Premise Check -- Is This Happiness?

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Premise Check -- Is This Happiness?
 
The following video hit too many of my buttons to ignore. So let's drag it out into the middle of the floor and let the cat smell it.
 
From the blurb on Vimeo (account of "Inhabitants of Burque"):

I hit the streets and asked many homeless people to dance to Pharrell's "Happy" from the Despicable Me 2 Soundtrack. As they danced, smiles and laughter overcame their body. Many of them hadn't danced in years, but in this moment they felt happy. It is amazing what something as simple as dancing can do for someone in a tough situation. The result of this project was beautiful and I hope you feel the beauty too when you watch it.

 

Happy (Homeless People Dance Video) -Music by Pharrell from Inhabitants of Burque on Vimeo.

The sheer contrast between the dire situation of these homeless people and the happiness they expressed as they boogied tugs strongly at my budding fiction-writing muscle. Talk about dramatic contrast! And it is true, not faked. What's worse, this is the kind of contrast Rand employed over and over (albeit, she always had reasons that aligned with her other premises).
 
Another thing that hit me is that, in Objectivism, happiness is the highest purpose in life, with life itself as the standard. But I don't think Rand would have had any of this fare. She would have probably objected that what you see on this video is not happiness. She would most likely have characterized what these homeless people experienced in the same manner she did for something similar in "The Objectivist Ethics"--as: "merely a moment’s relief from their chronic state of terror."
 
But I don't see that. It's not what my own eyes tell me. It's not even close.

 

Granted, I don't see long-term happiness here. It's short-term. But what I do see is that the happiness is already inside these people, not imposed on them or manipulated in some manner. It is genuine and it came out for a moment like a blossom.
 
I could make a series of other observations--and quips--but nothing conclusive.
 
According to the things I have learned, this video should not make me feel so good, but it does. And the emotion is in the same ballpark inside me as admiration for great achievement (in both purity and intensity), although it is definitely different as it is empathy-laden, maybe with a strong dose of hope.
 
Right now, all I can think is that it is what it is. I'll try to identify this correctly, then evaluate it later.
 
I can't ignore it, though. There's something extremely important about human nature here. Something I refuse to brush aside and miss.
 
Your thoughts?
 
Michael

[moralist]

Premise Check -- Is This Happiness?

The following video hit too many of my buttons to ignore. So let's drag it out into the middle of the floor and let the cat smell it.

From the blurb on Vimeo (account of "Inhabitants of Burque"):

I hit the streets and asked many homeless people to dance to Pharrell's "Happy" from the Despicable Me 2 Soundtrack. As they danced, smiles and laughter overcame their body. Many of them hadn't danced in years, but in this moment they felt happy. It is amazing what something as simple as dancing can do for someone in a tough situation. The result of this project was beautiful and I hope you feel the beauty too when you watch it.

Happy (Homeless People Dance Video) -Music by Pharrell from Inhabitants of Burque on Vimeo.

The sheer contrast between the dire situation of these homeless people and the happiness they expressed as they boogied tugs strongly at my budding fiction-writing muscle. Talk about dramatic contrast! And it is true, not faked. What's worse, this is the kind of contrast Rand employed over and over (albeit, she always had reasons that aligned with her other premises).

Another thing that hit me is that, in Objectivism, happiness is the highest purpose in life, with life itself as the standard. But I don't think Rand would have had any of this fare. She would have probably objected that what you see on this video is not happiness. She would most likely have characterized what these homeless people experienced in the same manner she did for something similar in "The Objectivist Ethics"--as: "merely a moment’s relief from their chronic state of terror."

But I don't see that. It's not what my own eyes tell me. It's not even close.

Granted, I don't see long-term happiness here. It's short-term. But what I do see is that the happiness is already inside these people, not imposed on them or manipulated in some manner. It is genuine and it came out for a moment like a blossom.

I could make a series of other observations--and quips--but nothing conclusive.

According to the things I have learned, this video should not make me feel so good, but it does. And the emotion is in the same ballpark inside me as admiration for great achievement (in both purity and intensity), although it is definitely different as it is empathy-laden, maybe with a strong dose of hope.

Right now, all I can think is that it is what it is. I'll try to identify this correctly, then evaluate it later.

