Hacker News Reader

Not really, no. Unless you redefine happiness so broadly that it loses all meaning.

What are the motivations behind what you're doing? Because likely, at the very least it stems from a Pavlovian habit originally triggered by happiness.

"There is nothing in goodness above pleasure, there is nothing in evil below pain" - Sefer Yetzirah (Hebrew book of creation)

When it comes down to it happiness is the point of life.

You can experience compulsions that don't make you feel good. That mental illness, broadly defined, and very common.

It's true with the normal definition of happiness. Think about it. Whatever you're doing now is an attempt to get you to a happy state. If you're already happy, it'll fade and you will take more actions to be happy again. This seems to be part of our human condition.

And it's an 'additive' kind, being that I get an additional boost of happy neurotransmitter thinking I'm adding a beneficial comment, thus potentially helping a reader to an understanding I have & perceive that they might not have as strong a grasp of. I like to help, thus am happier. If the form button fails to submit my contribution, I feel disappointment. At having wasted the effort in trying to contribute, but moreso, at not contributing.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com