Once a person has all these four things everything else in life after this must surely be a bonus. Once these four things are secure then you can be free to pursue other things.... ... so why is there so much trouble in the world? Why in the west where the majority of people have these four essentials, why is there so much negative drama? Once these four essentials are taken care of in a Humans life, should that Human therefore not be happy? and therefore do their utmost to just be positive in life and with others?
Haven't you already effectively covered this? The truth is we need a lot more that this to be happy, those four things are only needed for basic survival.
Basic survival? Breathable Atmosphere / Water / Food / Shelter / Sex Would be the bare minimum, IMO. If you want to be happy, though, you're going to need a lot more than that.
I get that. But why would not having it cause negativity? Beyond the four essentials everything else is just a "bonus" of life. If you don't get certain "bonuses" it really shouldn't cause any emotional strife. Life is finite anyway. People seem to get emotional, anxious, depressed, angry when they don't aquire certain "bonuses". They're just bonuses and arent essentials so why get worked up?
So by that logic living in prison would make you happy? You have air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat and shelter from the elements.
Humans are social animals. It is in our genes to procreate, and to form bonds with others. It has been shown that loneliness leads to mental and physical detriment in humans, and many other animal species for that matter. We're also thinking creatures. We're not plants that can simply exist on the basics. We're self aware, and that changes things up. The things you're talking about aren't bonuses, they are essentials. They're needs. We need food, water, shelter, and such, but we also need to socialize. We need to form emotional and physical bonds, otherwise we wither and die just as any flower starved for sunlight, water, and good soil.
Isn't that other human emotions, envy, jealousy? They have more shelter (a bigger house), They have more food etc... Sure you can survive with the four things you list, but there is more to life than survivng. Some people are perfectly happy with say being single, which is great for them others want to form some sort of connection with others. And do we always know what someone is feeling, they might mask their true feelings behind another emotion, the person who is always laughing might be using his laughter to mask a different emotion. Or how about the person who is more stoic with his emotions.
So it all boils down to the Human mind and how it thinks and perceives. The Human mind can be re-programmed, it's just a computer afterall. So IMO beyond the four essentials we truly don't need those other things, we just think we do, it's nothing more than a case of changing the way we think about life and think about what we want. That's the problem I see with people, always "wanting" things and that's where the negativity stems from IMO, not getting what one wants. So let's say someone wants to be in a relationship with someone, they don't actually need to be, they just think they do and not being in one causes depression. In the end it's just a simple case of changing the way one thinks. I mean like has just been mentioned, you'll get one person who wants to be in a relationship and then you get people who are happy being single, so these differences are simply a case of how they think because neither of them can do without the four essentials.
No, that is incorrect. This isn't "mind over matter," these are biological and genetic factors, not perceptual factors. It would be just like having a heart attack and insisting it's not as bad as you think, and you needn't worry, that it will pass and all will be well. The biological result of ignoring that imperative to act in favor of your own health can kill you.
You can survive without sex. Whether or not you'd call it living is a matter of opinion. Or we form unnatural emotional attachments to sporting equipment.
Just because you want something doesn't mean you can't be happy without it. Some might want a nicer car or house. They dream about owning an Aston MArtin or a Ferrari, or what a house with a pool. But they accept that they don't have those things and make do with what they have. Remember one of the key reasons a male and a female form a relationship is in order to continue our species. This occurs even in the rest of the animal kingdom. Some animals come together to form packs, at the end of the day it's not to dissimilar from humans forming communites for the greater good of the whole.
Mere survival isn't "happiness". After securing the basics of survival, what are we supposed to do - sit and stare at our navels while picking our noses? If that makes you happy, go to it. The rest of us need more than mere survival.
Don't forget clothing. I don't think I could survive long without clothing and all the things like washing machines and dryers that come with it.
This is my point. After the essentials are dealt with everything else is a bonus, therefore anything we obtain afterwards should bring happiness, not having certain things though should not bring unhappiness because they are not essentials. So why are people who have the four essentials always depressed? no need to be, they could go for a nice walk to the beach and enjoy a sunset, that is a bonus! There are bonuses everywhere, no need for anger or hatred or selfishness in the world. Give every man woman and child in the world the four essentials and there should not be any fighting or anger or hatred or selfishness, it would not make sense for there to be such things and yet there is, doesn't make sense to me.
Personally, I'd rather stare at someone else's navel. (Yeah, I'll use the flimsiest excuse to post a babe pic. I'm just a dirty old man.)