A place to share interesting articles from Wikipedia.
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...humans generally maintain a constant level of happiness throughout their lives, despite events they experience... ....conceptualized as a treadmill, since no matter how hard one tries to be happier, one remains in the same place.
perfect, some metaphorical nihilism to start my day.... nothing truly changes, nothing truly matters. Happiness/joy/sadness/anger are all temporary. How you feel now will likely be forever, thrash in your cage if you must.
I've found, while happiness is transitory, contentness isn't anywhere near as much. If your goal is to be happy all the time, you will fail. It's not how our brains are built. Aiming to be content is achievable however.
On the graph, you'll notice marriage is a bit above the others. That is likely due to the contentment I talked about. Though it likely has a better term in the literature.
I'd think it'd be wise he not forget about Maslows triangle. However once you've fulfilled it, yeah you'll probably get stuck on the treadmill.
Okay so Maslowe's hierarchy of needs, often modeled as a pyramid, doesn't actually hold up to scrutiny at the detail level. Think back to how chemistry is taught throughout school, they first teach you that atoms exist with no further elaboration, then model it as the sun nucleus orbited by planet electrons, then in high school or college they hit you with the 1S2 2S2 2P6 stuff? Earlier models are deliberately inaccurate to help get the point across for new learners? Maslowe's pyramid is kind of like that. it's not exactly pseudoscience, but it's not a law of physics like f=ma either.
It was taught in my psychology class as a rigid structure, that this need is always more pressing than that need, and that they always come in this order because if the lower levels of the pyramid aren't sturdy you can't build atop them.
Strict interpretation of the pyramid puts the need for moderate temperature, a homeostasis need, as the bottom-most foundational layer of the pyramid, below and thus more important than physical safety. So obviously no human in history has ever run out into a cold snowy night to escape a maniac with an axe. Can't be done. That guy is going to hack me into pieces, but it's warm in here so there's nothing to be done.
Students deprive themselves of sleep to study their coursework. Sleep is another homeostasis need, what layer of the pyramid does studying university coursework satisfy? Social and romance needs are modeled above physical safety and security, so nobody's ever stepped into danger in front of a loved one, right? Or forego starting a family in favor of pursuing career or academic goals?
The concept of the pyramid also comes with the idea that meeting your needs is a project to be completed where it's an ongoing process for your entire life.
A dollop of hope:
A research study in mice suggests that resilience to suffering is partly due to a decreased fear response in the amygdala and increased levels of BDNF in the brain. This 2015 research found that changing a gene in mice increased resilience to depressing and traumatizing events such as forcing the mice to swim. This could have crucial benefits for those with anxiety and PTSD.
...though I feel a bit bad for the mice.
Nihilism can be freeing depending on how you see it. Find your own meaning.
You're not immune to changing your own perspective, it just takes awareness and mindfulness. Once you recognize your own state of being, sometimes it just requires a slight shift of thought to move that baseline up.
I was very resistant to that, perhaps we all are, but if you value your own well-being, wanting to improve your mental state is its own first step.
I think gratitude is a good place to start. If all this strife in the world is good for any one thing, it may be to be able to reflect on whatever blessings I have despite that. Surely there are even people in those situations who could, with some mindfulness, be able to count some blessings, no matter how minor.
Hah! I think as an interesting case-study, I read the thing and felt completely different about it.
I don't take it as saying "nothing matters, do nothing", I take it as saying stop looking for excuses outside of yourself!
You're not sad because you don't have a partner. You're not sad because you don't have a million dollars. You're not sad because you aren't promoted. You're sad because you're a sad person, and you'd be sad even if you got promoted into having a million dollar spouse. Doing stuff like that isn't going to make you happy, because a miserable person can turn anything sour, and a positive person can see the silver lining in most things.
Obviously there are extreme cases where it can be difficult to maintain positivity, but on the other side looking at most of the richest people on this earth there doesn't appear to be any amount of money or success that makes miserable people happy.
Now, I'm sure if you're sufficiently motivated you could take my take as "so you're saying I'll always suck and I shouldn't try" but that's actually not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is something something therapy positive mindset lifestyle change maybe medication. I don't know how to help you in particular. But the way you help yourself isn't by waiting for some milestone to solve your problems, or for the happiest day of your life to finally whisk you down the path of light.
The version of you you are right now is going to fuck those up and squander those opportunities, you're not ready for them. You need to somehow become the sort of person who can enjoy a bad day, and if you can do that, then most days won't be that bad. Even in the shadow of terrible days.
And before people reduce me too bad, fucking obviously living in a box and not having money to pay for food is tough. Obviously living with an abusive parent and not having the freedom to leave them is tough. But there are a lot of sad people who have lives much better than that.
yeah sorry but I have been much happier when I have gotten closer to the way I want to live and so has my wife. Most of our personal unhappiness is from limited income and the crazy unsustainability of our global society.
Why does it read like propaganda of the rich to justify minimum wage?
If I had enough money that no amount of crazy spending could ever make me poor again, like, say a trillion dollars, and my expectations aren't being met at that point, I'd eat a bullet.
fuck, this is depressing news. But at least I know now that I will eventually get used to the thought and return to my normal, lower-than-desirable level of happiness.
More evidence that our lives are meaningless.