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How to Be Happy

lesswrong.com

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Re: How to Be Happy

#151

Post by Double_Cast »

eludwig wrote: post #104
awakened wrote: post #73

"The only correct view is the absence of all views." - thich nhat hanh We are unhappy when we assign reasons to people's actions or words. When we think that others say or do things because they are "out to get me". That is a view and that is an incorrect view that will lead to all sorts of unhappiness and discontent in your life. Get rid of all of your views. Some things just happen. There is no grand plan. "Do you…

>>"The only correct view is the absence of all views." - thich nhat hanh That is a pretty strong view! ;D >>live only in the present and you'll forever be happy Live only in the present and you will be happy, sad, angry, in love, sleepy, hungry etc, etc. Happiness is just a thing that happens, like all things. All things happen in the present. Can you experience a "past event" in the present?

Things I would qualify as "experiencing a 'past event' in the present" (which breed unhappiness) include regret, remorse, PTSD, etc. E.g. emotions like regret are always experienced in the present, but that emotion may be about about past event.

Re: How to Be Happy

#152

Post by lozf »

chippy wrote: post #86
gaelow wrote: post #2

My problem may be laziness. I couldn't bring myself to read more than half of such a long article, so I guess I'll just stay moderately unhappy.

The bit about procrastination was in the first half of the article :)

I'd procrastinate more if I wasn't so lethargic.

Re: How to Be Happy

#153

Post by woodchuck64 »

JohnnyBrown wrote: post #149
woodchuck64 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there an argument to be made why artificial intelligence that surpasses human intelligence is not a problem for the human race?

Is there an argument to be made why $HELL is not a problem for the human race?

$HELL? Is that SHELL with a $? Is that Shell Oil and Gas? Is Shell Oil a problem for the human race? I suppose it could be, but your point escapes me.

Or maybe the $ is a typo and you mean the Christian notion of Hell? Is Hell a problem for the human race? Not likely as, even if it exists, it's only a problem in the after life. So again, your point escapes me.

Re: How to Be Happy

#154

Post by TeMPOraL »

sehr wrote: post #70
barry-cotter wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Why? What exactly is wrong with lesswrong? Please be specific.

From this thread [0], they are looked at as a sort of cult. Funnily enough, they look at HN the same way. [0] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8053606

> Funnily enough, they look at HN the same way.

[citation needed]. This would be somewhat... surprising.

Re: How to Be Happy

#155

Post by mansr »

rquantz wrote: post #123
washadjeffmad wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instead of a recovering alcoholic, perhaps a teetotaler or other person sober on principle would be a better comparison. I've never believed gods could exist or had religion, and thoughts otherwise wouldn't tempt me.

You may be right. I chose alcoholic because suggesting they try drinking to solve one problem will cause other problems for them. If I were to try attending church in order to make myself happy, I would find myself 1) tortured by the inanity of everything that goes on there and 2) pained by the experience of behaving outwardly in a way that conflicts with my values. However, there are also plenty of people who were r…

I share your views of religion. I also feel pretty much the same way if compelled to fake extroversion and attend, say, a fancy dinner reception. In the eyes of the article author, it is fine to dismiss religion while extroversion is to be coveted. I assume this to be because he is himself an extrovert atheist and can't imagine other people being happy in another way.

Re: How to Be Happy

#156

Post by twobits »

maaku wrote: post #49
id wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So annoying 3^^^3 people "for a fraction of a second, barely enough to make them notice" is worse than horribly torturing a single person for 50 years? Keep in mind that the 3^^^3 dust specks are spread across 3^^^3 people and their annoyance can't be simply added together.

> and their annoyance can't be simply added together Why not? EDIT: Serious question. If I save two lives that is twice as good as saving one, right? Why is this situation different?

Because at the end of the day, no one gives a fuck about a spec of sand in their eyes. Having your balls ripped off, might be different. YMMV. Human feeling is a bit more complicated than just adding.

Re: How to Be Happy

#157

Post by adamzerner »

jasode wrote: post #78
adamzerner wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you have a lot to gain by doing so. Humans are capable of deriving a lot of happiness from social matters, so there's a large opportunity cost to being alone. That said, it obviously depends on the person's situation. I don't think the advice is good for everyone. But it's probably good for most. Edit: I found http://www.succeedsocially.com/allarticles to be really insightful and useful.

>, so there's a large opportunity cost to being alone. But for some personalities, there's a large opportunity cost when hanging out with others. Some people simply interface their optimal best with the world when they don't have to force themselves to socialize at whatever "normal" standards of frequent interaction expected by extroverts.

True. Definitely depends on the person.

Re: How to Be Happy

#158

Post by Centigonal »

noname123 wrote: post #115

I'm happiest when I'm seeking out and feeding off all sorts of misery, schadenfreude of others' failures, absurdity, ennui, existential guilt, jealousy of others' success, fear of missing of out, fear of growing old, sexual frustration, impotence of metaphorical and of the limpy kind, the haze and alcohol/drug induced dependency, anxiety of status. I get angry and anxious reading my Facebook updates about weekend adv…

I am not a psychiatrist, but you may be suffering from some form of mental illness. Please consider talking to a mental wellness professional about how you feel emotions. Nobody is going to try and make you change who you are, but almost anyone would benefit from understanding how their own mind works better.

Re: How to Be Happy

#159

Post by TeMPOraL »

lucisferre wrote: post #53
Jweb_Guru wrote: post #10

Just for those of you who aren't aware, LessWrong is a site devoted to the cult of the "singularity." The site founder, Eliezer Yudkowsky, is a secular humanist who is probably most well-known for his Harry Potter fanfiction, "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality." His core beliefs include that the obvious goal of the human race is immortality, that it is justifiable to kill a man if it would remove a spec of…

It's funny but this article is actually the strongest evidence of cult behaviour. Teaching you how to be "happy" is pretty much the initial selling point of almost every cult out there. Just walk by any Scientology building. Also from the wiki you linked [1] > Some people familiar with the LessWrong memeplex have suffered serious psychological distress after contemplating basilisk-like ideas — even when they're fairl…

> It's funny but this article is actually the strongest evidence of cult behaviour. Teaching you how to be "happy" is pretty much the initial selling point of almost every cult out there.

This is nonsense. It's an article posted to a curated community blog by some guy who happens to like reading tons of psychology papers and wanted to do some research into the state of scientific understanding of happiness. Is Wikipedia selling a cult too now[0]?

[0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness

Re: How to Be Happy

#160

Post by TeMPOraL »

coldtea wrote: post #66
Jweb_Guru wrote: post #10

Just for those of you who aren't aware, LessWrong is a site devoted to the cult of the "singularity." The site founder, Eliezer Yudkowsky, is a secular humanist who is probably most well-known for his Harry Potter fanfiction, "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality." His core beliefs include that the obvious goal of the human race is immortality, that it is justifiable to kill a man if it would remove a spec of…

> His core beliefs include that the obvious goal of the human race is immortality, that it is justifiable to kill a man if it would remove a spec of dust from the eye of every other person on Earth, and that the most important thing we could possibly be doing right now is devoting all of our time developing a mathematical model of a "safe AI." Possitive proof that IQ doesn't equal smartness, much less wisdom.

Positive proof that you can make everything sound ridiculous if you half-assedly read about it, cherry-pick some sentences, and misinterpret them as it suits your preconceived opinions. Saying that GP's criticism is just inaccurate would be extremely charitable.
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