Is there any value in being content? Would it not promote stagnation?

Question

Seems to me it is better to never be content, to keep searching and discovering.

Answer 1

I believe a person can be content and not become stagnate. In my opinion being content just means that you feel well balanced and happy. That you are not restless. You can still search and discover and explore life as you go and be content at the same time.

Answer 2

Yes contentment has value. So does striving for more. It's a tradeoff. Constantly yearning, searching & discovering can certainly make life interesting. The more you learn & take risks, the more you grow as a person. It can be exciting and rewarding. But to live this way all the time & never settle down can be exhausting. Sometimes it's nice to sit back, relax & just be. Be content with who you are, where you are & what you have. That is true happiness. It doesn't have to mean stagnation. You can enjoy hobbies, time with loved ones etc. But you don't have to keep pushing yourself. When you're happy with yourself you don't feel that you have something to prove.

Perhaps you see contentment as complacency. Someone in a comfortable rut who is just settling, stagnating. Not really happy, just ok. A dull uneventful existence. This is a mistake. A trap too many people fall into.

I'd like to think it's possible to have both contentment & personal growth.

Answer 3

Yes, we need to keep searching and looking and trying to understand what we can never understand. The part of your question about "promoting stagnation" reminds me of something I heard once on a news TV show. A native worker was leaving the country of South Africa where he had been working and going back to his "home land." The voice on the program said something like --- "And now he is returning to his home land where everybody is equal and where so many starve." Stagnation takes place when nobody tries to "reach higher." The world would be a sad place if everybody was EQUAL to me!
I am glad that there are many people who are NOT equal to me!
Inequality produces progress.

Answer 4

Thank you for a great question..... set me really thinking !!

In order to be curious or seeker of knowledge or adventurous, it is not necessary to be discontented with the present. The aim to excel is quite different from the pressure to change arising from the pain of dissatisfaction. Being contented therefore does not mean stagnation...... it just means that there is no great complaints about the present though there are aims and hopes for the future. This is the win win situation we should strive for........ freely exploring the future without the compulsive pressure from present dissatisfaction!!

Answer 5

You are taking the word "content", out of "content"! You see, you must understand the value of the word and then you can use it properly. I believe you meant to say, "satisfied". A person that is satisfied with his/her life does nothing to improve the quality of it. They contribute nothing to their surroundings,or community. They live a rather "useless & boring" life. But one can be "content" with the life they are living, be grateful for what they have, but not "satisfied" with their fulfillment of knowledge and wonder! I have lived my life never stopping, always learning and I live by this motto: "read a book,grow a brian". and "a day without knowledge,is a day wasted". Keep learning, life is wonderful and full of mysteries yet unsolved. Merry Christmas.

Answer 6

I think you may be contemplating a false problem. You are looking at things from a typically western viewpoint - there is a problem. We solve it. We achieve a new state of equilibrium. Then, a new problem appears for us to solve.
But life is movement. These plateaus of contentment are only illusions. Solving a problem is not necessarily an interruption of life; it is an integral part of it.

Answer 7

Well, I think that we can't just sit around being contented in such a diverse world. We always want to do things...to experience things...it's great to be contented, but in a momentary way.

Answer 8

Yes. The value is stopping and smelling the roses. and Yes it would promote stagnation but it really depends if you like smelling roses.

Answer 9

The contentment is referred to material possessions... Only then there is scope to seek something more lasting and precious !