I can't ignore it, though. There's something extremely important about human nature here. Something I refuse to brush aside and miss.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Happiness is a choice each of us makes regardless of our situation. For proof of this you need only to consider those who have everything and are miserable. And it's not dire to be homeless in the USA because the government funds the lifestyle they chose.

Greg

[Darrell Hougen]

Michael,

Rand made a distinction between joy and happiness. To her, joy was a short term feeling of elation --- actually, she never defines joy --- but she defines happiness as a non-contradictory state of joy and it is implicitly long term, though I can't find supporting evidence right now.

At any rate, it doesn't really matter whether you call what the homeless were experiencing joy or short-term happiness. I just think that if I were in that situation, I wouldn't really feel happy. I'd probably just feel like I was wasting my time. But, perhaps the homeless people felt a sense of hope --- a hope that resulted from the fact that someone was actually taking an interest in them. But, I suspect that sense would quickly fade once the man with his music was gone.

I found it curious at the end of the video that the producer goes on about how we can change the world. He didn't change anything. He might have brought some temporary joy to the people on the street, but nothing fundamentally changed about any of their situations.

Darrell

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Darrell,

I didn't mean the homeless people felt hope.

I meant that I felt hope. Me. Hope for them.

(I'm a glass half-full kind of person. )

All I saw out of them was happy boogie-time once they got rolling.

Like I said, this was already in them and it came out for a moment. That's what I saw.

And about changing the world?

Maybe that's a little melodrama the dude put in to enhance his video.

I think of it differently.

I'm reminded of a story I read somewhere about a guy on a tropical island who used to walk along the beach every morning, pick up starfish that had washed up on the sand and throw them back in.

One guy, who watched him do this for several mornings, called out, "Hey, you'll never make a difference that way! Do you know how many starfish are on the beach?"

The guy picked up a starfish, looked at it, then threw it in the water. He turned to the guy, smiled brightly and said, "It made a difference to that one."

Michael

[Selene]

I think of it differently.

I'm reminded of a story I read somewhere about a guy on a tropical island who used to walk along the beach every morning, pick up starfish that had washed up on the sand and throw them back in.

One guy, who watched him do this for several mornings, called out, "Hey, you'll never make a difference that way! Do you know how many starfish are on the beach?"

The guy picked up a starfish, looked at it, then threw it in the water. He turned to the guy, smiled brightly and said, "It made a difference to that one."

Michael

Very spot on Michael.

It is an issue that I have struggled with in terms of my "scope" in terms of "helping" people.

It was on the order of an epiphany when I decided that all I could do was work with that single starfish and that single starfish's issue.

One [1] starfish at a time works well for me.

A...

[moralist]

I think of it differently.

I'm reminded of a story I read somewhere about a guy on a tropical island who used to walk along the beach every morning, pick up starfish that had washed up on the sand and throw them back in.

One guy, who watched him do this for several mornings, called out, "Hey, you'll never make a difference that way! Do you know how many starfish are on the beach?"

The guy picked up a starfish, looked at it, then threw it in the water. He turned to the guy, smiled brightly and said, "It made a difference to that one."

Michael

Very spot on Michael.

It is an issue that I have struggled with in terms of my "scope" in terms of "helping" people.

It was on the order of an epiphany when I decided that all I could do was work with that single starfish and that single starfish's issue.

One [1] starfish at a time works well for me.

A...

I also take the "micro" approach of taking responsibility only for what is within my own personal sphere of influence. And everything else that is outside my sphere of influence falls within the spheres of influence of others for which they are responsible. In this way I can attend to what I can actually do instead of fretting over things that have nothing to do with my life.

This is why I don't watch network television news, for it is all about things for which I am not personally responsible, and about which I can do absolutely nothing.

Greg

[Selene]

I also take the "micro" approach of taking responsibility only for what is within my own personal sphere of influence. And everything else that is outside my sphere of influence falls within the spheres of influence of others for which they are responsible. In this way I can attend to what I can actually do instead of fretting over things that have nothing to do with my life.

In your professional craft, you can implement your ethics because you primarily deal with non-human systems.

An, attorney, counselor, or, human interactor changes the landscape. It is no longer about grids, wiring patterns and the laws of physics.

Ah the simplicity of non human systems...I might actually be envious of you lol...

A...

