Why are there tears of joy?

[Bourcet]

I think when growing up every child responds with joy to exciting things that he values, but I wonder why some adults respond with tears of joy.

When I have found something very funny I have always had tears when I laughed, however recently I've had it in response to joyous things and I don't know if it is because there is some negative component that I am unaware of that saddens me and therefore induces tears.

For instance, I was reading a book the other day called The Stress of Life by Dr Hans Seyle (Mentzer referred to him) and it was a great read in the sense that the author wrote with clarity, he intended for his work to be understood and it felt great to understand some science and for some reason I thought how wonderful this was (because it is rare) and tears began to roll down my face, but I wasn't sad at all.

Maybe the tears were a reflection of the sadness that unfortunately most authors do not engage me?

[TheEgoist]

I think it is just extreme emotions in general that make someone cry. I don't tear up every time I laugh, but sometimes the feeling of hilarity is so strong it is all you can do. Likewise, at a moment of extreme happiness it might just be an automatic emotional response to cry.

[Lucio]

Maybe tears arise from deep emotions. Sometimes sadness sometimes joy.

Not always tears=sadness.

[Axiomatic]

If you are used to coming up against problems most of your life and have accepted a malevolent universe premise for the majority of your time on this earth, and then something changes in you and in your circumstances and you see, perhaps for the first time that the universe is not malevolent and that not all people are evil, that can certainly a reason for tears of joy. The best I can describe it is a release of intense joy and relief from intense pain, sadness for lost time and hope for the coming future. Its a wonderful experience.

Edited November 13, 2009 by Axiomatic

[Amaroq]

The last chapter in OPAR made me cry tears of joy. When I read about art, I realized that the feelings you feel from a piece of art, like music for example, were intended by the artist. I thought of one of my favorite trance songs, and when I realized that not only was that feeling ideal for me, but ideal for the artist who made the song, and that that artist wanted to share that feeling with the world. I was just overwhelmed with emotion. No longer was I alone in enjoying that feeling. I knew the artist did too, at least.

I teared up again later that chapter when it described that a person looking at art is taking a "moment of rest" in the here and now to feel what it's like to be in their ideal world.

And of course Atlas Shrugged made me fight back tears at least once or twice. Once for sure, when Dagny got to the gulch as a "scab". When Galt asked her what she would want to hear most if she met the great men of the past up in heaven, and then he answered for her, "Good job."

I think Axiomatic is onto something. In my first example, I simply had no idea why I liked the music I liked. But all three were either a release from a malevolent and/or neutral premise into a more benevolent one, and the emotions accompanied by each were intense.

Edited November 14, 2009 by Amaroq

[Steve D'Ippolito]

And of course Atlas Shrugged made me fight back tears at least once or twice. Once for sure, when Dagny got to the gulch as a "scab". When Galt asked her what she would want to hear most if she met the great men of the past up in heaven, and then he answered for her, "Good job."

Actually, it was "well done" and it was a room full of prominent strikers, not just John Galt. Even more impact that way, and I have the same reaction you do.

[Amaroq]

Yeah, I took for granted that the other strikers were there. Though I honestly couldn't remember whether it was Good Job or Well Done.