Answer 10

Definition of "content"

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1) - Cite This Source
con·tent1 /ˈkɒntɛnt/ Pronunciation Key -
Pronunciation[kon-tent] Pronunciation Key -
Pronunciation
–noun
1. Usually, contents.
a. something that is contained: the contents of a box.
b. the subjects or topics covered in a book or document.
c. the chapters or other formal divisions of a book or document: a table of contents.
2. something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing, or any of various arts: a poetic form adequate to a poetic content.
3. significance or profundity; meaning: a clever play that lacks content.
4. substantive information or creative material viewed in contrast to its actual or potential manner of presentation: publishers, record companies, and other content providers; a flashy Web site, but without much content.
5. that which may be perceived in something: the latent versus the manifest content of a dream.
6. Philosophy, Logic. the sum of the attributes or notions comprised in a given conception; the substance or matter of cognition.
7. power of containing; holding capacity: The bowl's content is three quarts.
8. volume, area, or extent; size.
9. the amount contained.
10. Linguistics. the system of meanings or semantic values specific to a language (opposed to expression).

a. Mathematics. the greatest common divisor of all the coefficients of a given polynomial. Compare primitive polynomial.
b. any abstraction of the concept of length, area, or volume.
[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME (< AF) < ML contentum, n. use of neut. of L contentus (ptp. of continére to contain), equiv. to con- con- + ten- hold + -tus ptp. suffix]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1) - Cite This Source
con·tent2 /kənˈtɛnt/ Pronunciation Key -
Pronunciation[kuhn-tent] Pronunciation Key -
Pronunciation
–adjective
1. satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.
2. British. agreeing; assenting.
3. Archaic. willing.
–verb (used with object)
4. to make content: These things content me.
–noun
5. the state or feeling of being contented; contentment: His content was threatened.
6. (in the British House of Lords) an affirmative vote or voter.
[Origin: 1400–50; late ME < MF < L contentus satisfied, special use of ptp. of continére; see content1]

—Related forms
con·tent·a·ble, adjective
con·tent·ly, adverb
con·tent·ness, noun



Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source
con·tent 1 (kŏn'těnt') Pronunciation Key
n.

1. Something contained, as in a receptacle. Often used in the plural: the contents of my desk drawer; the contents of an aerosol can.

1. The individual items or topics that are dealt with in a publication or document. Often used in the plural: a table of contents.
2. The material, including text and images, that constitutes a publication or document.
3. The substantive or meaningful part: "The brain is hungry not for method but for content, especially content which contains generalizations that are powerful, precise, and explicit" (Frederick Turner).
4. The meaning or significance of a literary or artistic work.

1. The substantive or meaningful part: "The brain is hungry not for method but for content, especially content which contains generalizations that are powerful, precise, and explicit" (Frederick Turner).
2. The meaning or significance of a literary or artistic work.
3. The proportion of a specified substance: Eggs have a high protein content.



[Middle English, from Medieval Latin contentum, neuter past participle of Latin continēre, to contain; see contain.]


The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source
con·tent 2 (kən-těnt') Pronunciation Key
adj.

1. Desiring no more than what one has; satisfied.
2. Ready to accept or acquiesce; willing: She was content to step down after four years as chief executive.


tr.v. con·tent·ed, con·tent·ing, con·tents
To make content or satisfied: contented himself with one piece of cake.

n. Contentment; satisfaction.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin contentus, past participle of continēre, to restrain; see contain.]


The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
WordNet - Cite This Source
content

adjective
1. satisfied or showing satisfaction with things as they are; "a contented smile" [syn: contented] [ant: discontent]

noun
1. everything that is included in a collection; "he emptied the contents of his pockets"; "the two groups were similar in content"
2. what a communication that is about something is about [syn: message]
3. the proportion of a substance that is contained in a mixture or alloy etc.
4. the amount that can be contained; "the gas tank has a capacity of 12 gallons" [syn: capacity]
5. the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned
6. the state of being contented with your situation in life; "he relaxed in sleepy contentedness"; "they could read to their heart's content" [syn: contentedness]
7. something (a person or object or scene) selected by an artist or photographer for graphic representation; "a moving picture of a train is more dramatic than a still picture of the same subject" [syn: subject]

verb
1. satisfy in a limited way; "He contented himself with one glass of beer per day"
2. make content; "I am contented" [ant: discontent]

WordNet® 2.1, © 2005 Princeton University
American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source

content

see to one's heart's content.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.