Why are humans generally unhappy?

Question

All other creatures seem to live such peacefull lives. I know this will all boil down to some scientific facts about brain structure and how we have a cortex, but please save yourself the time.. I know already about that. I'm basically asking why this notion exists, universally. We are never happy with what we have, or who we are. I've yet to figure this out.

To Tallloolla:
I got this from living in 3 different countries, in 2 different continents, and visiting about 15 other countries.

Answer 1

well are unhappy of their lifestyle.

Answer 2

Humans are unhappy creatures because they're always selfishly lusting after things they cannot have, and then sitting about miserably wondering why they can't have it. They forget to look at what they have already - clenched tightly in their greedy fists - and seem to think themselves deserving more.

Other creatures live so peacefully because they know their place; they're either predator or prey. They know that and yet they let flow the balance. Wolf packs are an exceptionally good example of this. There's the alpha and the omega, and yet each wolf gets to eat.

As to the last part of your discussion question, I don't really know either, scientifically; but personally, I like to get inside the mind of my oppressors, so here's what I have to say on that: humans are never satisfied with who they are, because they feel the need to change themselves to please the public eye. I once harbored such feelings - I'm very ashamed of the peppy popularity-seeker I once was in third, fourth-fifth grade. Now that I've gotten older - smarter - and I've fallen in with my crowd, I've kind of embraced the real me, and not the me everyone wants to see.

I'm only just starting high school...so I have no clue about any of the scientific stuff....I only speak from experience....'Cause when it all comes down to push or shove, what better kind of answer is there?

~Taisi

Answer 3

You're making assumptions. Humanity does so.
This notion is assumed and it may not be factual.
The answers don't always boil down to the scientific facts like you're expecting. Example being me. I don't understand what the cortex have to do with anything.
Please allow people to answer without confining them.
You're asking a question to people about people, and humans in general cannot figure this out because we are people.
I've discussed this with various psychologists, it's not as simple as it seems. There's no one real answer. You're looking at humans from a pessimistic point of view, and others may view it from the more optimistic.
It's the development of humanity in general, as can be viewed in history.

Answer 4

Too self centered maybe, into their own lives? How do I know? I've been there just like everyone else and I'm still not sure.

There's an obscure song "The Answer To Everything" that says "do you love me, really love me, it's the answer to everything if you do". Maybe that's it.

Love is an answer, to give love, not just feel love.

Feeling unhappy? Help someone and chances are you'll feel better. It doesn't have to be anything big,

If all else fails, listen to a yodeling song or something unusual that makes you feel good.

There is no one answer to why people feel unhappy. Maybe it's something mental, a lost love, someone dies, illness, the state of the world.

To give.

Everyone is unhappy some of the time. Only the strong survive.

Answer 5

I find that many people are afraid to be happy. No, wait, I said that wrong. People are afraid to do what it takes to make themselves happy. We spend our days worrying about what others will think about us, how our actions will be perceived.

I spent the last 10 years of my life being unhappy almost all of the time. Why did I do it? Simple, it was the "right" thing to do. I was acting in accordance to what society thought was the right thing to do.

Then I saw what it would take to make me happy. The one chance I had to smile regularly. I had let it slip past me about 5 years ago. This time I jumped at it. I grabbed on with both hands and I am holding on tight. Some people think I am being selfish. But my actions are not causing any harm on anyone that they aren't inflicting on themselves or having inflicted upon those who are telling them that my actions are wrong.

Guess what...I am happy. I smile almost constantly. I feel a joy I never knew existed. All because I chose to ignore societies taboos.

My actions don't violate any laws and I refuse to go into detail as it is personal. My point is simply this, people many times chose to be unhappy because they think they are stuck or they are doing the right thing. They ignore opportunity to step outside of their bubble for fear of failure, embarrassment or something else along those lines.

If we would all just try to do whatever it takes to be happy - without doing anything to intentionally cause harm to another - this world would be a better place.

Answer 6

If I had to give an answer, I'd say, generally, people are unhappy and it is a notion in their minds, not just chemical imbalances. There are exceptions of course.

I'd have to say the reason is fear. No one is exempt from unhappy events like losing their job to tragic events like losing a loved one in an accident or to a disease. And they just don't happen once, they happen several times and at every point of you life, it's hard to find a time period when you didn't have a friend or relative who was going through a hard time for one reason or another.

I really do think the answer is fear -- when we realize we really don't have full control of our lives or anything ressembling full control.

Answer 7

I don't know that everyone is unhappy, but if you are looking for an scientific reason as to why this could be true. Maybe there is a survival benefit to it. Always wanting more, to improve our living conditions increases our chances of survival.


Or maybe society has changed so fast that our way of life today is so different than the millions of years of evolution that lead us to this point. Technology has skyrocketed compared to the slow pace of evolution. There is still a primitive mind inside us that senses something wrong.

Answer 8

First of all, the other creatures are not living peaceful lives. Try to remember the food chain. There is nothing more violent than the nature of nature.....The seemingness of things are usually the opposite of what they appear to be. Although people seem to be unhappy, noone wants to give up their lives willingly. Unfortunately, we as conscious being must live with the dualism that comes with being human. We may not be happy with what we have, but we can certainly be happy with what we don't have, depending on what part of the globe we live on.

Answer 9

My personal belief on this is that it stems the nature of human interaction. We all have minds with thoughts, beliefs, and ideas; these different notions on the nature of everything from apples to quantum physics in a way isolate us from one another due to our different values, beliefs, and identities which characterize us as individuals. These seperate beliefs allow misinterpretation between human beings due to our different perspectives and self-serving attitudes. This often changes the focus of what the other person was saying into a warped notion of what they were originally trying to present. This ultimately causes us pain, because as humans we all have the base need to be understood and accepted for what we try to present. This seemingly unavoidable pain that follows human contact leads humans to the afformentioned unhappiness in attempting to gain our base needs without the unintentional hurt it so often carries with it. Least that's what I think. It explains why other species seem so happy; they just don't really care about expression of thought.

Answer 10

I think because humans are unhappy because we have the unique responsibility of being in charge of our own destinies, and the destiny of all living things.

Animals use thousands and thousands of generations of naturally occurring success and failure, to decide their fates. They let Nature take its course, and are in general, blissfully unaware of just about everything. If their adaptations to nature fails, then whole species get wiped out. Extinction.
Of course animals don't know this. They are "happy", because they're going on instinct like little robots. Just following their programs with few adjustments over the centuries. Happy and void.

Humans on the other hand, being bright and curious creatures, have a small but growing understanding of our universe and an understanding of our fates. We have a responsibility that comes with knowledge. The responsibility to preserve life. To protect not only us, but ALL life on the planet. For better or worse, We are in charge of the lives of all these blissfully unaware creatures, so they can continue to exist. It is our unique fate to oversee all things that happen on this little blue ball, rotating around the sun. I don't know about you, but that sort of responsibility makes me unhappy at times.

Answer 11

Because it is. Not because I "want something more" or "something is not good enough"; it is because that is how we work. Misery. The primary motivation to get a lot of people to do something? Fear. Most of the world's economic system is based on competition - competition implies winning and losing. There MUST be loser (and not always a winner) - someone MUST suffer for someone else to prosper. We are animals, like anything else, and beating down anything that is a threat to finding a mate or food is all we are capable of - in more complex incarnations. We are vicious animals, misery is necessary for the society we have built to continue.