[moralist]

I also take the "micro" approach of taking responsibility only for what is within my own personal sphere of influence. And everything else that is outside my sphere of influence falls within the spheres of influence of others for which they are responsible. In this way I can attend to what I can actually do instead of fretting over things that have nothing to do with my life.

In your professional craft, you can implement your ethics because you primarily deal with non-human systems.

There are no ethics dealing with non human systems... however, there are ethics in dealing with the humans whose personal property are those non human systems.

An, attorney, counselor, or, human interactor changes the landscape.

...and the government bureaucracy is evidence of how lawyers have changed that landscape. While reading the writings of Nasem Taleb, I came across this:

“My biggest problem with modernity may lie in the growing separation of the ethical and the legal”

It is no longer about grids, wiring patterns and the laws of physics.

Ah the simplicity of non human systems...I might actually be envious of you lol...

A...

There was a specific reason I chose this trade. And that is to serve others of good will who share my values by dealing intimately with absolute immutable utterly impersonal objective physical law on their behalf. There is no end of personal satisfaction in making peoples' lives better. I do my part to make the engine of the world run... for those who deserve it.

The human interaction in my work is actually just as simple, because I abide by the principle of choosing to deal only with others who share my ethics. And leave those who don't free to deal their own kind just as they deserve.

Greg

[Selene]

There was a specific reason I chose this trade. And that is to serve others of good will who share my values by dealing intimately with absolute immutable utterly impersonal objective physical law on their behalf. There is no end of personal satisfaction in making peoples' lives better. I do my part to make the engine of the world run... for those who deserve it.

The human interaction in my work is actually just as simple, because I abide by the principle of choosing to deal only with others who share my ethics. And leave those who don't free to deal their own kind just as they deserve.

Greg

Understood.

You have the pleasure, because of your chosen craft, to remove the intimate personal issues, which are often clouded by, for example, a divorce complaint, to a schematic that will, or, will not, work.

A...

[moralist]

There was a specific reason I chose this trade. And that is to serve others of good will who share my values by dealing intimately with absolute immutable utterly impersonal objective physical law on their behalf. There is no end of personal satisfaction in making peoples' lives better. I do my part to make the engine of the world run... for those who deserve it.

The human interaction in my work is actually just as simple, because I abide by the principle of choosing to deal only with others who share my ethics. And leave those who don't free to deal their own kind just as they deserve.

Greg

Understood.

You have the pleasure, because of your chosen craft, to remove the intimate personal issues, which are often clouded by, for example, a divorce complaint, to a schematic that will, or, will not, work.

A...

Yes.

We each choose the life we live so there is no one else to blame (unjustly accuse) for the results.

Greg

[anthony]

"...only with others who share my ethics". Hell, Greg, you wouldn't do a job for me??

[moralist]

"...only with others who share my ethics". Hell, Greg, you wouldn't do a job for me??

As far as I can tell from what you've written, we do share the same ethics, Tony.

...although I believe you're slightly outside my service area.

Greg

[Selene]

"...only with others who share my ethics". Hell, Greg, you wouldn't do a job for me??

As far as I can tell from what you've written, we do share the same ethics, Tony.

...although I believe you're slightly outside my service area.

Greg

Ah...that chuckle was worth it ... thanks to my OL friends, Tony and Greg ...

[Darrell Hougen]

Darrell,

I didn't mean the homeless people felt hope.

I meant that I felt hope. Me. Hope for them.

(I'm a glass half-full kind of person. )

All I saw out of them was happy boogie-time once they got rolling.

Like I said, this was already in them and it came out for a moment. That's what I saw.

And about changing the world?

Maybe that's a little melodrama the dude put in to enhance his video.

I think of it differently.

I'm reminded of a story I read somewhere about a guy on a tropical island who used to walk along the beach every morning, pick up starfish that had washed up on the sand and throw them back in.

One guy, who watched him do this for several mornings, called out, "Hey, you'll never make a difference that way! Do you know how many starfish are on the beach?"

The guy picked up a starfish, looked at it, then threw it in the water. He turned to the guy, smiled brightly and said, "It made a difference to that one."

Michael

Michael,

I was trying to understand why the people on the street felt happy and my answer was hope. Your reaction to the people on the street may also have been based on hope. I wasn't confusing your hope with their hope and didn't mean to imply that they were the same thing.

