuit of happiness is noble and worthwhile, they can tell you how to do it. And at that point, you begin to lose yourself.

  • @spacepimpkevin1184
    @spacepimpkevin1184 2 роки тому +4

    I truly feel this.
    Whenever i try to manifest or bring my desire to reality: It often ends up not being worth the effort or it ends up not working out as well as i wanted due to it's unprecedented complexity.
    Whenever i'm trying to manifest contentment, understanding, awareness, and peace of mind without focusing on desire for joy: Then almost all things can bring some form of joy by some amount.

  • @RedInferno112
    @RedInferno112 10 років тому +59

    Some could argue that when embarking on an "interesting" task the feelings could be considered happiness themselves. To me, happiness describes someone in good spirits, emotionally high. This surely happens when we do these things. In all fairness, I can't see a good difference between them.

    • @Reasonalism
      @Reasonalism 10 років тому +1

      Your comment makes a great point. This is one of the things I intended to write here in the massive ego war between Sarin and Leroy (before I felt it would be wasted to do so). What is 'happiness'? How should it be defined, and in what context is it appropriate for it to be used?
      It appears it's not simply a disagreement in value propositions or even in philosophies, but rather, in the use of linguistic definitions and how they are applied. I for one, can find 'happiness' in the pursuit of a goal, even if it may yield consequences which negatively impact me. The elation of the pursuit itself, or it's eventual destination (whether it's what we desired or believed we desired) could bring about happiness or a sense of satisfaction (which can, depending on the persons preferred definition, be synonymous with happiness). There is no universally understood notion of what happiness is, or where/how it is confined. This is why it's imperative that we first convey our usage and definitions of words when we have exchanges with one and another beforehand, rather than after. Otherwise, it erupts into what you as well as many others see above.
      Language is really a fascinating thing, but it's also easily conflatable even to the most highly literate speakers. Indeed, this one one of the things the late philosopher Ludwig Wittigenstein alluded to.

    • @armadilloHD
      @armadilloHD 10 років тому +3

      I think you're dawning on the underlying point that pursuing an immaterial "happiness" is intrinsically futile. Most people use happiness as a buzzword for fulfillment.

    • @RedInferno112
      @RedInferno112 10 років тому

      SkepticusMaximus I would actually argue that we feel in high spirits for the prospect of "nice" things rather than whilst doing them. I'm not sure if others feel this way too, but some great experiences I have, such as vacations, usually make me feel better about them after or just before, when I am on the way there. Perhaps because it's all too much information to acknowledge immediately.

    • @andromedaiscoming185
      @andromedaiscoming185 9 років тому

      SkepticusMaximus hey you mentioned me! thanks for tuning in. i still visit this video alot. yeah it was an ego war, for sure. i agree that RedInferno112 makes a valid point. the definition of happiness is not simple and there are alot of valid points of view.

    • @guineapig55555
      @guineapig55555 9 років тому

      RedInferno112 the point is whether you're pursuing those tasks as an end in themselves, or whether you're pursuing them just to be happy or satisfied. Zizek thinks the latter is morally wrong. You should be doing things because they are valuable in themselves, not because they give you happiness.
      For example, a serial killer kills and hurts other human beings, but that makes him happy. How can you possibly say happiness lies in the ethical domain here?

  • @kokomanation
    @kokomanation 2 роки тому +1

    The reason we do things or follow our interests is to reach a level of happiness.Happiness is a motivation for action in my opinion.

  • @MRK1sauce
    @MRK1sauce 5 років тому +168

    Hes got the accent of those fish from the Rock Bottom Episode of Spongebob

    • @te9591
      @te9591 5 років тому +3

      I was thinking zoidberg.

    • @littlepinkcactus
      @littlepinkcactus 4 роки тому +1

      I seriously lost it over that comment mate XD

  • @anthonyaurel6001
    @anthonyaurel6001 5 років тому +4

    Extraordinary analysis. Maybe he is right. We do not pursue happiness. We pursue the pursuit of happiness.

  • @MonsieurKonthaar
    @MonsieurKonthaar 2 роки тому +5

    As a person who has a very negative view of humanity (and myself) because of overthinking the human condition, i find it delightful to listen to this guy. It feels like i can put those thoughts to rest.

  • @Johnnyappl3seed63
    @Johnnyappl3seed63 Місяць тому +1

    No just do what makes you feel alive, and realize that happiness is fleeting and satisfaction is a better goal.

