How to Satisfy Our Desires #080
Epicurus and the Pursuit of Happiness
Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher who had this idea that if we look at the world and we look at what makes us happy, then it seems that our happiness always depends on a difference, a distance between the place where we are at the moment in our lives and the place we want to be. If this distance is very big, then this makes us unhappy. If the distance is small, or if we are already at the place where we want to be, then we are happy.
The Problem with Desire
Now, the problem with this idea is that this distance can be bridged in two ways. If I want something, I can try to get it, and then I think I will be happy. But this is not always going to work, because if I want something and I satisfy my want, then I will next want something else, something beyond that, and then perhaps another thing beyond that. And in this way, this series of wants never ends. Therefore, fulfilling my wants, fulfilling my desires, is not really a good idea.
Reducing Desires
It is a much better idea to try to reduce my desires to the level where I am now. My desires are not given by God, Epicurus says. They are things that my brain creates. I create my desires, and it is in my control to reduce them. And so, by reducing my desires, I can bring them down to the level where I am now or a level that I can easily reach. And in this way, I can be happy at this moment without needing anything else.
