Алексей Оносов – Happynomics: The theory and practice of a happy life (страница 3)

To get a bit of a handle on this whole issue, we’re going to introduce a few more givens – some additional axioms.

Truth is a "map" (our perception) that most closely reflects the "territory" (the reality of the world). Ideally, our "map" would perfectly align with the world around us. However, when the ’map’ diverges from the "territory", we must prioritize the "territory" itself and adjust our "map" accordingly. The challenge, of course, is that the "territory" is constantly changing.

We can’t fully explore the world as it truly is, due to the inherent limitations of our bodies, senses, and minds. For instance, we lack X-ray or thermal vision, can’t hear ultrasound, can’t touch molten magma without harm, or dive into plasma. This means… Absolute truth is unattainable, but we can continuously get closer to it by refining and adding detail to our "map".

Trying to find absolute truth is like a tiny cell trying to understand the massive creature it belongs to. Our awareness, limited by human experience and how we see things, tries to make sense of the Universe’s incredible complexity. We’re like that cell, struggling to comprehend the whole, with access to only a tiny sliver of information, and limited by our cognitive abilities. Every discovery simply expands the horizon of the unknown, revealing just how deep and vast reality truly is. Truth is like an endless ocean stretching far beyond our perception, and the more we learn, the more acutely we realize the limitations of our knowledge.

Furthermore, due to human imperfection, all our thoughts about truth will also be imperfect. This means that in every single one of our statements, there will always be a component of misconception mixed with a portion of truth, a truth we will be infinitely approaching.

Let’s re-emphasize a crucial point: there will always be an element of error and an element of truth in all of our statements.

Besides, even if someone did manage to grasp the truth (which, as we’ve shown, is unlikely), they’d probably struggle to communicate it. Truth is more than just a concept; it’s expansive, multi-dimensional. Words, on the other hand, are likely one-dimensional. Trying to convey a complex, three-dimensional meaning with such a limited tool is simply not going to work fully. The best we can do is create countless one-dimensional ’projections’ – much like the three blind men who each touched a different part of an elephant, drew different conclusions, and were each partially right and partially wrong.

There’s even a sense that truth and love are two sides of the same coin, just as error and pain are.

CHAPTER 3

HAPPINESS

A boy was wandering in the garden when he spotted a beautiful butterfly. He decided to catch it and chased it for a long time, but the butterfly always managed to flutter away just as he was about to grab it.

Tired and disappointed, the boy sat down on the grass. To his surprise, the butterfly flew over and landed on his shoulder.

The boy’s grandfather, who had been watching him, said, "That’s how happiness is, my child. When you try too hard to catch it, it slips away. But if you’re calm and open to the world, it will come to you."

The boy smiled, realizing that true happiness comes when you don’t chase after it, but simply enjoy the moment.

Defining happiness is tricky. It’s a complex concept, while human thought and language are much more… well, flat. Think of it like this: from any 3D object, you can create endless 2D projections. And that’s exactly what we’re about to do, with relish.

HAPPINESS IS PLEASURE. The more pleasure in our lives, the better. Simple as that. Just do what feels good, right? The catch is that something might feel good in the short term but be a terrible idea long term, and vice versa. You could eat cake every night, but your health would suffer after a month. Or you could run three kilometers every morning, which might suck at first, but after a year, you’d see a major positive impact, and that would feel amazing. So, the strategic goal is to balance our actions to maximize our overall "pleasantness" over our entire lives.

HAPPINESS IS JUST A RELEASE OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS, OR STIMULATION OF CERTAIN BRAIN AREAS. Dopamine, serotonin, all those "–ins" that flood our brains in specific situations. The question is, how can we regulate these neurotransmitter levels ourselves, without resorting to dangerous substances that could harm us?

Apparently, scientists have been able to induce happiness in lab animals simply by injecting chemicals into their bloodstream or applying electrical signals to certain brain regions. For example, there’s the famous experiment with the rat who had an electrode implanted in its pleasure center. It was taught to send impulses to that center, and it pressed the button until it died.

That being said, neurotransmitters are often released when we achieve significant goals. Like, you worked for 10 years and built an awesome house. During that time, you were miserable, denying yourself everything, thinking about how great life would be after the house was done. You finish the house, neurotransmitters flood your brain, happiness lasts a day, a week, a month, maybe even a year, and then you start thinking: "Now what? Was it even worth it?" And the house isn’t even that great: this is crooked, that’s off, and it’s not what you really wanted anyway.

Why isn’t achieving happiness this way very effective? You develop a tolerance, and you need to put in more and more effort to get the same emotions. The first time you go skydiving, it’s an incredible rush of adrenaline and euphoria. Many people are so impressed by this experience that they start skydiving regularly.

However, over time, even such an extreme activity may lose its sharpness. In pursuit of new sensations, skydivers begin to look for more risky options: jumps from lower altitudes, flights in wingsuits, or base jumping. And sometimes this escalation of risk can lead to very dangerous consequences, if you do not realize in time that true satisfaction lies not in constantly increasing the dose of adrenaline, but in improving skills and finding a balance between the pursuit of thrills and safety.

HAPPINESS IS MOVING FROM A LOW POINT TO A HIGHER ONE. Imagine you’ve been walking through a scorching desert all day without food or water, and finally, as evening approaches, you find a bottle of water. That’s likely to be one of the happiest moments of your life. Or you jumped from a bungee or with a parachute – at first it was scary, but then – pure delight of flight. Or you avoided mortal danger – a tiger jumped on you, but missed and flew with a wild roar into the abyss, which was neatly behind you. In all these cases, happiness will simply go off scale. The greater the delta between the negative and the positive, the higher the level of happiness.

Logically, this definition implies that happiness is impossible without unhappiness. No matter what level you reach, sooner or later everything gets boring. And even achieving what you want will not lead to long-term happiness (hello, the law of diminishing importance). Reaching the "next level" is always significantly more difficult than the previous one. And there is the easiest way to experience happiness is to go "down," "suffer" a little, rise to a higher level, and experience happiness again.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «Литрес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на Литрес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.