Hey I love your vids and once again this was a great video. The subject matter makes me think though, and while I think you are right, so don't take this as criticism, I wonder if there isn't another dimension to this still.
Happiness and it's opposite, let's call it sadness or depression, are emotions, and emotions are inner feelings. And as people often do we could compare them to physical feelings, so let's compare them to cold and freezing, and hot and burning for example. And to understand what hot is, it indeed helps a lot if we understand colder temperatures than the temperature which we would most of us call hot. Does it necessarily mean we would need to endure the freezing cold of the North Pole to understand that something is hot? Instead maybe we just need to be aware of colder temperatures to understand what hot is, even though we might have a greater appreciation of heat when we endured the freezing temperatures of the North Pole, and maybe we have a greater appreciation of the cold when we endured the scorching temperatures of the Saharan desert.
But someone could have been used to moderate, pleasant temperatures for all of their lives, and not have experienced either extremes but still if the temperature becomes a little bit warmer might find it even more pleasant, or find that it's a bit too much if their skin begins to burn, even when they never experienced extreme cold.
Or someone may have never experienced cold really but still know it when something is too hot.
Compared to happiness, and sadness couldn't it be more like a spectrum too, like temperatures are? Someone might have experienced little suffering or maybe even no suffering during their lives for example (which is hardly possible, but just as a hypothetical), couldn't they not still become more happy? Like say let's take one of those Buddhist monks who does nothing but meditate all day, and has long ago reached enlightenment and has freed him or herself from all suffering. They still practice meditation every day though and still keep growing spiritually and still become more happy as they grow toward the light, even though to some extent they may have already have become one with the light. My guess is that it's infinite and that there are always more happy stages of mind to be reached, without the previous stage necessarily having to be an unhappy one. It doesn't necessarily end like the peak of a mountain would. And maybe my example of comparing it to temperatures isn't the best either since even though we acclimatize to some extent to either the cold or the heat there are extremes on both sides which would kill us and which no human could bare. I'm not sure if it's the same with happiness or depression as, alright, we have enough examples of how too much light (think of the sudden success of some famous people who can't handle it), and too much darkness (someone who always had everything going for them and then suddenly doesn't) definitely kills people, we seem to be much more resilient in this respect and it's incredible what people are able to endure. I've been close to cancer patients for example who are and were some of the most positive people I've ever known. Or on the other hand there are people who run out of a weekend or longer meditation retreat because the light is just became a little too much to bare while again there are Buddhist monks who meditate from morning till evening and have learned to endure the light just fine (but would be useless and couldn't cope within modern day society which is the other side of the coin again).
But yes to summarize I think we know it if we are happy and how happy we are, just as we would know it if something is hot or if something is burning, even if we never experienced extreme depression or experienced the frost. But having experienced depression does add greater value to our happiness.
Feel free to correct me or let me know it if I completely missed the point. I just woke up here and still feel a little bit hazy. :)
(just some ramblings in the end)
Such an awesome comment!! I wish I could supervote it. I totally agree - we do not need to go to the deep North Pole to experience cold and to understand heat. I totally agree!! Thank you for adding your deep perspective to my video. :)