  • @dejureclaims8214
    @dejureclaims8214 9 років тому +500

    Slavoj is operating with a very limited definition of "happiness" in this one. It might be better if he specified "hedonism" or "immediate pleasure."
    If we define happiness as a "desirable state of mind", then being engaged in an intellectual pursuit can be a happy thing, as can enduring suffering with a purpose.
    I do agree that we're poor arbiters of what will ultimately make us happy, as any glance at a list of cognitive biases will attest.

    • @emotown1
      @emotown1 8 років тому +13

      +Alex Stein I didn't get the impression Slajov was referring to hedonism, although it might have sounded like that with his example of 'the mistress', which obviously shouldn't be read into too deeply. In any case, as john doe said, the definition is what is the problem in this sort of discussion. I like your 'desirable state of mind' definition. I think that, paradoxically, those who aren't philosophically preoccupied with their own happiness are probably the happiest of us!

    • @dejureclaims8214
      @dejureclaims8214 8 років тому +8

      Keith Roberts Ignorance isn't always bliss ;)

    • @emotown1
      @emotown1 8 років тому +10

      Yes, those poor fools who don't realize they're unhappy ....tsk, tsk. ;)

    • @jakob1063
      @jakob1063 8 років тому +1

      +Alex Stein
      I would say that its very narrow to claim that happiness is anything that makes you keep doing something. That is far from the meaning/usage of the word, and what traditional ethics is built on.
      I don't mean that happiness is a broader term, just something completely different.

    • @dejureclaims8214
      @dejureclaims8214 8 років тому +6

      Jakob I didn't define happiness as "something that makes you keep doing something." I would be very keen to do whatever a person holding a gun to my head told me, but I wouldn't be happy about it.

  • @dmtdreamz7706
    @dmtdreamz7706 Рік тому +3

    Slavoj is not just extreme pleasure. Slavoj is the realization of immortality and the realization that everything is heaven. When you realize that, it's so good, it's infinitely good. It's not just good. It's good to the infinite degree. It's so much goodness that you can't contain it. your body can't hold it. Your entire body shakes and shudders in a cosmic orgasm of bliss. It's perfection. It's total peace. It's absolute love, that's truly Slavoj.

  • @michaelmcateer1156
    @michaelmcateer1156 6 років тому +9

    I agree completely with Zizek on this matter, although I would have liked him to offer some gloss on the ancient Greek concept of eudaimon.

  • @basil9633
    @basil9633 Рік тому +2

    I would say this is alot easier said then done especially if you are already Intresting or if you don't have crippling economic circumstances leading to depression

  • @maratonec5
    @maratonec5 9 років тому +6

    i agree, we lose our personality without emotional suffer, we get dehumanized in a way

    • @practician5730
      @practician5730 5 років тому

      and why is it bad to lose personality, losing ego means you can see reality as it is.

    • @leagueofdraven6613
      @leagueofdraven6613 4 роки тому +1

      @@practician5730 But personality =/= ego

  • @theoffensiveidiot5996
    @theoffensiveidiot5996 4 роки тому +3

    This is beautiful

  •  5 років тому +9

    "Why be happy when you could be ecstatic" - David Pearce

  • @Paul-ck3dm
    @Paul-ck3dm Рік тому +2

    cool philosophic thought but the easy answer is... feeling happy feels better.

  • @ERRATICCHEESE2
    @ERRATICCHEESE2 10 років тому +528

    I claim, and let us be serious here, I claim this shirt is very itchy.

    • @gaspaxxxu
      @gaspaxxxu 10 років тому +8

      And sexy ;)

    • @andreme7326
      @andreme7326 6 років тому +24

      and so on, and so forth

    • @thenderson8135
      @thenderson8135 5 років тому

      There is some new philosophy worth t-shirts watch?v=KZwd_Gl-aN0&t=161s

    • @DominickDecocko
      @DominickDecocko 5 років тому

      he has diabetes so his sweats are full of sugars.

    • @mikicalic9651
      @mikicalic9651 5 років тому +2

      and i m pesimist here

  • @schmittenhammer
    @schmittenhammer 10 років тому +22

    So I haven't been wishy washy or confused all my life, just normal. Thank you!

    • @whuffo
      @whuffo 10 років тому +2

      It's quite possible to be happy AND interesting; those aren't opposites at all.

