I thought this was a much more philosophical video than I ever imagined would come out of the channel Gears and Gasoline. The application of the thought processes here is vast -- money, status, cars, materialism, houses, body dysmorphic disorder, et al., but as this is a car forum, cars won't make you happy.

 

note: this will probably resonate more with people who are of my generation, as the channel creators and people featured in the video are also of my generation/age cohort, but all can probably relate in some way due to the unexpected philosophy embedded within.

 

 

^^^ haha.

i can tell you after 2020 which was definitely a challenging year for most, and with 2021 not looking a whole lot better to me, i decided the heck with it, and got a car i'd drooled over for a while.

haven't watched the video yet, but the statement "Cars Won't Make You Happy" assumes cars or anything can make a permanent state of happiness which imho isn't realistic.
but can a car make you happy WHILE YOU'RE DRIVING IT? heck yeah.

but life has many aspects, surprises, ups and downs.

to paraphrase the dalai lama when asked how does someone be happy? he said something like "find all the things that make you unhappy and stop doing them"

 

more like numbers chasing wont make you happy, it really wont

 

yeah, you've captured the essence of the video without even having watched it.

edit: but do watch it anyway because i think it's worth watching.

 

i think that's one aspect highlighted in the video, but there is a much broader context that's being addressed within this video related to material things in life and true sustainable happiness.

 

V8s....heck yeah

Live for the moment!!!!

 

I think we have known this for decades, it is nothing new. Material things like cars and money alone will not make most people happy if they aren't happy otherwise without them, neither does stardom/fame but they or at least money can make life less miserable, easier, more comfortable, less stressful and for people that are already happy for some they can make them happier or add more job/interest. I know plenty of people who don't have a lot of money or material things and they are some of the happiest, grounded people I know. I also know people who have a lot of money, are successful, have some nice things and they are absolutely miserable, look at so many in the entertainment/movie/music industry how miserable they seem to be in their personal lives. I think some of it has to do with your childhood, if you had a pretty good child hood, you are likely going to be a happier person whether you have money/success/material things or not.

Although I love cars, love reading about them, love watching them I don't think when I started driving or owning nicer cars that they made my any happier, they don't put you in a good mood or make your problems go away, they provide a little joy, they are fun to lust after and something different and nicer is normally always fun and exciting at first but I can imagine owning a nice European car that ends up breaking down, having issues, and costing me a lot of money would actually make me angry and miserable and I would not care how nice it is after a short period, I would just want to get rid of it after a while.

I also don't think this has anything to do with age/group generations either and one is much better then the other with this, I find many in the youngest generation to be the most materialistic, narcissist, jaded, annoyingly political, cynical, attention obsessed I have ever seen but I have also noticed many in the younger gens are also much kinder too, more laid back, less physical bullying(unfortunately replaced by social media bullying), etc.

 

i think that we haven't known this for decades but for millennia. philosophers have talked about this, and of note, the particular movement of philosophy that i've studied greatly, existentialism, goes into depth about the tangible vs the intangible and also the absurd and the absurdity of it all in the case of camus. there is a lack of awareness amongst the public, however, of what consumerism and materialism are as concepts and how the general public is actively participating in said phenomena.

and no, this isn't generational specific, although i think it would be a falsity to say that older generations are less materialistic than younger generations. the means of displaying materialistic objects has certainly changed as technology has rapidly improved. i grew up with cell phones, computers and video games through my entire life. there wasn't a point where they were not present, however, do i think that older generations, if presented with the same means of conveying wealth or status would have not adopted said means? no, i don't. i think that you would see the same replicated. what i mean to say is that it's not inherent or even environmental at the micro level, but the product of the technology available in society at large.

all of that said, it's not difficult to see how older generations have expressed their status within society -- automotive, career, housing, or otherwise. take a drive through west los angeles or the upper east side of manhattan and it's glaringly apparent how old money is put on display.

as for personal character traits amongst my generation or the generation just under me, i'm not sure that that's true. i work in education and i haven't noticed any discernible difference between kids now and kids when i was a kid. but who knows. that's a sociological study just waiting to be conducted.

 

This whole thread can be pared down to two basic points.

First, vehicles can, in many circumstances, give you surface or superficial happiness, mobility/freedom, a hobby, something to concern yourself wth in your spare time, and something to talk about...like in this forum.

Second, they cannot give you true or lasting happiness. For that, one must must pursue things that are outside of this natural world (yet present for us to access), and that the moderators don't want us talking about here.

 

Things don't bring you lasting happiness. I wouldn't say "cars dont make you happy" though. My cars bring me a lot of enjoyment and happiness.

 

Ribeyes make me happy.

 

Yeeeeeeeesssssss!

 

The title was simplified and exaggerated in order to ensure that people actually watched it because people aren't bright enough to want to watch a clip that will break down a simple philosophical concept into easy-to-eat chunks of ribeye if it isn't simplified and made to look appealing, e.g., easy-to-eat chunks of ribeye.