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The secret is lie about how happy your life is. To others to yourself. To everyone.

colecut 7y ago
Funny how true this is really. Can't intentionally smiling release the same chemicals in your brain that are released when you are happy about something in a sort of backwards effect?
- callesgg 7y ago
  Yes, causality as it is often talked about is a lie or more accurately a deception of the mind a cognitive bias.
- abhinuvpitale 7y ago
  Fake it till you make it? I definitely think this helps in case of happiness, since a 'deliberate' smile makes folks around you friendlier and happier. That, in turn, enforces the same emotion on to you!
  - seppin 7y ago
    It's more a case of doing something everyday, eventually you become that thing. It's just a matter of time and consistency. Faking happy could very well be one of those things.
GarrisonPrime 7y ago
Or perhaps the true lie is the one evolution has programmed into us, to believe that things "should" be better.
d1zzy 7y ago
There is a lot of truth to "ignorance is bliss", a healthy dose of ignorance is often times necessary. What do you really gain by being all knowledgeable (and miserable)? Life is not a videogame that you win at the end by learning more than other people, instead it's a game that we all LOSE when we die, so to my eyes the only thing we should optimize for is to be happy while we live. If knowing more things make you happy, go for it but keep an eye on the potential negative effects on one's mood/happiness that I find inherent in knowledge.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
The secret is something else, I think: happiness is a temporary emotion. It is not meant to be a constant long-term state of being. What people really want is contentment, but because the narrative tells them they must be happy all the time they seek that out instead, and through suffering often achieve it for moments at a time before returning to baseline. Then they have to set a new goal for the next hit.

Funny how true this is really. Can't intentionally smiling release the same chemicals in your brain that are released when you are happy about something in a sort of backwards effect?

callesgg 7y ago
Yes, causality as it is often talked about is a lie or more accurately a deception of the mind a cognitive bias.
abhinuvpitale 7y ago
Fake it till you make it? I definitely think this helps in case of happiness, since a 'deliberate' smile makes folks around you friendlier and happier. That, in turn, enforces the same emotion on to you!
- seppin 7y ago
  It's more a case of doing something everyday, eventually you become that thing. It's just a matter of time and consistency. Faking happy could very well be one of those things.

GarrisonPrime 7y ago

Or perhaps the true lie is the one evolution has programmed into us, to believe that things "should" be better.

d1zzy 7y ago

There is a lot of truth to "ignorance is bliss", a healthy dose of ignorance is often times necessary. What do you really gain by being all knowledgeable (and miserable)? Life is not a videogame that you win at the end by learning more than other people, instead it's a game that we all LOSE when we die, so to my eyes the only thing we should optimize for is to be happy while we live. If knowing more things make you happy, go for it but keep an eye on the potential negative effects on one's mood/happiness that I find inherent in knowledge.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago

The secret is something else, I think: happiness is a temporary emotion. It is not meant to be a constant long-term state of being. What people really want is contentment, but because the narrative tells them they must be happy all the time they seek that out instead, and through suffering often achieve it for moments at a time before returning to baseline. Then they have to set a new goal for the next hit.