    • @andrewpearson1903
      @andrewpearson1903 6 років тому +2

      Not everyone is meant to be content. You and I are made for different things, vulf :)

  • @jarlbalgruufthegreater1758
    @jarlbalgruufthegreater1758 3 роки тому +6

    "I'm like a dog chasing cars, if I were cought one, I wouldn't know what to do with it" - Joker

  • @Fredric_Cedrich
    @Fredric_Cedrich 9 місяців тому +2

    This man inspires me

  • @BravoWifi
    @BravoWifi 10 років тому +12

    the hair movement on this guy makes him look really wise

  • @LoreleiLala
    @LoreleiLala 11 років тому +82

    I'd dispute this to some degree. One is happy when life is interesting, even if a level of suffering is involved. Happiness may be perceived as being a smiling idiot but that's not always the case. Pursuit of the interesting, creativity, or challenge may or may not include a feeling of happiness, depending on the situation, the person involved, their take on life, and whether they only accept happiness when they have what they think they want. I would suggest Zizek expands his interpretation of the concept. He does say 'happiness, for me, is a very conformist category', but he, as a philosopher, must surely be aware his limited interpretation is far from an absolute or all encompassing one. He seems to be talking about contentment, which is not happiness. In fact contentment can become boredom if it goes on for too long.

    • @WhiteCamry
      @WhiteCamry 11 років тому +18

      Indeed. Zizek decries happiness but he seems quite happy here, doing what he does.

    • @forfitlife
      @forfitlife 10 років тому +2

      The interesting life zizek puts forwards, is the wanting of an interesting life. In comparison to the pursuit for genuine happiness. But there's lots of claims he's making in his philosophy like the fact of hovering desires in proximity so it keeps us climbing, like aristotle's final cause towards a perfective singularity, we're just climbing towards this object. It's odd because then people wouldn't have it, zizek would have to say your letting go of your desire once you have it for the sake of allowing it to not bore you.

    • @butterbean86
      @butterbean86 10 років тому +8

      Good point.
      Also his view on desire is interesting. Many Asian philosophers would agree that obtaining your desire does not make you desireless. In fact it is our 'normal' neurotic state of the mind to want more and more and more. So it never ends.

    • @NakedSnake02
      @NakedSnake02 10 років тому

      Totally agree with you man. I believe in happiness in a wider sense of the word and that most people live for happiness though they might define it in their own terms.

    • @NakedSnake02
      @NakedSnake02 10 років тому

      butterbean86 I think it's the constant journey of happiness followed by the essential phases of contentment and sadness (i categorize sadness as the negative emotions each individual feels through their own paradigm) that makes the lives of most people

  • @kleinermannsr.8334
    @kleinermannsr.8334 8 років тому +45

    Problem is, it depends on what you call happiness. I suppose here, Zizek names "happiness" a kind of contentment, a calm situation like, sitting with a cigare and a glass of wine, listening to Mozart, under a not too hot sun in Spring, in your garden. I suppose for people this kind of situation isn't disagreable, but just too flat to be called "happiness".

  • @robertbrennan2268
    @robertbrennan2268 2 роки тому

    "We don't really want what we think we desire..." Splendid and illuminating!

  • @IanAannevik
    @IanAannevik 8 років тому +8

    I think this is kind of what it's like when you have a particular place in mind that you want to visit, and when you finally get there it's not at all like you imagined it to be. It needs to be at a distance, in a way. For instance how many people imagine Paris to be similar to how it is in the film Amelie, and when they get there they see how filthy and just city-like it really is.

    • @andrewpearson1903
      @andrewpearson1903 6 років тому +2

      The des Esseintes kid in "Á rebours" eating at an "English" restaurant in Paris instead of risking disappointment on a trip to London. What we want is not in the world.

  • @BingtheLizard
    @BingtheLizard 8 років тому +16

    It's demonstrated to me in my experience in gaming. The meaningful (and yes, enjoyable) part is the challenge, the rise towards the end "happy" state of the game where one pictures one's self dominating everything. When you finish the climb and can obliterate anything and everything with a single swing of a blade, it doesn't instigate joy. It births boredom. It's after that point that I start the game from scratch again; deleting my old save so that the inaccessibility of the end state becomes my drive for progress once more.

    • @AlbertOlli666
      @AlbertOlli666 8 років тому +1

      Great analysis here. Exactly what happens to me as well when I play video games.

