
Can You Overdose on Happiness? - dnetesn
http://nautil.us/issue/60/searches/can-you-overdose-on-happiness
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jeffreyrogers
I think there's a big difference between being happy and being satisfied.
There's some evidence that certain people are just happier than others, in the
same way that the distribution of extroversion, intelligence, etc. vary across
society. There's things you can do to remove unhappiness, but I think in most
cases that's all you're doing, bringing people to their baseline if everything
else is taken care of.

In any case, it seems like we should be more focused on helping people find
meaning in their lives rather than making people happier. People are happier
when doing fun things, but these things don't lead to any lasting achievement
that people can look back on and view as giving their life a purpose.

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supernovae
I find the opposite true - when people seek out meaning they're often
miserable :)

I know i have one life to live, so i choose to experience and see what I can
and that brings me much happiness - but in a way, it's not all from happiness.
There is lots of suffering and sacrifice. I love hiking mountains but its no
walk in the park and requires lots of willpower to keep climbing when
everything is telling you to turn around. Making it to the top the first time
is an accomplishment but further summits are more about the experience,
beauty, and wonder of being alive and being able to explore this planet by
foot.

Not looking for answers as if there is a purpose, but experiencing life with
purpose - to see it and live it. To me, thats vastly different than purpose
through meaning.

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jeffreyrogers
I think we're trying to get at the same thing but describing it in different
ways. I don't mean that people should be looking for _the_ meaning of life.
But you should be doing things that you find meaningful. That can be climbing
high mountains, raising a kid, running a business that employs other people,
etc. I don't think it matters very much what it is, but you should have
something you're directing your efforts towards rather than just aimlessly
seeking experience that make you feel happy.

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psyc
Hedonic bliss is very different from, say, extremely motivated high-optimism.
The latter can easily get you hospitalized and medicated for mania. People
around you will not accept it unless you have a lot of charisma and status to
back it up (like Gary Vaynerchuk or Richard Simmons). The former will probably
make you an unmotivated shut in, like a junkie with an endless supply.

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Pica_soO
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill)

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emodendroket
Directly stimulating the brain with electrical current seems like it might be
different

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ponderatul
Just what we needed, more human interventionism.

I mean, I get what she's trying to do, but we don't know the second order
effects. But given human nature, we can predict to some extent what's going to
happen. Another behavioural addiction, another conglomerate of corporations
preying on human's with a weak locus of control, and lots of profits.

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nikivi
I recently wrote a piece on what happiness means to me and how I try to
maintain it:
[https://wiki.nikitavoloboev.xyz/life/happiness.html](https://wiki.nikitavoloboev.xyz/life/happiness.html)

Maybe some will find it helpful.

~~~
trevyn
I think you’re on the right track, but I’d like to point out that while
physical pain may (or may not) be inevitable at times, suffering and regret
are actually completely optional mental states generated by the interpretation
of your experience.

You get tantalyzingly close to this with your discussion of Stoic philosophy;
consider what would be possible if you were also able to intentionally choose
your _interpretation_ of reality, and thus which emotions to feel. It _is_
possible.

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ShabbosGoy
> A few years earlier, the doctors had implanted electrodes in a central part
> of his reward system—namely, the nucleus accumbens. The stimulation had
> worked rather well on his symptoms, but now it was time to change the
> stimulator battery.

Wait a minute. It seems rather strange that upregulation of dopamine would be
defined as happiness. I think of happiness as cross-activation between your
endocannabinoid system and endogenous opioid system.

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finnh
So interesting. "wirehead" addiction is an interesting plot point in "The
Ringworld Engineers", but I didn't realize it was so well understood &
implementable.

