Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would you say cocaine makes those people happy?
Drugs 100% make people feel happy.
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Why aren't smart people happier?
181–190 of 651 posts
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would you say cocaine makes those people happy?
Yes, at least some of them for some time. I remember an old addict speaking of cocaine as if it was his only true love. Waxed poetical about it, the way we remember our first kiss. Seems that at least some people are wired this way.
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Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#183Might be useful to ask a different question: What makes people happy? It's things like relationships, satisfying work, accomplishment. (and many, many more) Then the real question emerges: How many of those happiness 'sources' are made better by intelligence? What percentage? Relationships? Seems like no. Work? Also seems like no, lots of work doesn't make use of a high IQ that people enjoy nonetheless. Accomplishmen…
For me it's simple: a big open field with a blue sky, green grass, sunny, rc plane flying around DLG specifically - learned this when I was younger
Now just burdened with debt/in suburbs, trying to get out and then live on a ranch
Staring at a big body of water or the stars is calming too
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it’s one of those things that varies wildly from person to person. In my case, I was almost completely unconcerned about anything except my hobbies/interests in high school and didn’t have the foggiest clue about where I might be headed. It wasn’t without its stressors but overall it was a carefree time. It was maybe some time about halfway through college when reality began to sink in and that all changed. T…
Huh, I feel like you both changed topics midstream there? I took your earlier post as saying that the ability to see the bigger picture leads to neurosis and unhappiness. But in replies, you're both talking like that ability lets someone figure out the game and solve for more happiness...? Going back upstream, I'd say that the ability to "see the big picture" is not well defined. Part of it is abstraction and part of…
> I took your earlier post as saying that the ability to see the bigger picture leads to neurosis and unhappiness.
Yes, that was the intention. What I perhaps failed to convey in my last reply is that simply having the mental capacity to “zoom out” on its own doesn’t mean that the individual in question is actually doing that, and that some other secondary condition (such as life experience or knowledge) is required. In my anecdote, I was missing some requirement until halfway through college.
> Going back upstream, I'd say that the ability to "see the big picture" is not well defined. Part of it is abstraction and part of it is systems thinking and knowledge about additional activities going on in your world.
> And, I think these are mostly orthogonal to a happiness. Your emotional disposition can cause you to see a very different valence in the same systems view.
I don’t think the two are entirely unrelated. I would expect that someone who’s more cerebral is going to be less influenced by their disposition, and in the case of someone stuck in a negative mental loop their disposition could be shifted if the loop goes unaddressed for too long.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#185[deleted]
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#186Imagine your a super smart 'aztec' citizen and you watch your leading priests sacrificing 1000s of people in the name of a god which is probably imaginary ... you have the choice to dumb down (re-occupy your mind with work, duties, mundane, gish gash) and stop over thinking or ... continue to contemplate the true horror's that your world is indulging in or something else even...
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#187Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
It really is wild the degree to which you can simply dictate your own mood. If I catch myself feeling grumpy or down, it is pretty easy to reframe and summon genuine happiness. Even during intense suffering of various kinds. To a large extent you get to decide which universe you live in.
This is a bit surprising to hear. So what should I have done when my parents died?
Ah come on that’s not what they’re talking about. Feeling a bit down — sure some upbeat music may nudge you out of it, but loss like losing people isn’t being fixed with a mixtape.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#189A 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…
It’s really not fixed; you can easily train your mind to be less neurotic and more joyful
> It’s really not fixed; you can easily train your mind to be less neurotic and more joyful
How?
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#190This answer might upset some people, but it’s really about balance. Spiritual healing is something many intelligent people quietly need. Too often, “intellectuals” dismiss the Bible outright. Relying on arguments they half-remember from TikTok or high-school debates instead of actually reading it and forming their own conclusion, like they would with any other subject. I’m just a developer, but I think intelligence c…
I tend to agree, although I wouldn't limit it to one religious tradition, or even to religion at all. For example, mindfulness meditation doesn't require any spiritual believe whatsoever. (In before: "But isn't that Buddhist?" Reply: "Who invented it is irrelevant. The practice itself is areligious, unless you go out of your way to make it otherwise for yourself.") I find that being mindful of the world around me, an…
I completely agree. Mindfulness and goodwill are good for the soul. They quiet the noise and help us see ourselves more clearly. I practiced meditation for years (and I still do but with my rosary this time), and it helped me observe my thoughts, but it never really healed them.
That’s where Christianity felt different. Most spiritualities try to empty the mind of what’s toxic, but Jesus calls us to bring our darkness into His light. When we try to cast things out on our own, they return stronger. Like the demon who brings seven more, or the widow who denies her grief only to carry it for decades.
Mindfulness helps us watch the storm. Christ walks into it with us. One teaches peace through avoidance. The other offers redemption through surrender. That’s the difference that changed my life.