I have no objection to individual acts of kindness. I just think that asking people to dance doesn't really accomplish much. If the music man had gotten each of the homeless people a job, even if it were washing dishes, I would have felt better. Getting a job would have been closer to being thrown back in the water. At least they'd have a chance to survive (so to speak).

Darrell

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I have no objection to individual acts of kindness. I just think that asking people to dance doesn't really accomplish much. If the music man had gotten each of the homeless people a job, even if it were washing dishes, I would have felt better. Getting a job would have been closer to being thrown back in the water. At least they'd have a chance to survive (so to speak).

Darrell,

But isn't that strictly from your own perspective?

What I mean is this. In looking at this situation and trying to understand it in terms of human nature, I find I have to introspect (so personal perspective is important), but I also try to observe without evaluating based on my own ethics--that is, for the identification stage. I'll compare this stuff to my philosophy later. In other words, I'm using here the "carefully identify first, then evaluate" model of analysis.

When you say that getting the homeless people a job would have made you feel better, I have no doubt about that. But would it have made them feel better than the dancing they did? Would they believe a job would have made them better off? I'm not so sure in many of the cases.

And I'm not so sure laziness (the traditional judgment in our subcommunity for people refusing to work if it is available and they have nothing) and other similar charges of these people preferring to be a parasite is the relevant problem, although it might be in some cases. (Nor do I agree with Rand about terror underlying the lack of wanting to think--like these people have. Lack of motivation, even lack of motivation to think, is far more complex than simple terror.)

I think one of the real biggies might be the person not believing anymore in the structure around him (society) or in himself to fit into that structure and have it mean anything--whatever the reason, right or wrong. It's apathy, like the line in Old Man River: "Tired of living, but feared of dying." Or resentment or confusion from being hurt. Or the person being so ashamed of something in his life, he is paralyzed.

What use is a job to a person who believes that his only option is to feel like that? That life will always be meaningless or painful or boring?

People need a vision for the future to keep going. The homeless folks I have known have no vision and I imagine the ones in the video are the same. The future for them is what they are living today.

And looking at it from that lens, I see these people have happiness in them. Their dancing proves it--at least to my eyes. They just need to believe in something that includes the society they found themselves forced to live in and they will clean themselves up and get to work--and if someone does not give them a job, they will find one.

I'm not religious, but I have seen churches do this to homeless people--if the religious conversion takes place in the bum's heart. (Groups like AA and NA, too.) And I don't attribute this to religious doctrine.

I attribute it to the homeless person finding a new social structure around him that makes sense to him, where he knows how to fit in without selling out (whatever it is), and where he feels he can get some love on terms he agrees with and have it stick. Where he can do something he finds important and not have it taken away from him or be constantly belittled for his effort. Where he can flush out any shame he feels. In other words, where he can construct a vision for a future that he would like to live.

On the objection you made, did the video guy do much or little? I won't argue for size. I will just note that he reminded those who have checked out that they still have happiness within them by making them feel it again, and that he registered this in video so that people like me will look at it, pause and think.

I, personally, see value there. Your mileage may vary.

But I contend that identifying the human nature element in this process is still very important.

Michael

[Darrell Hougen]

Michael,

I see where you're coming from. I thought about saying something like, "if the music man had helped them with their drug problem ..." instead of getting them a job, but then I wondered if that would really be possible. Maybe there is a way to reach these people and maybe you're on to something. Certainly, various religious groups have had success and AA and NA but for people that are sober but just don't believe in life, I've sometimes wondered if there would be a way, based on rational principles, to reach them --- something that doesn't depend upon mysticism.

Darrell

[Selene]

... I've sometimes wondered if there would be a way, based on rational principles, to reach them --- something that doesn't depend upon mysticism.

If there was a path, should it be financed by a voluntary "taxpayer?"

I have, for a very long time, desired to propose a law, the Community Budget Act, wherein, the government, federal, state and local shall [in law = must] send to each taxpayer a simple pie chart as to how each tax dollar shall be allocated.

The taxpayer, would have, upon receipt of the pie chart, sixty (60) days, to reallocate the percentages and send their decision back to the respective entity.

Now that is real citizen input.

A...