    • @onyxianz8132
      @onyxianz8132 8 років тому +2

      That's a very accessible analogy of the idea and it hits home for me and i'm sure that it would hit home for many other young thinkers of the early 21st century.

  • @qqueuenstein5616
    @qqueuenstein5616 9 років тому +4

    Zizek conflates pleasure with happiness here. In his defense, so does much of humanity; it is to them he is speaking.

    • @guineapig55555
      @guineapig55555 9 років тому +8

      Q Queuenstein No he doesn't. His main point is just that happiness or pleasure or whatever other word you use for it does not lie in the ethical domain.
      the point is whether you're pursuing your goals as an end in themselves, or whether you're pursuing them just to be happy or satisfied. Zizek thinks the latter is morally wrong. You should be doing things because they are valuable in themselves, not because they give you happiness.
      For example, a serial killer kills and hurts other human beings, but that makes them happy. How can you possibly say happiness lies in the ethical domain here?

    • @Ray2311us
      @Ray2311us 4 роки тому

      happiness occurs when either emotions are fulfilled or the ego is fulfilled, and many times both.

    • @Ray2311us
      @Ray2311us 4 роки тому

      That's why there is a sweet spot when you practice discipline, you get a little of both for the most part.

    • @Ray2311us
      @Ray2311us 4 роки тому

      but who am I to know, right?

  • @cclark3
    @cclark3 2 роки тому +1

    That is so fascinatingly beautiful, when you are ready to suffer you begin to live.

  • @pkingo1
    @pkingo1 9 років тому +6

    Happiness isn't about getting what you desire :). It's the other way around - when you're happy what you desire comes to you.

  • @michakilijanek7437
    @michakilijanek7437 4 роки тому +5

    Wow.. it just struck me: Slavoy in the ending sentences just explained the ending of "American Beauty", which I couldn't really grasp as well as I can now with this psychoanalytic inside.

  • @alexsm3882
    @alexsm3882 3 роки тому +3

    I'm never really happy and I'm never really sad, I just keep moving forward. I'm not sure what this contributes to this topic but I've felt this way for quite some time, and I don't feel the need for extreme happiness, I'm not even sure what that is tbh.

  • @teti9087
    @teti9087 3 роки тому +1

    Happiness is an emotion you choose to experience not something to achieve or chase

  • @josipmarkic3917
    @josipmarkic3917 5 років тому +38

    This guy should say: “my name is Count Dracula”

    • @Woodside235
      @Woodside235 4 роки тому +1

      Misread as "Count Dankula" but that would certainly be interesting as well.

  • @rab8298
    @rab8298 5 років тому +6

    "We dont really want what we think we desire"

  • @captainsjam212
    @captainsjam212 9 років тому +18

    " Once you get what you want, you don't want it " - Marilyn Monroe

    • @93BlazinFire
      @93BlazinFire 3 роки тому +3

      Ah, yes, the great philosopher Marilyn Monroe. Very astute observation.

    • @JstJaybeingJay
      @JstJaybeingJay 3 роки тому

      @@93BlazinFire probably said while high on Coke... 😂. But I guess that also explains why she never settled for one partner.

  • @whosrichpurnell3328
    @whosrichpurnell3328 Рік тому

    This did actually change the way I think about social interactions and how people perceive you vs how you want people to perceive you

  • @drr6357
    @drr6357 4 роки тому +3

    One of the best two minutes in recorded human history

  • @jarodtall7876
    @jarodtall7876 10 років тому +14

    This is perhaps the greatest 2 minutes of my life.

    • @jarodtall7876
      @jarodtall7876 10 років тому

      Hey Jarod

    • @jarodtall7876
      @jarodtall7876 10 років тому

      Oh hey, how is it going.

    • @jarodtall7876
      @jarodtall7876 10 років тому

      I am good. How are you.

    • @jarodtall7876
      @jarodtall7876 10 років тому +2

      Just watching some youtube, while fondling my genitles.

    • @jarodtall7876
      @jarodtall7876 10 років тому +2

      I love doing that, in fact I am doing that at this very instant.

  • @YEET-yh6qc
    @YEET-yh6qc Рік тому +1

    Radical Philosophy that speaks to the middle class. Us poor people we want what we desire.. shelter,food, and a chance to sacrifice life.

  • @monicap3403
    @monicap3403 5 років тому +7

    This video should include "AKA why study computer science when you could go into humaniora studies in college"

  • @noticias6111
    @noticias6111 10 років тому +4

    For most of my life I've been a VERY pessismistic person with what some ppl might call interesting thoughts but never really happy.A few years back to add to that I found out I had Aspergers and could ruminate on how much of my behavior was b/c of that.However while I do respect Mr.Zizek (`_` who lost me 1/2 way-ish ''^_^) I still think that being happy is more important than being interesting,something oh so subject to the complications of perspectives from the interpersonal side of things.
    The issue is that with the majority of ppl there is on some innate level (ignore whether it cuz of "nature or nurture" for a moment) often the conventional normative idea of happiness as sensual a/o self-serving a/o a materialistic pursuit like fame,tonnes o'money,their own big company or a hot girlfriend (that might not even be mixed in with a lofty dose of a constructive principle a/o ideal).
    That is a kind of happiness that seems like a thing that to a person who ponders on that one idea of happiness and does not take it to be the only one, sees it as unappealing and smelling of conformity.Hook happiness up with interest and personal passion and I think Mr.Zizek would say something different and (from what I got) something less unfavorable about happiness.Or hey but by that point we can change it to calling it "joy" or do you wanna start off by describing and commenting on "joy" in the first place?
    That part about scientists dying cuz of radiation in the pursuit of knowledge?.Intellectualism?.That's a form of consequentialism/teleology with an undertone making the imperative that the best action is the one that best fosters and promotes knowledge.Not happiness.
    That's the key there.

    • @IsChrisHere
      @IsChrisHere 10 років тому +1

      I don't know if I completely understood the last part, but I believe you meant to argue that the scientist were pursuing knowledge and not happiness. I would argue that human happiness is a very complex thing, and finding knowledge may be the one thing that would bring the hypothetical scientists the most happiness. They wanted knowledge, because it would bring them happiness. Living any other way, doing anything else would, in their mind, bring them less happiness.
      People do things for happiness purposes either most of the times or all the time. One jumps before a train to save a kid, because one knows that one would not be able to live with oneself if one didn't. I am on youtube right now, procrastinating, because I somehow believe that this will make me happier than doing what I should be doing. To go back to what Zizek says about creative people willing to suffer for their creations: they know that suffering will bring them more happiness deep down.

    • @IsChrisHere
      @IsChrisHere 10 років тому +1

      Chris S I'll add: often part of the decision making process is other people's happiness. The brave soldier fighting for freedom in WOII might know that he could be leading a much happier life, but he fights anyway, because he thinks that his actions will bring more happiness to other people than anything he could be doing might bring himself.

    • @KuntushoNiyamoto
      @KuntushoNiyamoto 10 років тому

      Chris S
      do you really mean what you added then, or is it for comforting people? ~

    • @noticias6111
      @noticias6111 10 років тому +1

      Chris S
      I don't think it was only "creative people willing to suffer for their creations: they know that suffering will bring them more happiness deep down." though `_` I know that there are many purposes that aren't happy making that ppl committed.How I'd like to ask him if such a thing "2b more interesting than happy" would be something he'd request/press on as a normative role for children instead of happiness.Than what?.

  • @lynneperkins494
    @lynneperkins494 11 років тому +32

    Slavoj, there's a great little ditty written in the mid-20th Century by an American wit named Ogden Nash, and it sums up your point succinctly.
    As a rule,
    Man is a fool.
    When it is hot,
    He wants it cool.
    When it is cool,
    He wants it hot--
    Always wanting
    What is not.
    Perhaps the libertine with the sweet wife and mistress should read more poetry.

    • @awsomeadi
      @awsomeadi 10 років тому

      but you and slavoj or precisely exemplifying the unhappy man. i don't believe every man is unhappy

    • @lynneperkins494
      @lynneperkins494 10 років тому

      dopeboi123, I am not I sure what you mean. Why do I exemplify the unhappy man? Why do you think I think everyone is unhappy? Why do you think that I am unhappy?

    • @awsomeadi
      @awsomeadi 10 років тому

      im saying that the poem in your comment exemplifies the man who is not present, the man who desires what he does not have. it is true that this man is the unhappy man, it is not true that all man is like this. it is possible to be happy as the man that has rid himself of desires and found peace in the present. that is my point

    • @lynneperkins494
      @lynneperkins494 10 років тому +1

      I agree completely. I believe that Socrates' "Know thyself" is the first step to, if not happiness, than contentment. The poem says clearly, "As a rule..." and it's true. Too many of us do not understand what we are about, and as a result, we are unhappy. But what makes ME that way? You haven't answered.

