Does science make us happy?

[tdn]

A couple of months ago I watched the movie Contact with Jodie Foster, James Woods, and Matthew McCoughnagh -- Matthew Maconna -- Mathyou Macunna -- er, Rob Lowe. It was based on the book by Carl Sagan, which I have yet to read, but intend to.

In it, an unknown actor (?) asks the question "Science has done many things for us, but are we any happier because of science?" The implication being that we still need to live spiritual lives.

I have a few thoughts on this, but I'll first ask you -- Has science made you a happier and more fulfilled person?

[Skeptical Greg]

Remembering my early years when we had an outhouse ..... Yes... Definitely!!

[apoger]

Happiness is a choice we each make for ourselves.

On the other hand I am very pleased that advances in science have made more comfortable. I'm very grateful that I live in a time when humans have toilet paper and air conditioning.

[Nyarlathotep]

Not directly. But science has made it where I don't have to spend 14 hours a day doing back breaking farm work in order to eat, I don't have to worry over much about me or my spouse or my children keeling over of some disease at an early age and I can live and work in relatively comfortable surroundings. All of this leaves me the time and ability to do those things that make me happy, and some of those things are also facilitated by the products of science (i.e. I can talk to friends on the Internet, people I likely would never have met without it simply because we live in different areas). So in my view, science doesn't create happiness, but it gives me time and tools to pursue it on my own.

[Agammamon]

Things that make me happy.


Air Conditioning in the summer.
Central heat in the winter.
Being able to drive across town in 30 minutes rather than several hours.
Modern Medicine (even when it hurts it's better than the alternative).
Computers (without which I wouldn't have anything to play computer games on).

[rachaella]

Yes, science makes me happy. And in truthfulness, is probably the reason I'm still here and didn't die of anyphylactic shock the dozens of times my mother had to bring me to the ER (thanks to the miracle of epinephrine) when I was a few months to 4 years old because no one knew I had allergies. And back then many doctors didn't believe children that young could have allergies, but now, through science, there is a much greater understanding of serious allergies and doctors do realize that very young children can have them. When I have children with allergies, which in all probability I will, there will most likely be even more I can do to protect them and keep them from having to visit the ER every month, and certainly many ways to lessen the chance of death. This makes me happy and gives me much peace of mind.

[Upchurch]

I've really enjoyed making it to the age of 30, at least. I'm sure glad that my wife survived childhood diseases. I like watching movies and playing video games. Posting to this message board has been fun for me.

On a more fundamental level, I really enjoyed earning my degree in physics. (except for quantum mechanics. That really sucked.)

[tdn]

Originally posted by Nyarlathotep
Not directly. But science has made it where

(snip)

science doesn't create happiness, but it gives me time and tools to pursue it on my own.

I like your answer.

I think the phrasing of the question itself is too leading. It implies that since science, like money, can't buy happiness, we should throw the baby out with the bathwater and surrender our souls to God. Strange, coming from Sagan. Perhaps he was warning us away from scientism.

But let's ask two similar questions:

Has religion made us any happier? From what I've seen, I'd have to say no. I've seen some people made ecstatic by it, and others made miserable. In the long run, I don't see any real benefit to mankind as a whole, at least as far as happiness is concerned.

Have hammers made us any happier? No, but I see no reason to do away with them. They can be used for good or ill, but are ultimately just tools.

One could go on with a list of any number of stange things, and the original question starts to look very silly indeed.

Has science made me, personally, happy? Yayabetcha. I love reading books about science, though I don't pretend to completely understand them. And the ulitmate in indulgence -- science has brought me cable TV, which has allowed me to spend my spare time watching science shows about how the technology of cable TV brings me shows about science.

And of course the internet, a device through which I can cause a boiled lobster and slice of cheesecake to magically appear at my door, so that instead of cooking I can watch scince shows. Let's see religion do that!

Oh, and I like air-conditioned toilet paper too. ;)

[c4ts]

Science does not make us happy, it makes us educated. What we do with that education is what determines whether we are happy or not.

[Chanileslie]

Yes, Science makes me happy because it fulfills my desire to know,"Why?" and because it brings into my life many nice little conveniences that make life a pleasure such vaccines and cures for diseases. Also, without science, I wouldn't have one of my greatest sources of joy, my son. Science is good, and it is fulfilling, and I would take science any day over some shaman's incomprehensible useless chantings.

