How do you distinguish a degenerate case of ‘happiness’ from ‘satiation of a need’. Is the smoker or heroin addict made ‘happy’ by their fix? Does a glass of water make you ‘happy’ if you’re dying from thirst, or does it just satiate the thirst?
And can’t the same sensation be either ‘happy’ or ‘unhappy’ depending on the circumstances. A person with persistent sexual arousal syndrome isn’t made ‘happy’ by the orgasms they can’t help but ‘endure’.
The idea that there’s a “raw happiness feeling” detachable from the information content that goes with it is intuitively appealing but fatally flawed.
And can’t the same sensation be either ‘happy’ or ‘unhappy’ depending on the circumstances? A person with persistent sexual arousal syndrome isn’t made ‘happy’ by the orgasms they can’t help but ‘endure’.
Yes, this is true. We will need to assume that the button can analyze the context to determine how to provide happiness for the particular brain it’s attached to.
My point is that happiness is not necessarily associated with accomplishment or objective improvement in oneself (though it can be). In such a situation, some people might not value this kind of detached happiness, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happiness.
How do you distinguish a degenerate case of ‘happiness’ from ‘satiation of a need’. Is the smoker or heroin addict made ‘happy’ by their fix? Does a glass of water make you ‘happy’ if you’re dying from thirst, or does it just satiate the thirst?
And can’t the same sensation be either ‘happy’ or ‘unhappy’ depending on the circumstances. A person with persistent sexual arousal syndrome isn’t made ‘happy’ by the orgasms they can’t help but ‘endure’.
The idea that there’s a “raw happiness feeling” detachable from the information content that goes with it is intuitively appealing but fatally flawed.
Yes, this is true. We will need to assume that the button can analyze the context to determine how to provide happiness for the particular brain it’s attached to.
My point is that happiness is not necessarily associated with accomplishment or objective improvement in oneself (though it can be). In such a situation, some people might not value this kind of detached happiness, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happiness.