Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would you say cocaine makes those people happy?
Drugs 100% make people feel happy.
... until the CNS homeostasis stops responding to them, which is why they keep taking bigger hits. Something more complex is going on.
Why aren't smart people happier?
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Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
As I heard someone say, happiness is your reality minus your expectations. Smart people see more variables that could be changed, more components that could be modified, and are less likely to accept things as they are. This creates a false sense of ease by which reality could be modified, and thus higher expectations for the world around them. I suspect this misplaces happiness and contentment, but the two are also…
I think smart people are told much more often as kids how bright of a future they have. So they build up expectations of "succeeding" in some sense (becoming a doctor, getting rich, etc.). These are the sort of expectations you mention in your quote. Not only is there often pressure put on you if you're smart, you adopt those expectations yourself. Or at least hold yourself to that standard. Of course, being smart do…
For me this has 100% been the main source of unhappiness in my life. I wish nobody had ever told me how smart I was as a child. The reality was that I was above average but in an unremarkable collection of kids mostly. I’ve done fine in life academically and career wise but I’ll never live up to the expectations that were planted in my head.
Thankfully you can get over this/yourself and let go of ego, ambition, achievement and all that unnecessary crap.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#213Intelligent people are also pretty ambitious in my experience. More ambition raises the risk of failure and failing doesn’t generate the feeling of happiness. I know many smart people absolutely terrified of failure to the point they take meds for it and I know a handful who are emotionally crippled by failing at something 20 years ago. Smart people and failure do not mix.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#214Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#215If we define happiness as cognition of some reality being better than expected, smartness can affect both expectations and results (realities) and the difference is not correlated to smartness.
Sometimes, smartness can push up expectations beyond realities, resulting in lack of happiness which can be attributed to smartness, as a non-smart person would have appreciated and accepted the realities better.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#216Happiness arises from finding peace within oneself.
This concept can be expressed in various ways, such as through authenticity, flow, connection, contentment, gratitude, peace, and love.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#217Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#218Are smart people even fulfilled ? How many smart people work on industries they can't wait to quit ? On problems they don't even care ? I feel like everyone within 2-standard division of the IQ mean is still susceptible to the never-ending that being rich and having money is all that matters instead of, I don't know, supporting life on the only habitable planet we know.
It makes one wonder why we didn't and continue not to steer our systems to reward supporting life on the planet vs being a destructive force. What drives us to this short term consumption model
What drives us to that model? Greedy rich people who want more and will exploit whoever they can to increase their material riches and power. Oh, and the rest of us allowing that.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#219Happiness in long term is mostly determined genetically. It's like asking why smart people aren't taller.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#220A few thoughts on the matter: - Happiness is fixed, perhaps. Short-term, it isn't (coke and hookers work!). Long-term, it is. People fall back to a baseline. So then, being smart doesn't help you. - Dumb people might be misreporting their happiness. So smart people are making themselves happier, but all the studies are done on self-reported happiness, and the dumb people report that they are happier than they really…
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