    • @derPetunientopf
      @derPetunientopf 5 років тому

      I i remember correctly the Buddhists say that desire means suffering. If you stop desiring you are enlighted. But your daily life will basicly be the same. Chopping wood and carrying water (or whatever it is you do).

  • @RGMRT
    @RGMRT 3 роки тому

    This guy's accent really adds to everything and even though i'm not a big fan, but the passion of this man is enough to make his debate opponents throws in respect.

  • @andrejkocman
    @andrejkocman 10 років тому +5

    I know perfectly well what I desire, and believe me, it is what I truly want. Maybe because I am normal. In the past I reached my goals and I was truly happy. I wanted it to last. Now, that things got awkward, and astray from what I longed for, I am truly unhappy. And I don't find a bit of happiness in it. What you say is contradictory to what you represent. Why do you still do what you do then? To be unhappy? You truly are a slovenian product. I'll write no more.

    • @SkateSka
      @SkateSka 10 років тому +3

      Fulfillment and happiness are different things. You can live your life pursuing either one. Grab a dictionary sometime.
      I've been very happy lately. I've been sad too. I don't go looking for either of those states, I just try to act accordingly to my situation.
      I'm a musician, that's what I do, and because I like what I do I'm happy when I'm doing it. I'm NOT a musician because I want music to make me happy. I'm simply being me, that's fulfilling. I'm glad enough to be able to listen to the works of great people.
      Zizek is himself and I'm sure he's considered pretty successful, I can't speak for him as he is definitely smarter than me. I can bet he feels fulfillment when doing his work.
      What I'm saying is you see things in a reverse order.

    • @andrejkocman
      @andrejkocman 10 років тому

      I respect your opinion, I don't agree with you though.

    • @SkateSka
      @SkateSka 10 років тому

      Miracle Man Thanks for not arguing, I don't really have anything to add :D

    • @YouKilledYourMaster
      @YouKilledYourMaster 10 років тому

      Miracle Man I'm glad you decided to explain why you disagree. lol

    • @Reddles37
      @Reddles37 7 років тому

      Fulfillment is something that makes people happy. Consider this, if something were to suddenly go wrong with the wiring of your brain so that being fulfilled made you deeply unhappy, what would you do then? Would you really continue to seek fulfillment as a musician at the cost of being miserable all the time? If you became unhappy every time you played or listened to music, would you keep doing it?
      It seems obvious to me that fulfillment is only a means to an end, people want to be fulfilled because it gives them a deeper sense of happiness than the superficial happiness you get from things happening in the moment. If being fulfilled and being happy are ever in conflict, i'm sure most people would choose happiness. Take you for instance, why did you decide to be a musician instead of doing something else. I'm sure there must be some subject you didn't enjoy, why did you not seek fulfillment by studying that? When you say that you are "simply being me", is that not another way of saying that you are doing the things that make you happy rather than the things that don't?

  • @dav786
    @dav786 8 років тому +484

    *wannabee smart comment

    • @andrewpearson1903
      @andrewpearson1903 6 років тому +19

      Police help yes I'm at the corner of seventeenth and main and I've just been satirized. Someone I didn't even know him just came up and poked fun at me. I think it was cutting -- yes it was really cutting arrrgh it hurts

    • @waswaswad
      @waswaswad 5 років тому +26

      Smartass arrogant answer

    • @Stefano-dd2sf
      @Stefano-dd2sf 5 років тому +12

      @@waswaswad cliche sarcastic comment

    • @maxospeedo2497
      @maxospeedo2497 5 років тому +3

      @@Stefano-dd2sf *no no he has got a point typical meme reply

    • @tuffguy8656
      @tuffguy8656 5 років тому +3

      this changed my life. thank you!

  • @AdobadoFantastico
    @AdobadoFantastico 9 років тому +118

    Slavoj is interesting, but I can never decide if I think he's full of shit, or not. Very thought provoking, at the least.

    • @mrguysnailz4907
      @mrguysnailz4907 9 років тому +6

      Anguel Roumenov Bogoev perfect insight on the guy. I like listening to him,anyways.

    • @DerHammerSpricht
      @DerHammerSpricht 9 років тому +20

      Anguel Roumenov Bogoev I feel the same about him more or less. I think that's mostly his mission, to provoke thought for the sake of provoking thought. He certainly seems more like an "interesting" guy than a "happy" guy.