[wolfgirl]

Originally posted by tdn
A couple of months ago I watched the movie Contact with Jodie Foster, James Woods, and Matthew McCoughnagh -- Matthew Maconna -- Mathyou Macunna -- er, Rob Lowe. It was based on the book by Carl Sagan, which I have yet to read, but intend to.

In it, an unknown actor (?) asks the question "Science has done many things for us, but are we any happier because of science?" The implication being that we still need to live spiritual lives.

I have a few thoughts on this, but I'll first ask you -- Has science made you a happier and more fulfilled person?
Science itself doesn't make us happy, any more than religion does. We choose to be happy or unhappy. I tend to be much happier than many of my religious friends, several of whom are on anti-depressants!

By the way, please do read the book, tdn. The movie really didn't capture Sagan's points; it took a bit of a cop-out on some of the more important ones. It seems Hollywood couldn't quite go the full atheist route, depite its reputation as being a hot-bed of evil and secularism...

[scribble]

I couldn't say whether science makes me happy, since I couldn't tell you what it's would be like to live a single second of my life outside of it's grasp.

Even when I was raised as a child as a believer in Christ, I still could not escape science, from the moment Iw as born in my modern hospital boasting every product known to the science of medecine to the moment I die in the same, and all the in-between time answering the phone, playing on the computer, fishing with my fishing pole (a simple machine, but a scientific one nonetheless), petting my pet cat (brought to me by the science of domestication and controlled breeding), etc etc etc...

Has science made me happier? I couldn't say. I'd have to experience life without it to know, and at this point that seems impossible. I certainly cannot think of any moment nor activity that wouldn't involve science.

"How can I miss you if you won't go away?"

[Tez]

Does art make us happy?

I guess its conceivable that art could make someone happy, but science may not. For me personally, however, the distinction is extremely blurred...

[c0rbin]

Are you over thirty? If so, you at least have the opportunity to be happy.

Thank Germ Theory.

Thank science.

[Scot C. Trypal]

Technology, cures for diseases, a greater understanding of our universe (and realizing our awe-inspiring ignorance of the same)… All that is wonderful and, you bet, such things make me happy by getting me what I want: understanding, health for myself and loved ones, and so on.

Let me add to this list of happy science stuff the base methods and principles of science. They are apart from the useful (and, at times, destructive) technologies, and, for me, are where the joys of science originate.

Some of these ideas might include:
--Beliefs should be supported by evidence
--Objectivity is something to strive for
--Nothing should be safe from questioning
--Pet conclusions should be gladly subjected to testing by unbiased (even hostile) peers and one should always be prepared to give them up.

I’d have to say, such principles of science have contributed to my happiness in everyday life, without any consideration of technologies. They have been useful in taking apart my superstitions and phobias, helping me get along with and understand the point of view of others, testing and refining my moral sense, and more. I have lived with and without them, and, by far, my life is happier when I try to live with the principles of science in mind.

In the larger picture it’s seems to me that science can make for a happier, more humane society, still ignoring technology. I, for example, am a guy who, if born at the wrong time, could very possible have found himself atop some bishop’s highly flammable pile of wood, being supernaturally blamed for a recent boom in rat populations or a win by an Islamic army. I, of course, would have had nothing to do with rat populations or military defeats in the eyes of a society using the principles of science, but try telling that to the courts of the time.

[somehow resisting irresistible urge to break into a Monty Python skit]

[uruk]

Science is just a tool. it is niether good nor bad. I know I would be dead if wasn't for science. I am sure I would be happier with it than without it. But I think science is a much a part of who we are as spirituality is. Whenever we ask a question about the nature of the world around us and seek answers to that question we are employing science. Our spirituality allows us to appreciate and enjoy those questions and answers.

oh well, so much for my Hallmark card moment.

[Atlas]

We might have to first agree on the nature of happiness to answer any of these questions.

Happiness is an emotional state. Yah, well...

I'm "happy" that science exists as an alternative to "religious" thinking. Something that doesn't start with all the answers up front, and is ok with that. Something that continues to produce things that I marvel at.

Plus, a refrigerator.

