What Makes You Happy
Daniel Kahneman’s TED Talk confirms Sir Roger’s deep and lengthy investigations into the nature of happiness. Has anyone ever asked you, “are you having fun?” and you replied, “I dunno, I guess so…maybe…” and then days or years later, when you recall that experience, you think, “Damn that was fun!” as if you had been having fun but didn’t appreciate it at the time because, you know, you were too busy having the experience?
In his lectures, Sir Roger tells his audiences that people are three things above all: Meaning-Making Machines, Story-Making Machines, and Complaint-Making Machines. When the facts and events manifest themselves contrary to our personal Theory of the World (or what we usually call “Ther Truth”) do we adjust our theory? What? How can you adjust Ther Truth? No, our theory, our Truth Theorem, can’t be wrong, by definition. Therefore and ergo, it’s The World that is wrong. And so is born the Complaint.
As Douglass Adams said, “In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.”
In any case Sir Roger is happy (in retrospect and recollection) to have had his own Truth Theorem validated by a man of Kahneman’s stature.
[tags]happiness, happy, satisfaction, fulfillment, how to be happy, experience, memory, recollection, the tyranny of memory, past present, future, Daniel Kahneman, TED, Ted video, ideas worth spreading, Technology, Education, Design, intellect, research, video, Australian values, values, lifestyle, lifestyle values[/tags]
Posted: 2 March, 2010 in Australian Values, fun, Life, values, Video.
Tags: Australian Values, Daniel Kahneman, design, Education, experience, fulfillment, future, happiness, happy, how to be happy, ideas worth spreading, intellect, lifestyle, lifestyle values, memory, past present, recollection, research, satisfaction, technology, TED, Ted video, the tyranny of memory, values, Video
Comments
Comment from laird lang
Posted: 3 March, 2010 at 9:14 pm
“Now, back to trying to stay above 60K”
I’d recommend Indian Trifle topped with Meringue and Blancmange, then a quality portion of Mull Wine.
Sir.R. This quality (again)subject, you have driven me to reply to, brings to mind what the treasured Lady Laird stated;
“You certainly were happy on the visit to my sisters, she said it would make her happy also if you could look into her eyes when being lewd, and to replace the Scotch and Port, sooner rather than etc;”
See where happiness gets you?, even if it’s repressed.
Comment from laird lang
Posted: 4 March, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Sir.R.to attract such response of late as against the latter, why I even read ,(go away Jack, sorry about that, bloody Boarder Collies), this;
“Then you should know, if you don’t already, of the output of someone reserved, retiring even, as befits the station, not prone to trolling, reckless commenting or attention seeking.”
Hah. Therein lay some pondering , cryptic it is as it well may be.
Has this ideology lay dormant? have quivering ‘doves’ of virtue heaved breasts and overcome decorous.Do you wear, and this lays in my interest, a Vandyke Reticella and display lower (stockings) also of course a Tony Abbott box? thing he alludes that is is head, to attract such decolletage , and a Silver Snuff box to tangle in to the attraction?
It may be well that I could have been informed , but no. So.
Purdey’s at the bottle of your best Port, supped out of that great cup,tolerance and respect,especially for your Port, ahem,
Now,I can rest aside my paternal concerns that your left bank Seine view of your cry’s for a Hellenistic philosophy have been thwarted , I can raise the moat. Perhaps.
I suggest that it’s trite of myself to mention, however, being such,I will.
Maurice Greene (an enemy of Handel) ‘Anthem, Arise, shine O Zion.”
(Maurice was born in 1696 then he went on from there)
And shine on Sir.R.
And that’s enough (it’s a long winded way of saying that only rarely do you deserve what you deserve).
Moat is raised..
Comment from roger migently
Posted: 4 March, 2010 at 8:19 pm
My Laird, once again I have to thank you for illuminating the dark corners of my ignorance. And yet … and yet … wonder of wonders, above you can see the image of my great great great great great grandfather, the Earl Rogiere de Mijentle whose reticella I still wear on State occasions (or when I want a good seat at the restaurant) and the image of whose Vandyke I maintain trimmed just so. And I never knew till now what to call them!
I have to say I do not wish to think of nor envision whatever a Tony Abbott Box might be.
By the way, yes, one certainly denies the suggestion that one is “not prone to…attention seeking”. That may be a calumny. If not, at least one’s unbridled need for attention is the awful truth.
Comment from wanderer
Posted: 3 March, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Fortunately, my experiencing 3 second self has nearly forgotten that he (and Sir Roger is consensual) used Antarctica as, as something, about something …
One could almost be excused for getting the beads from the bottom drawer, teasing out the affro, dusting off the good book, and eliminating the remembering self, and time, one way or another, once and for all.
For my money, and there’s little left, there’s two words I think are happiness robbers – guilt and fear. Aren’t they good at peddling them. And while I’ve grabbed the microphone, there’s one word that’s a happiness donor – acceptance.
Now, back to trying to stay above 60K.