    • @stdrum-nb6qr
      @stdrum-nb6qr 9 років тому +2

      Anguel Roumenov Bogoev yeah, that was clearly a mindfuck

    • @matthewthewthew
      @matthewthewthew 9 років тому +14

      Well he's doing his job then. The role of a philosopher is to ask questions and provoke debate.

    • @AdobadoFantastico
      @AdobadoFantastico 9 років тому

      Matthew Hayhow I guess so :P

  • @ayanavolahiri3122
    @ayanavolahiri3122 3 роки тому +1

    "We don't really want what we think we desire" most appropriately said.

  • @jsepulvedas
    @jsepulvedas 5 років тому +8

    He seems to be confusing happiness for comfort or pleasure, but he's right.

  • @brianroman4114
    @brianroman4114 7 років тому +12

    "I'm not a murderer"

  • @onurbole7921
    @onurbole7921 4 роки тому +14

    Lol this happened to me. I was out having fun with some crazy women, sometimes getting obsessed with them, considering my gf of 7 years as an obstacle. Well I didn't really change my attitude towards her, she was still my priority, sex was still good etc. But that's the point, I saw her as an obstacle because I was not able to get serious with someone else or spend time with them as much. Then she left me, which was so devastating and unexpected. Now I got a few women still infatuated with me, but I refuse to see them, I ghosted them, I don't even find them attractive anymore. It's been 3 months and there is no second that I haven't thought of my ex. Even when I tried to date new women, I realized I was really imagining my gf and putting them in her place, which got me more depressed and I stopped lol.

    • @renebleu8711
      @renebleu8711 4 роки тому +2

      Onur Böle Move on. If she comes back, don’t take her back. Don’t operate from scarcity.

    • @rizkibandang4619
      @rizkibandang4619 4 роки тому

      kings move

    • @benderisback619
      @benderisback619 3 роки тому

      That's because you're yet to heal from your addictive ex. I suggest rehab by not getting into a relationship or having sex for a year or two.

  • @01_rickyjulianto_fh10
    @01_rickyjulianto_fh10 2 місяці тому +1

    i think what he tryna say is "what we want is what we don't have until we have it, it's not guaranteed makes us happy. the desire make us happy not the desired"

  • @ljeonjko
    @ljeonjko 7 років тому +7

    "Why Be Happy When You Could Be Interesting?" "happiness is, for me, a very conformist category." so being interesting to other people, meaning, conforming to social standards of interesting, is more important than your personal fulfillment?

  • @CalleHunefalk
    @CalleHunefalk 11 років тому +7

    Slavoj Zizek this sounds intriguing, but is based on an ignorant view of happiness. Clinging to the "next big thing" or something "over there" will never bring you happiness - there will always be something more on the horizon. Understanding the movements of the mind, letting go of the never-ending grasping after something unreachable, you can actually find it within yourself. Now that'd be radical, wouldn't it?

    • @Sjepsenmia
      @Sjepsenmia 11 років тому

      Actually that's buddism

    • @CalleHunefalk
      @CalleHunefalk 10 років тому

      Søren Jepsen The point is that there's a difference in how we perceive happiness. Slavoj Zizek takes one view of what happiness is, and communicates it as "the only right way to see it". The point was just that you can see it differently, figuring out what happiness is on your own. My view of happiness is very different from the view communicated in this video, but that's not related to any religion.

    • @vanderherring
      @vanderherring 10 років тому

      Calle Hunefalk You ever thought that he might use the term happiness in a narrower sense (pursuit of desire) than you? In other words, it is a good habit to think if the person uses the terms the same as you do before you criticize. I had the same arguments as you (maybe I worded them less arrogantly) but then thought a bit and made the conclusion that if you speak of happiness that comes from fulfiffling desires, then it makes 100% sense. And probably that's what Zizek was about.

    • @CalleHunefalk
      @CalleHunefalk 10 років тому

      Michał Jaros The comment was never meant as criticism. I do apologize if the wording came across arrogantly, that was certainly not the intention, either. More in the way of "there are other ways of seeing it". However, I take your comment to heart, and will carefully select the wording on comments in the future. Thank you.

  • @ismellrudolph
    @ismellrudolph 8 років тому +7

    His twitching and constant camera movement makes me so fucking anxious

  • @content2sales
    @content2sales 3 роки тому +1

    The process is greater than the outcome.

