apparition13
apparition13 t1_j3hg1wx wrote
Reply to comment by Lord_Shisui in Anna Alexandrova, a philosopher of science at Cambridge, argues that a “science of happiness” is possible but requires a new approach. Measures such as “life satisfaction” or “positive emotions” can be studied rigorously. An underlying variable of “happiness” cannot. by Ma3Ke4Li3
She's exchanging a more subjective term with less subjective terms. Split a big question in to smaller, easier to study and quantify questions, study those, and gain insights about the big questions, perhaps allowing you to study that directly sometime in the future.
If a wall is too tall, carve steps in it.
apparition13 t1_j6oiqvw wrote
Reply to What's with the impatience that leads many to ask if a show "gets better" after just the first few episodes? by TheShowLover
If you don't like the first few episodes of NCIS, you won't like NCIS.
If you don't like the first few episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you still might like Buffy because it doesn't really find it's voice until the last episode of season 1 (my opinion) or even up to the middle of season 2 (a fairly common opinion).
Some shows are all they are from the get go, others take time to evolve into what they wind up being, in which case you might like later episodes when you didn't care for earlier, or even vice versa sometimes.
And not all shows get "better". I thought the first season of the (original) L Word was a really good character driven drama. In season two it switched to a plot driven soap, and I grew increasingly frustrated with it until I quit watching it sometime later after a couple seasons of hoping it would go back to what it was the first season.