If we didn't know what sadness feels like, would we know what happiness is?

Answer 1

no, we are contrast creatures. The way humans make sense of the world is by differentiating between things, eg our concept of what is yellow only exists because we can distinguish it from other colours. It works the same way for everything we perceive.

Answer 2

Yes. There is no such thing as a one sided coin.

When you draw a shape on a page, you define two things, the shape, and the rest of the page. If that contrast did not exist, the shape would not exist. Not only would you not be able to distinguish the shape from the rest, the shape really wouldn't exist. Another example, if everything were just one color, then there would not be any such a thing as color.

If people were happy all the time, and there are no times when people are sad, the word happy loses meaning. You would not need to use that word in your vocubalary. You would never need to say "I am happy".

In simple terms, its the same way that saying goes, "you don't know what you've got till its gone." Nothing exists unless it is able to contrast itself with something else.

Answer 3

If we didn't know what sadness feels like, we could never truly appreciate happiness. If life was always sunshine and lollipops, even that would become boring after awhile. So I think it is necessary to the human maturation process to learn to tolerate frustration and loss because that is a big part of the human condition. I recommend Carly Simon's song, "Comin' Around Again." She addresses sadness/happiness as a cycle - full of truth, that song is.

Answer 4

But if you ask this question, you are assuming that you know what sadness is. You are naming a feeling in your heart and very often the heart is not an ideal measuring instrument.

If sadness is the pain you feel when someone you love has died, then happiness is...the opposite?

Is sadness bad? Is it merely a substance of the heart or one of the head?

Answer 5

Nope. Thats the reason why I always believed in that old saying "you have to get through the storm to receive the rainbow". Bad times or sadness always make you feel more grateful for the good times or the happy times.

Answer 6

Yes,I think,you could just know what happiness is,and not sadness.

Answer 7

Pleasure is the fulfillment of sensory organs including Mind and body
Happiness is the fulfillment of wisdom better, Nous)
Joy, Bliss is the fulfillment off Soul or Atma

The first two are material related and tied; hence they are temporary; Sadness is thus the shadow cast by happiness and happiness is the interlude between two sadnesses

Answer 8

We are a rather good/evil society. We may know quite a bit if we didn't listen to everyone else's idea of happiness.

:)

Answer 9

Yet another reason why I am reluctant to live in an after-life-world where God forces constant joy into your heart while you mindlessly praise him for all of eternity. I dont want to be a drone... reprogrammed. I need to suffer, even in heaven... or else there is no purpose to get out of my cloud in the morning. Such bad feelings is what makes us strive to succeed and to better ourselves.

Answer 10

We're not likely to appreciate our happiness if we had nothing to compare it with & this would detract from the intensity of the happiness, making it more of a neutral state than a pleasant one.