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Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

hintjens.com

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Re: Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#11

Post by fnord123 »

jackhiggs wrote: post #8
nodejs_rulez_1 wrote: post #2

The intentions there are good, but reads bit unrealistic in some places. Being a boomer, author doesn't realise how far financially he is then many people who are younger. > Stop wasting your time on commuting, boring jobs, meetings, TV. Do only things that you feel are worthwhile, with people you like. If this means a cut in income, so be it. TV - sure, commuting - thanks to COVID only, the rest - sorry, but I would…

I agree, but I'm going to go in harder. The author seems to think that people have infinite time. Many points require an allocation of time that most people - in particular those with families and caring responsibilities - do not have. Remove bad actors? What if the bad actor is the mother/father of your kids? What if they're a parent who requires care you/they can't afford so you have to do it yourself? It's all so…

The author was from Belgium before he passed away five years ago from cancer. His perspective may be rooted in the Belgian experience where health care is affordable, there is a social safety net, and cheap access to mental health support.

If you live in a place where you must care for your parent because professional care is not affordable then perhaps look into organizing or supporting political will to make it affordable (4. Be part of bigger things). And if you live in the US where this political will is destroyed before conception, then I guess find another blog post to help guide you to happiness.

Re: Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#12

Post by virtualritz »

'Commute less' should be taken with a grain of salt unless one talks about cars.

Any form of transport I take where I am not driving the vehicle myself gives me time to read, relax, think – even meditate (trains are great for this).

I know for a fact that I read most books/month in my life in times I had a job that included at least 20 mins of commute (one way) on public transport.

Re: Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#13

Post by timdaub »

Hintjens is quoted too little these days considering how great many of his speeches and essays are. To me, he's the epistemic authority on developing software collaboratively and following his principles has aided my career.

"Social Architecture" should be read by any aspiring open source developer.

Re: Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#14

Post by drclau »

Every time I hear or read about happiness, I remember this quote from Thomas Metzinger. I hope you’ll find it useful, too:

“Evolution as such is not a process to be glorified: It is blind, driven by chance and not by insight. It is merciless and sacrifices individuals. It invented the reward system in the brain; it invented positive and negative feelings to motivate our behavior; it placed us on a hedonic treadmill that constantly forces us to try to be as happy as possible—to feel good—without ever reaching a stable state. But as we can now clearly see, this process has not optimized our brains and minds toward happiness as such. Biological Ego Machines such as Homo sapiens are efficient and elegant, but many empirical data point to the fact that happiness was never an end in itself.”

— “The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self“, Thomas Metzinger

Re: Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#16

Post by laputan_machine »

virtualritz wrote: post #12

'Commute less' should be taken with a grain of salt unless one talks about cars. Any form of transport I take where I am not driving the vehicle myself gives me time to read, relax, think – even meditate (trains are great for this). I know for a fact that I read most books/month in my life in times I had a job that included at least 20 mins of commute (one way) on public transport.

For you, perhaps. Public transport for me involves having to fight for a space in an incredibly crowded environment, having to take multiple buses or a bus + tram, it's expensive, smelly and a vector for illnesses. I read a lot of books on my commute, but for me the cons outweigh the pros by quite a margin. No thanks!

Re: Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#18

Post by enriquto »

virtualritz wrote: post #12

'Commute less' should be taken with a grain of salt unless one talks about cars. Any form of transport I take where I am not driving the vehicle myself gives me time to read, relax, think – even meditate (trains are great for this). I know for a fact that I read most books/month in my life in times I had a job that included at least 20 mins of commute (one way) on public transport.

I'd say that even if you "drive" yourself, the commute can be a pleasurable experience, depending on the circumstances. I for one love my commute (which is a calm promenade in the woods on my bicycle). But this is very specific: even a much shorter commute but inside the city traffic and among cars and red lights would be a nightmare.

Re: Steps Towards Happiness (2015)

#19

Post by KineticLensman »

amelius wrote: post #7
kubb wrote: post #5

In a world where you have to be worried about where you're going to live, none of this applies. Survival takes priority.

Yes, perhaps this is a better framework: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

Maslow put sex in the wrong place and completely omitted wifi.

A more serious challenge is that the relative importance of the different levels isn't fixed, but varies according to environmental circumstances, individual desires and social context / pressure.

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