  • @WuShogun212
    @WuShogun212 10 років тому +9

    Though i agree that sometimes we don't always want what we desire at this moment because us humans can get real materialist or just envious and want things just to have them. But to say that happiness is not important or people don't really want to be happy its just a ridiculous statement, what you are saying is an extreme assumption that you could never accurately prove. Happiness is subjective, everybody's idea of happiness is different, his happiness is probably telling other people that they don't want to be happy XD.

    • @collinsmugodo380
      @collinsmugodo380 10 років тому +1

      I think what he's saying is...simply being happy is not satisfactory. Happiness is a frame of mind that is always available and easy to achieve for the most part. People who have left legacies and built things that they're proud of be it through pain or some other dark emotion, like Mandela for example or Darwin or Steve Jobs are the people who at the end of their lives feel content...those guys were not necesarily 'happy' for a good portion of their lives...but they definitely were interesting.

    • @FaiThEisTT
      @FaiThEisTT 10 років тому

      "But to say that happiness is not important or people don't really want to be happy its just a ridiculous statement, what you are saying is an extreme assumption that you could never accurately prove." What you are saying is an extreme assumption that you could never accurately prove, either. Think about it.

    • @LifeLikeSage
      @LifeLikeSage 10 років тому +2

      collins mugodo
      But why would someone want to leave a legacy? For some perceived notion of reward that equates to happiness no?
      I would say that happiness is something that is beneficial to an individual, but if taken too heavily into account detrimental to a society.

    • @collinsmugodo380
      @collinsmugodo380 10 років тому

      LifeLikeSage I'm yet to meat someone who doesn't want to leave a legacy. Of course after you leave this world you would want to have affected it in some way

    • @LifeLikeSage
      @LifeLikeSage 10 років тому +5

      collins mugodo
      "He who dies with the most toys still dies"
      I recommend you mull over what drives you to leave a legacy. Chances are it is egocentric and subjective.
      When broken down, egocentric behaviors equate to nothing more than irrational programming to ensure that an organism passes down its genetic material; the purpose, or better yet driving force, is the fact that anything that more effectively reproduces itself will have more of itself propagated and existing. So yes, you would expect to see a vast majority of humans wishing to leave a legacy of offspring and/or technology to immortalize the specific individual they were when they were alive.
      I ask you to deeply question the driving forces behind your choices and understand the difference between what constitutes You and what constitutes genetic biological urges that manipulate you to carry out actions without the consent of your will. The urge to eat is a great example of a biological urge that is not cognitively you, but instead simply a mechanism enslaving you for the purpose of basic survival. It's important that you take notice that your desire to leave a legacy is not originally a conscious choice, it's a genetic compulsion.
      Billions of years after our sun has swollen into a red giant and engulfed Earth along with all of the other inner planets, any remnants of anyone's "legacy" will be effectively eradicated.
      You mentioned that you have never met an individual that didn't want to leave a vain fingerprint on the planet they inhabited... Well, now you can say you have. I'll leave you with this alternative to leaving your dent on this world:
      "It's not about changing the world, it's about doing our best to keep the world as it was before we arrived, respecting the will of others, and believeing in our own."

  • @UltimateKyuubiFox
    @UltimateKyuubiFox 11 років тому +4

    'Sadness is happiness for deep people.' I love when people quote Doctor Who and nobody notices.

  • @IronCandyNotes
    @IronCandyNotes 11 років тому +6

    Drugs can show you how ugly happiness can be... over accumulation of happiness you could call it.
    The way is the goal and happy moments keep you motivated to go on.
    Intelligence is a recursive greedy algorithm...gives you some reward and more if you made the right choice again.
    Happiness is also limited... it needs certain ressources to produce the feeling so choices that help you get the resources are rewarded... leading to the drug problem of overaccumulation.
    My point is Im bored and writing this made me happy and rethink my idea of happiness and now that I think about it the video could be much more complex ;D

  • @sailesteele4372
    @sailesteele4372 2 роки тому

    One could argue that happiness is, indeed, the ultimate goal and suffering is the pathway to achieving that goal. We suffer in our creative pursuits to be able to gain fulfilment, satisfaction, happiness.

  • @BigIdeaSeeker
    @BigIdeaSeeker 11 років тому +11

    When Dracula becomes a grandpa.

    • @uncleplugs
      @uncleplugs 11 років тому +3

      He said 'I'm not a murderer' very quickly. I'm not convinced.