Hiding In The Open

Dan Gilbert's book, 'Stumbling on Happiness' is one of the most entertaining (while backed by solid research) books I have found on the subject. His TED talk below is pretty cool too. In it he looks at our innate ability to make do - the unanticipated joy of being stuck. I am not sure if this story comes from that book, I read it in 2009, but there was research done looking at Significant Memories*. For me, examples are Nelson Mandela's release, the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final, 9/11, and finding out Princess Diana had died. We are all convinced that we know where we were on these occasions. The studies followed samples of people and evidenced how the memories changed in significant ways to the point where over time the majority of people were wrong about where they were (while close to certain they were right). You are no doubt shaking your head and saying not me, "I know where I was". We are very good at changing memories. We cover for ourselves. We learn to accept things. Our single memories are a combination of different events. It is all very fuzzy. If you accept it though, it is quite a powerful case that the pursuit of happiness is actually the wrong approach. Happiness isn't a thing to be found. If it is, it is a toddler who wants to be found, hiding in the open. If you are being harsh, you can say that happiness is a choice.

In the talk, he does touch on the dilemma this presents though. From a material perspective, a world full of people who didn't desire much more stuff would present problems. Being unhappy is a pretty good motivator for productivity. Believing that that different life path will be the thing that does it can inspire you to put in an extraordinary amount of effort. For most of human existence we have been abysmally poor with the first glimmers of hope around 500 years ago in Renaissance Italy. It was only through Industrialisation that we ripped ourselves out of poverty. At some stage though, once we have moved beyond safety and being well fed, perhaps other choices become more viable. If you live in advanced countries like the US or the UK, there is a case for saying you are already a cultural billionaire. Be happy.




*Shoddy sourcing, I will try find the study and link to it.