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Why aren't smart people happier?

theseedsofscience.pub

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Re: Why aren't smart people happier?

#41

Post by lanfeust6 »

mfer wrote: post #7

Two thoughts.... First, being intelligent (as defined in the article) doesn't relate to being happy. There is nothing inherent about being intelligent that means happy. Second, our society spends a lot of time shaping culture and people to extract value from them. For example, the focus on "more" rather than "enough". We are shaped to always desire more and never be content with what we have. Even intelligent people…

The upshot is that society also values that we create value. Doing things that others find valuable can foster a sense of meaning and belonging.

What you touched on is desire (see: hedonistic treadmill), and while that can be inflamed by messaging in society, it transcends any given society. If we didn't have desires, we wouldn't suffer for art or create great things. Tautologically, manifesting changes like that necessitate dissatisfaction with status quo.

Re: Why aren't smart people happier?

#43

Post by t-3 »

malkocoglu wrote: post #2

Because there are lots of stupid people around them that make life miserable for everybody, not only themselves ! Note: I wrote this comment after reading just the title...

You should definitely read the article, it's pretty good. That said, I'd say it's not the stupid that make life miserable for everyone else, it's the smart people that were born earlier. A smart person with power sets rules to benefit themselves. They may or may not care about what happens after they die. Those that care will almost certainly want to advantage their descendants and friends. Enough iterations on this same pattern and you get the kafkaesque and at times idiotic modern society.

Re: Why aren't smart people happier?

#44

Post by INTPenis »

Ignorance is bliss.

I really wish I didn't know all the things that I know. I wish I didn't remember all the things I remember.

You choose to program yourself with certain input too, and later in my life I have attempted to selectively program myself by avoiding negative things that set me off.

Re: Why aren't smart people happier?

#45

Post by thenoblesunfish »

This seems like exactly the same as "why aren't rich people happier?". It's because unless you are very low on the scale (and in many countries few are), your situation isn't so bad as to obviously make you suffer, so the tendency of people to get used to any non-dire environment kicks in and they judge happiness relative to that reference.

Re: Why aren't smart people happier?

#46

Post by bluGill »

mfer wrote: post #7

Two thoughts.... First, being intelligent (as defined in the article) doesn't relate to being happy. There is nothing inherent about being intelligent that means happy. Second, our society spends a lot of time shaping culture and people to extract value from them. For example, the focus on "more" rather than "enough". We are shaped to always desire more and never be content with what we have. Even intelligent people…

> There is nothing inherent about being intelligent that means happy.

Why aren't intelligent people doing [able to do] things that make them happy? Or at least happier that someone who is less intelligent?

Re: Why aren't smart people happier?

#47

Post by vorpalhex »

supportengineer wrote: post #34
GolfPopper wrote: post #12

Because, whatever its merits, the world is a pretty grim and existentially terrifying place once you think about it?

Exactly. Ancient peoples were able to do all of their basic work in a few hours a day, the rest was leisure time.

That's trivially false. Ancient people were always working, and we can see this in people who maintain primative lifestyles.

Take bread.

You start the oven at 4am. By 5am it is hot enough for your meats. By 7am extinguish, by 8am start your bread and go until 6-7pm. Now you get to start your dough for tomorrow, typically working until 11pm.

Historically bakers were known to sleep in flour hoppers as they were spared some of the heat of the ovens.

Ancient people _always_ worked. There was no leisure weekends, no afternoons off.

Re: Why aren't smart people happier?

#49

Post by sshine »

simonswords82 wrote: post #24

I love this line from a 2024 TV show called "The Gentlemen" and I think about it a lot: "It’s a lucky man who is happy with his place in life" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gentlemen_(2024_TV_series)

The only thing I think a lot about is advancing at work and saving up for a bigger home.

Whenever I stop up to appreciate both my current working and living conditions, I’m happy for that period of time.

Yet, if I’m content, I’ll never live somewhere else doing something harder. I’d rather be a little unhappier always if I can think of ways to advance in the minigames I favor.

Re: Why aren't smart people happier?

#50

Post by blauditore »

malkocoglu wrote: post #2

Because there are lots of stupid people around them that make life miserable for everybody, not only themselves ! Note: I wrote this comment after reading just the title...

> Note: I wrote this comment after reading just the title...

Not sure if the irony is intended, but I find it hilarious.

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