Life 103: Pleasure and Advancement

Something that I desire to do is to understand the differences between and meaning of earthly pleasure, happiness, and peace. I am fully aware of what brings me pleasure when such a thing comes to me, as every other person, I believe, is able to do aswell. Also, I am fully aware of what gives me a sense of joy and happiness. Such is the same with peace and contentment of mind. When asked what purpose people have in life, it usually comes down to some form of these three different levels of self-advancement. Many young people will say that they want to have fun and live for the moment. This is sometimes pleasure that they strive for. Every moment that they live for pure enjoyment brings them this pleasure. Pleasure is a primitive responce of the brain to whatever stimuli might cause it. Such stimuli may include good food, a massage, the scent of flowers, or making love. But, such pleasure is often fleeting, and when it is not, tends to give a false sense of happiness. Happiness is an emotion, and is far less primitive than the feeling of pleasure. It can be caused by friendship, comfort, love, or even enjoyment. The difference between finding happiness in an enjoyment, rather than finding pleasure, is that enjoyment that leads to happiness is caused by finding that what is being enjoyed is productive to the individual, rather than merely fleeting pleasure. Peace, on the other hand, though it gives both happiness and allows for pleasure in most cases, is more of an advancement than a joy. However, peace isn't always enjoyable in the sense of pleasure and happiness, and is much harder to obtain. Thus, this explains why so many people might choose pleasure or happiness over peace. In modern society, people tend to value happiness over many other things. To desire happiness over pleasure is usually considered a virtue, and rightfully so due to the advanced nature of happiness as opposed to mere pleasure. But, is it not odd that happiness is valued over productivity and advancement of all kind? Even the most seemingly selfless people desire personal happiness. This is what causes our devious and greedy nature. We all want what will make us more happy. Now, is this not unproductive to society?