[Peter]

Michael wrote:

It's apathy, like the line in Old Man River: "Tired of living, but feared of dying."

end quote

That is a good lyric. It conveys the correct wisdom and patois of an older, black person living on the em eye ess ess eye ess ess eye pee pee eye. I think I got that right. Was it Paul Robards who sang it?

I think I am ready for some more Broadway. I remember a story, and I did the same mean thing later to two bums in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. I gave the raggedy Bowery guy five bucks once, near the Bowery (I was once invincible). The person I was with said, “He’s just going to buy booze with that.” “I know,” says I. A half hour later he was passed out near the same spot with a few inches out of a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20. The bottle was carefully capped to save its precious contents. At the time I did not know how little a severe alcoholic needed to make them go to sleep. Maybe I was mean to give them what they most wanted.

[Selene]

Michael wrote:

It's apathy, like the line in Old Man River: "Tired of living, but feared of dying."

end quote

That is a good lyric. It conveys the correct wisdom and patois of an older, black person living on the em eye ess ess eye ess ess eye pee pee eye. I think I got that right. Was it Paul Robards who sang it?

I think I am ready for some more Broadway. I remember a story, and I did the same mean thing later to two bums in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. I gave the raggedy Bowery guy five bucks once, near the Bowery (I was once invincible). The person I was with said, “He’s just going to buy booze with that.” “I know,” says I. A half hour later he was passed out near the same spot with a few inches out of a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20. The bottle was carefully capped to save its precious contents. At the time I did not know how little a severe alcoholic needed to make them go to sleep. Maybe I was mean to give them what they most wanted.

Maybe you should consider what my father taught me when I walked with him at the age of six (6), or, seven (7) in the Bowery, circa early 1950's.

Essentially, and this was so clear because it was by example, he would take a person, [your "bum" term], and he would offer to take them to the diner on the main drag and provide them with breakfast/lunch.

Additionally, he would buy them dinner to take with them.

Eight (8) out of ten (10) rejected the offers.

Very educational. When we broke bread at the diner with the person who took him up on the offer, we found remarkable folks who ran into some tough situations. Between my father's fire department and Masonic connections we were able to give an opportunity to a lot of folks.

A...

[PDS]

"...only with others who share my ethics". Hell, Greg, you wouldn't do a job for me??

As far as I can tell from what you've written, we do share the same ethics, Tony.

...although I believe you're slightly outside my service area.

Greg

Greg:

Are you so sure about this?

I don't get the impression that Tony is a Sermon on the Mount type of guy, not to mention that (I'm merely guessing here) he is likely also averse to stoning.

[anthony]

Empathy is putting oneself in another person's place, responding to an other's state of physical-emotional being I'd say.("Feeling with", literally) Nearly everybody has it; though to differing degrees, for different occurrences, I guess .

Although it is self-evident, there are a couple of aspects I've been considering:

a. Empathy is a 'call to action' in my view. Pre-judgmental and pre-cognitive. E.g., someone on crutches falls over in front of you and without thought, you rush over to assist; or, some people are expressing themselves in a happy dance with beat-y music, and you feel compelled to get up and dance, or simply tap a foot and enjoy it too.

It's not hard to figure how this evolved (with a corresponding rush of brain chemicals) to protection of one's tribal brothers and sisters, who were in pain or danger - and also bonding and uniting with them in regular physical rituals. It's known that higher mammals possess the same instincts.

Therefore empathy resolves down to simple survival of the early species.

But, b). Back then, when one's tribe was of a limited number it was feasible to respond with "a call to action" at every instance. Instincts however, have not kept pace with modern man's existence, (I'd imagine). Today, we are faced with a blitz of empathic signals - verbal and visual - still demanding the same personal attention, from an expanded 'tribe'..

How can one possibly respond with action to everything heard and seen - now?

What are the psychological effects of viewing world-wide suffering daily, and not being able to respond? How much guilt and inner conflict results from this sheer helplessness to ever act and assist everybody? And isn't then empathy often replaced by necessity with jaded cynicism as a barrier to guard one's overloaded consciousness?

It is perhaps not coincidental that since the advent of mass media, altruism-collectivism has gained dominance. (Along with Statism):

"Look - how terrible! Why isn't the government, you, me, DOING anything! We are all responsible for our fellow man!"