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The Futile Pursuit of Happiness (2003) (query.nytimes.com)

52 points by kirse ↗ HN
The tinyurl goes to this article: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DEFD61538F934A3575AC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

HN was bouncing me to some old NYTimes submission when trying to post that original link.

20 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 52.8 ms ] thread
coglethorpe
I just listened to this book. It made me happy.
peregrine
I read this article in 2004 and its even more relevant now.
wallflower
I read a theory once that happiness is designed to be fleeting because otherwise we would eat one meal and then starve to death or procreate once and then die.

Also, related article I read in Newsweek recently:

"If you want to test yourself, take a quick look at this domain name sometimes used by stress researchers: www.opportunityisnowhere.com.

What do you see? For many people, the web site seems discouraging: opportunity is nowhere. But others see the exact opposite: opportunity is now here. When it comes to hidden messages, lucky people perceive more of the world around them. "It is not that they expect to find certain opportunities, but rather that they notice them when they come across them," Wiseman writes in his book "The Luck Factor." This ability (or talent) "has a significant, and positive, effect on their lives."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/181290/output/print

zaius
If you haven't read his book, I highly recommend it.

Also, he gave a great speech at sxsw a few years ago: http://server1.sxsw.com/2006/coverage/SXSW06.INT.20060311.Da...

It changed my life

wallflower
> It changed my life

Without being too nosy hopefully, could you go into that a little? I find I read a lot of books and the imparted wisdom/motivation decays exponentially.

msluyter
The lesson I took away from the book was not to take my plans too seriously, which may sound defeatist. But if the book is to be believed, we may end up quite happy even if things go seriously wrong, or even because of it.
zaius
Even though I consider myself a completely rational person, I still make dumb decisions and weigh alternatives with completely biased probabilities. And while I still do it, at least I recognize it now.
nazgulnarsil
happiness research is chilling. Do you want an optimal life imposed on you? A large part of what makes people happy is self determination and I do not believe that that is being accounted for. The hack for that is to give people the illusion of free will but make all the important "happiness maximizing" decisions behind the curtain. But this too is scary. What is the happiness researcher made a mistake? Or is calculating via averages? My happiness is not other people's happiness.
shiro
Not necessarily to be scared. Ultimately what you want from life is up to you; you have to decide it. However, to make wise decision, deep knowledge about the object is important, which is yourself in this case.

Human mind constantly try to trick its owner. Mostly it's a kind of optimization and works well for normal situations, but it doesn't necessary work well for once-in-life extreme situation, and knowing your mind's trick will help.

khafra
Yudkowsky's eudaimonia essays might ease your fears. Truly rational approaches to happiness maximizing don't involve monkey's paw type unintended consequences.

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/01/fun-theory-sequence.ht... http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/01/fun-theory-laws.html http://www.overcomingbias.com/2008/12/devils-offers.html -- to start

nazgulnarsil
and you think the people adept at getting the job of government regulator are also the ones adept at avoiding such bias? Happiness research will be seized upon by socialists.
cyberpunkdreams
I've only scanned the article, but it seems a lot like Buddhism in a nutshell.
herval
You should go back and read it, then, as NOT looking for the Zen seems to be the conclusion for the article....
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msort
Still hard to believe the usual things (health, love, money) don't affect one's happiness much.

But maybe something else matters more. I wonder if the researcher has the data on: 1) Does a sound marriage affect one's happiness? 2) If attitude is everything, does that make real difference?

blackguardx
After being out of college and working full-time as engineer for two years, I've discovered that money doesn't buy happiness.

It was quite a discovery. I really don't like my job and performed a simple thought experiment one day: what would change if they doubled my salary. The answer: nothing! How would I magically like my job? The last thing I think about when I'm in my cubicle is my salary.

Having discovered that money doesn't buy happiness, things get more complicated. I now have to figure out just what will make me happy.

I've recently applied to several PhD programs. I like to learn new things and think that I will gain some satisfaction from going to class and performing research. I still have trouble deciding what I want to do, however.

ovi256
I'm a bit in the same situation, altough after only seven months. I had a case of buyer's remorse after a few months, after being very excited at the beginning (company logo as background and all). I soon realized the only new thing I learned is not to put on lightly-colored tshirts under dark pulls. And some PHP, which I tend to consider a negative asset.

I'm now looking into PhD too, for the same reasons. And being in Europe, I think the lifestyle change (young software engineer -> PhD student) won't even be that big.