happiness is your reality minus your expectations, and expectations tend to catch up quickly with reality
Why aren't smart people happier?
291–300 of 651 posts
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#292Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except happiness is a well-known thing, and there are substances like alcohol, cocaine, etc, that are optimized for it.
Putting aside that they are not optimized but just happen to have an effect, would you claim that these are the only things that affect happiness/its relevant chemicals?
I would claim all other things are far less effective, to the point where they have little to no effect.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#293[dead]
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#294Interesting essay. But it attributes something magical (ability to solve undefined problems) to humans and says that AI doesn't have it.
It seems pretty meaningless and not engaging with the real problem to say that AI doesn't "actually" write movie scripts or paint pictures. Like this doesn't line up with my definitions for doing those things which AI clearly fulfills.
And human intelligence arises from a well defined problem: maximizing f(environment, self) -> babies.
Also: if it were possible to measure, which it isn't, I strongly suspect that ability to solve well-defined problems and ability to solve poorly-defined problems are highly correlated, not totally uncorrelated. Happiness is a poorly defined problem, but it's just one of many, and has its own pile of things to consider that can isolate it from the general ability to solve poorly-defined problems.
I do like the framing. seems to be describing something similar to Goodhart's Law.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#295Might 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…
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…
Polymaths in particular could be good or great at many things. It’s a matter of choice and opportunity. But they can’t be great at absolutely everything. So one choice closes another. And the grass is greener on the other side.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#2969 out of 10, people around you will take advantage of you for most of your career. You will grow resentful and lose motivation. And basically the core driver of your happiness will slowly fade. I’ve seen it happen too many times.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#297This is an interesting hypothesis, but I don't buy it. I'm pretty confident that "smart" people are also good at solving poorly specified problems. One good example might be, "How do I start a successful company?" There's plenty of evidence that intelligence correlates to ability there.
I think the answer is simpler. The introduction basically asks, if smarter people are better at planning and solving problems, why can't they make the choices that will make them happy? And the answer is that humans have evolved to maintain a relatively stable level of long-term happiness, assuming their basic needs are met, essentially regardless of other factors. Getting what you want can provide a short-term boost, but you quickly adapt. Likewise if you suffer a setback, assuming it doesn't permanently impact your ability to meet basic needs, you adapt. Presumably this is because if people permanently became too blissful, they would lose their drive to strive for more resources and mating opportunities. Likewise if someone is depressed. So evolution has tuned us to a middle ground. Intelligence may allow one to understand this, and maybe even to accept it, but not to somehow think their way out of it.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#298Because they're statistically more likely to be surrounded by people dumber than them.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#299Earlier quoted context omitted.
Putting aside that they are not optimized but just happen to have an effect, would you claim that these are the only things that affect happiness/its relevant chemicals?
I would claim all other things are far less effective, to the point where they have little to no effect.
I'm sorry, but I don't think that makes sense, and that it's pretty obvious that it doesn't.
I don't have experience with cocaine, but as a Bavarian I made plenty of experience with alcohol. I've never been addicted, but I had my fair share of Oktoberfest and beer garden visits. And yet you don't see my optimizing my life around it. In fact, nowadays I have a beer every few months if even, simply because most of my hobbies don't work well with alcohol.
As for cocaine: As I said, no experience, but it appears to me that even very wealthy people who probably consume it also still do other things in life, despite not having to for income etc.
Re: Why aren't smart people happier?
#300Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is no "should". Everyone grieves differently. Whats right for GP commenter isn't necessarily right for you. That said, what do you want to optimize for? Time spent grieving? Money spent on the funeral(s)? Money spent on therapy? Time spent in therapy? Lack of having to change as a person? Having to change as a person? Grieving "correctly"? (to reiterate from above there is no right way, but some people think if…
Maybe feeling less sad?
I'm sorry, grief is the worst.
To attack the sadness directly, which is a result of chemicals in your brain, there are specific other chemicals you can add that will raise serotonin and norepinephrine and also dopamine. It's not the most sustainable solution, however. Other ways of boosting those neurotransmitters include running real hard, getting a tattoo, having sex.
Processing the emotions, possibly with the help of a professional, is the recommended long term solution though. It won't bring them back, but it'll help understand the pain, and hopefully heal it.