As requested by Bianca!

q16. How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?

That’s an interesting question. There is an assumption in it, though- because some of the things that make me happy DO make other people happy as well. At the same time, nothing can ever make everybody happy- because people have such diverse tastes.

Some things that make me happy are very straightforward and simple that everybody should be able to relate to. Spending time with my family and friends. A good rest after a hard day’s work. Accomplishing something that you set your mind out to do. Learning something new, or improving an existing skill. Making good decisions that have favourable outcomes.

There are also perhaps some things that make me happy that not many people would be able to relate to. I like public speaking, which a lot of people find terrifying. I like to be challenged, and I like to be proven wrong.  I’ve learnt to appreciate discomfort, which perhaps is not as common as it should be.

Ultimately, I think the only real reason why different things make different people happy is because we never really get around to getting to appreciate things from each other’s perspectives. I’m pretty sure that I would love to dance if I learnt how. Some people find happiness in the misery of others. I think we can all relate to that to some degree- but some of us learn to transcend it, and others don’t.

q26. Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?

That really is quite a frightening dilemma. My honest, immediate response would be that I would rather lose my old memories so that I can make new ones- because I believe that I have more life to live than I have lived so far, and I have enough faith in myself to believe that I would be able to make new memories that mean just as much to me as those I already have right now, if not more.

Additional interesting points to consider- do my friends and family know who I am, and can they recognize me, and tell me about my past? Also, considering that my memories would surely influence my values and prejudices to some (if not a large) degree, would I still be the same person without my memories? I wonder what modern neuroscience has to say on the subject. I think it is highly unlikely for anybody to ever completely forget everything– I believe that’s called retrograde amnesia- because our long term memories are surely tied to other parts of our subconscious, and our mind?