[elliotfc]

Originally posted by tdn
A couple of months ago I watched the movie Contact with Jodie Foster, James Woods, and Matthew McCoughnagh -- Matthew Maconna -- Mathyou Macunna -- er, Rob Lowe. It was based on the book by Carl Sagan, which I have yet to read, but intend to.

In it, an unknown actor (?) asks the question "Science has done many things for us, but are we any happier because of science?" The implication being that we still need to live spiritual lives.

I have a few thoughts on this, but I'll first ask you -- Has science made you a happier and more fulfilled person?

Yes!

As an aside...I saw Contact in the theatre as it was showing...what a tedious flick...anyhow, near the end of the movie I stood up and shouted "Wait a second that dude is blind! Holy ******" Somehow I missed the fact that the guy was blind til like the very end. Many people laughed, and my girlfriend cringed. You had to be there. What a dreadful movie.

-Elliot

[rdaneel]

Science give me these little pills that make me happy.:cool:

[evildave]

Space launches make me happy.

Concrete progress toward colonizing space makes me happy.

Idiots who want to keep the whole human race in one basket make me unhappy.

Complete morons who want to pray to some 'god' to take care of humans, while they and humans just like them overpopulate and destroy their environment make me angry.

Especially when they want me to be just like them.

I'd be very happy to be taken up - in a human built space craft to go to a human made habitat off the Earth. That would be the ultimate happiest day.

Screw the idiots who want to wait around for their favorite imaginary friend to take care of all the hard problems for them.

[Zep]

Science makes me happy. Why?

My wife is alive today purely due to new science when she was very young. And so we now have a daughter, and she makes us very happy, and our genes will live on. This is all good.

[TriangleMan]

Science, literatlly, makes me happy. I enjoy reading it and I enjoy practising it (albeit as an amateur). For most people, science provides with the tool, or the spare time, with which to do things with our lives that make us happy.

The other day I emailed a friend in the British Virgin Islands to ask if I could stop by for a visit. The response came back within minutes "sure, come on down". Booked my ticket over the phone, paid with a credit card, and when I leave it will take me about 7 hours to reach the BVI on various jets. Along the way I will take in a view at 30,000 feet, eat some food which I am certain will not cause me to be ill, and listen to music from either my CD player or provided by the plane.

Science did not come up with any of this in an attempt to make me happy, but science allowed all of it to occur in the first place. I am grateful for it, and I intend to use its discoveries for personal contentment as much as I can. :D

[MLynn]

Originally posted by Zep
Science makes me happy. Why?

My wife is alive today purely due to new science when she was very young. And so we now have a daughter, and she makes us very happy, and our genes will live on. This is all good.
Great post, Zep! It gave me a warm, happy feeling to read it.
I think any happiness to be gained from science is a by-product. When I was very ill last year, amoxicillin came to my rescue and within 24 hours I felt alive instead of a semi-dead person. It was amazing how rapid the change in my condition occurred.

[epepke]

I'm not generally a terribly happy person, but indeed, science has made me happier. Both thinking about scientific problems and appreciating the fascinating view of the world that results from science both elevate my mood considerably.

[Silicon]

Does science make you happy?


It made Ben-Gay!


http://miyamu.fc2web.com/dayday/photo/bengay.jpg

[Ralph]

One of the happiest moments in my life came when I decided that
I had no need for religion in my life.

I've been fine without it.

I would NOT want to live in world with 18th century technology.

I'd have died several times over if I did.......................

[Wally]

Originally posted by Silicon
Does science make you happy?


It made Ben-Gay!


http://miyamu.fc2web.com/dayday/photo/bengay.jpg

Science didn't make Ben-Gay! Ben was born Gay!!;)

[RichardR]

Without science (specifically modern medicine), I'd be dead, so um, I guess I wouldn't have any feelings of happiness or unhappiness without science. As far as I know.

I guess that's a yes.

[T'ai Chi]

Like anything, it has the potential for good and bad. It has extended life but has also taken it away. It is developed theories and methods to save, and used theories and methods to destroy.

I'd say that it has definitely helped far more than hinder.

[scribble]

Originally posted by Silicon
[B]Does science make you happy?


It made Ben-Gay!


Silicon...

That was PRICELESS!

hahaha, that makes me chuckle every time I read it.