Might be happiness for some, but it's certainly not freedom, in any normal sense of the word.
this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2024
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In what sense? Aside from whether it's practical to really desire nothing, if you could wouldn't you be free by definition because you could do and have absolutely everything you wanted, that being nothing?
Nobody wants nothing, that’s conceptually silly
At the very least and no matter how humble your threshold is, everyone wants food, shelter and some kind of company.
The first 2 cannot be attained for free in our world's ergo, you cannot be free from whatever obligations you may incurr to procure them
This is all nice theoretical advice.... Not to be used literally in practice
Buddhism?
Yup
I mean. sounds like buddhism.
To quote the decimal system:
I expect nothing, and I'm still let down.
As someone who is driven to create, this is just not true for me. I am constantly wanting this or that in order to create something magical. Just accepting what is, does not lead to creation. Being creative is freedom for me.
Freedom from what?
I think there's an important distinction to make with this: contentment vs complacency. They're similar, but distinct. Contentment resonates more with the gratefulness aspect of your statement, whereas "wanting nothing" leans more toward complacency. Contentment is more oriented with a sense of joy or peace, whereas complacency is apathetic and numb. Only one of those sounds like freedom to me.
In addition, I would argue that it's impossible for a human to truly "want nothing" (sorry Buddhist friends). Even the most enlightened soul would desire to see peace throughout the world. In fact, if you truly wanted nothing, I don't think gratefulness would even be possible--what is there to be grateful for if you didn't want any of it in the first place?
Related reading: the Oatmeal on Happiness
I like ducks 🦆
Same here and I'm lucky enough to have them visit my back yard regularly. 🦆🦆
Be careful you don't have a panic attack when they leave your pool
I certainly haven't figure out how to be happy without being grateful. And I've noticed comparison seems to serve little purpose other than to undermine gratitude.
Sounds like propaganda from horrible dystopian society.
Although there was a study done on lottery winners to see if they were happier after 6 months. They were not
he who knows when enough is enough will always have enough
So stop all the commercials telling us how much better things can be
Seneca taught us that contented poverty is an honourable estate.