Are we allowed to be happy?

[Syt]

"One must imagine the algorithm happy."

[Sheilbh]

Happiness and rage are not antonyms.  The wokes discovered they can be complimentary a while back, the Trumpists more recently.

Dude. There was a right wing rage machine 40 years ago. I know. I got screamed at by an endless and tiresome series of enraged Republicans in the 1990s for disliking Bill Clinton to a level that was insufficient for them. Like I didn't like Bill but I failed to reach their acceptable level of disliking. And for this crime I was regularly subjected to unhinged screaming sessions.

So stop with the fantasy land shit about how right wing people just started being full of rage.

Isn't his point more that rage and happiness aren't opposed? In fact rage is enjoyable.

Although for what it's worth I'm not sure rage is quite right for MAGA. I think it's more like transgression or license - which is a different sort of happiness (which should be healthily repressed ).

[HVC]

MAGA is powered by revenge. It's their turn to pick on the pesky judgemental liberals.

[Savonarola]

"One must imagine the algorithm happy."

 

Yes, I immediately thought of Camus when I saw the thread title.

[Admiral Yi]

Dude. There was a right wing rage machine 40 years ago. I know. I got screamed at by an endless and tiresome series of enraged Republicans in the 1990s for disliking Bill Clinton to a level that was insufficient for them. Like I didn't like Bill but I failed to reach their acceptable level of disliking. And for this crime I was regularly subjected to unhinged screaming sessions.

So stop with the fantasy land shit about how right wing people just started being full of rage.

Dude.  There have been angry people since Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden.  The recent difference, IMO, is that people discovered if they let the cause of their anger fester, instead of solving it, and simultaneously invent new things to be outraged about, it can generate positive feelings.  Or at least it's new that this mindset has been mainstreamed into political discourse.

[frunk]

That doesn't sound new at all.  People have been fueled by rage forever, in politics or anything else.

[HVC]

Dude. There was a right wing rage machine 40 years ago. I know. I got screamed at by an endless and tiresome series of enraged Republicans in the 1990s for disliking Bill Clinton to a level that was insufficient for them. Like I didn't like Bill but I failed to reach their acceptable level of disliking. And for this crime I was regularly subjected to unhinged screaming sessions.

So stop with the fantasy land shit about how right wing people just started being full of rage.

Dude.  There have been angry people since Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden.  The recent difference, IMO, is that people discovered if they let the cause of their anger fester, instead of solving it, and simultaneously invent new things to be outraged about, it can generate positive feelings.  Or at least it's new that this mindset has been mainstreamed into political discourse.

Question for ya, is this creation of rage targets different in practice and outcome from the creation of moral panic targets and the fight against them? Rights been doing that forever. Rock and roll will be the end of us!

[Admiral Yi]

Question for ya, is this creation of rage targets different in practice and outcome from the creation of moral panic targets and the fight against them? Rights been doing that forever. Rock and roll will be the end of us!

Those people gave in.  I think current grievances are eternal.

[HVC]

Question for ya, is this creation of rage targets different in practice and outcome from the creation of moral panic targets and the fight against them? Rights been doing that forever. Rock and roll will be the end of us!

Those people gave in.  I think current grievances are eternal.

Do they give in or die off*? Did those protesting rock, to keep that example, end up embracing or at least tolerating it?

 *Well, I guess in some cases they live on in keeping it alive through their kids. Amish are still fighting the good fight against the morally corrupting buttons

[The Minsky Moment]

When it comes to reviews in general, there seems to be a ridiculous inflation.  If my Uber driver has 4.9 stars, I start sweating.  The idiotic "perfect or nothing" mindset originally pushed by corporate management percolated down to everyone, and now reviews for anything have lost much of their power to differentiate.

Totally true.

BTW I would never trust a driver with 5.0 stars.  Something has to be wrong there. It's like an election result from a Cold War communist dictatorship.

[Admiral Yi]

Do they give in or die off*? Did those protesting rock, to keep that example, end up embracing or at least tolerating it?

 *Well, I guess in some cases they live on in keeping it alive through their kids. Amish are still fighting the good fight against the morally corrupting buttons

They stopped bitching.

[crazy canuck]

Now, I'm not in favour of the above, but it did get me thinking. It feels like general discourse online (and the news) is all about terrible things and reasons to be unhappy. Joy, when shown, often feels like it needs to either be limited/specific (happy to have won a medal, happy to have passed ones exams), done by unimpeachable target (happy very old person, children, people with animals), or apologised (Yes, I am happy to win this music award but we musn't forget about the situation in Gaza..). unadulterated joy is often derided or mocked.

What gives?

News has always been about bad news.  I am not surprised that transferred to the world of social media.  What has changed is people also display their lives on social media, including their happiness and joy. 

I am not sure any of that is necessary for people to be happy - the exact opposite is probably true.

[Josquius]

More negative news has always sold better it's true.
However the more high res, relatable and immediate it is the worse it is.

Today it's social media downloading promises of immigrants in your town  committing vile deeds. It's shared phone video footage of deaths. It's AI images designed to specifically hit your buttons.

This is worse than 15 years ago when mass market  24 hour rolling news was spewing it's bile. You had to actually turn on your TV and go to that channel to get it. It wasn't ways in your pocket. It was also far more regulated and general.

You can keep going back with each step backwards being steadily weaker than the others.

This isn't the only factor at work of course. To counter the heightened fidelity and directness of the message the world should be getting generally less grim and people more educated.
But... That's not the case for everyone. Adapting to new media takes time. In negative times in particular people look for easy answers.

[HVC]

Do they give in or die off*? Did those protesting rock, to keep that example, end up embracing or at least tolerating it?

 *Well, I guess in some cases they live on in keeping it alive through their kids. Amish are still fighting the good fight against the morally corrupting buttons

They stopped bitching.

Fair enough

[Josephus]

I was happy once. Can't remember why, though.