Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I've used the following formula (adapted from Dr. Julian Simon's work) for the past 10 years, with a good degree of success:

  Happiness = Perceived State / Expected State
You can either improve the numerator or reduce the denominator.

  Happiness = f(Reality, Perception) / f(Perception of Peers' State, Personal Needs)
By this logic, one needs to learn to ignore what others (particularly one's peers) have and focus more on the question "What do I want?" Trying to increase happiness by changing Reality (which is what most people do) is a very inefficient strategy, especially after your basic needs are met.


So if you expect nothing, you'll either be infinitely happy or infinitely unhappy based on whether your perceived state is positive or negative?


Presumably the domain is (0,1).


So you can only be infinitely happy?


Successful application of this approach can also in some cases significantly alter your reality as well.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: