#metaphysical
#mind
# [[Epistemic status]]
#shower-thought
# Related
- [[Desire]]
# Happiness
[[There are two answers to this question, as to all questions: the poet's and the scholar's. Which one do you want first?]]
## Poet's answer
![chrome panther, metallic, contrasting neon light, volumetric lighting, by caspar david friedrich and wayne barlowe and ted nasmith ](https://lexica-serve-encoded-images.sharif.workers.dev/md/0c2d517b-83d3-431e-9c96-376a2a00d04b)
> S: Why does the dog chase its tail, Master?
> M: Because it does not understand that the tail was not designed to be caught.
> S: And as for man?
> M: Man chases "happiness." But in actuality, he doesn't chase happiness at all. He chases freedom from pain. And he believes that happiness is the opposite of pain.
> ~ [[Kapil Gupta - Direct Truth - Uncompromising - Non-Prescriptive Truths to the Enduring Questions of Life|Kapil Gupta]]
![[DALL·E 2022-07-12 21.51.01 - Happiness, by Van Gogh.png]]
> S: How does one achieve happiness?
> M: There is no such thing.
> ~ [[Kapil Gupta - Direct Truth - Uncompromising - Non-Prescriptive Truths to the Enduring Questions of Life|Kapil Gupta]]
![a non - euclidean city by the river with a forest, detailed drawing by m. c. escher ](https://lexica-serve-encoded-images.sharif.workers.dev/md/0570b145-c840-4dad-8dec-cdb58854d535)
> All human beings do the very same, my student. They try to improve. They try to become happier. They try to become more successful. They try to become healthier. They try to become wiser. They try to become better parents. They try to become better spouses. They try to make more money. And so on.
> ~ [[Kapil Gupta - Direct Truth - Uncompromising - Non-Prescriptive Truths to the Enduring Questions of Life|Kapil Gupta]]
![knowledge, drawing by mc Escher](https://lexica-serve-encoded-images.sharif.workers.dev/md/0757f50e-90bb-4e62-b8d3-ce3a4b4679b9)
> He must recognize that his life is fundamentally Pain. And that all his efforts at "happiness" only lead him further into that pain. He must understand that no matter what he tries, whether it is meditation or psychotherapy or medications or support from friends, such things will not have the power to cure his pain. All efforts will be futile. This is what he must understand. And he must understand it deep within his heart.
> ~ [[Kapil Gupta - Direct Truth - Uncompromising - Non-Prescriptive Truths to the Enduring Questions of Life|Kapil Gupta]]
<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/5rzKIiySApi1yMg5HoCsC6?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture"></iframe>
Here we assume **happiness is a positive asymmetry for any human.**
>The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.
>~ [[John Milton]]
Happiness is a choice, not an effect.
>But everyone in the world is looking for happiness. A: Yes. Q: They’re all misguided? A: Yes. Q: Then what should a person seek? A: There is no should. Q: What would it benefit a person to seek? A: [[Freedom]] from misery. Freedom from the need for happiness.
>~ [[Kapil Gupta - Direct Truth - Uncompromising - Non-Prescriptive Truths to the Enduring Questions of Life]]
The more desires you have, the more miserable you become.
>Colors blind the eye
Sounds deafen the ear.
Flavors numb the taste.
Thoughts weaken the mind.
[[Desire]]s wither the heart. ~ [[Lao Tze]]
## Links
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MxGn2MBVdJI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
## Scholar's answer
We are survival machines optimised for a mammoth populated environment
![[Pasted image 20220816080823.png]]
>Besides, a million years of natural selection shaped human nature to be ambitious to rear successful children, not to settle for contentment: people are programmed to desire, not to appreciate.
>~ [[Matt Ridley]]
>But the most important finding of all is that happiness does not really depend on objective conditions of either wealth, health or even community. Rather, it depends on the correlation between objective conditions and subjective **expectations**.
>~ [[Yuval Noah Harari]]
### Increasing happiness using science
In [[Huberman Lab - Science-Based Tools for Increasing Happiness Episode 98|Science-Based Tools for Increasing Happiness]] they argue that avoiding artificial light between 10 PM and 4 AM and receiving sunlight between these might be correlated to happiness levels.
#todo actually read paper
## [[Diverging from Epistemic consensus]] won't bring happiness?
>So perhaps happiness is synchronising one’s personal delusions of meaning with the prevailing collective delusions. As long as my personal narrative is in line with the narratives of the people around me, I can convince myself that my life is meaningful, and find happiness in that conviction.
>~ [[Yuval Noah Harari]]
>War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
~ [[George Orwell]]
You need to be aligned with the people around you.
Wearing a [[Thousand Masks|thousand masks]] is not a good long-term strategy.
## Kaczinsky's fatality
![[Pasted image 20220908065016.png]]
~ [[Peter Phiel - Zero to One|Peter Phiel]]
TLDR: Only easy and hard problems are left -> let's start from scratch and destroy civilisation