[ExI] The Problem with Drugs (was Re: kepler study says 8.8e9 earthlike planets)

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On 11 November 2013 04:22, John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> wrote:
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> On Sun, Nov 10, 2013 at 1:06 AM, Stathis Papaioannou <stathisp at gmail.com>
> wrote:
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>> > Here's what Einstein would have done if he had direct access to his
>> brain's control panel: he would have adjusted things so that his drive
>> to do theoretical physics was even greater, the process more
>> rewarding, and the dejection from going down a wrong pathway much less
>> so as to minimise the risk that he would give up.
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> I hope something like that could be made to work but I see problems. It's OK
> if he enjoys doing physics but to advance he must receive much more pleasure
> from doing NEW physics, but the trouble is that's very hard to do and
> happens rarely; it took Einstein over a decade to receive his reward in the
> pleasure of finding General Relativity.  If you wanted to maximize your
> happiness it seems to me it would be better to reset the switches in your
> emotional control panel so that you received happiness not from finding new
> physics but from something much easier to accomplish and therefore happens a
> lot more often, like blowing bubbles.  I hope I'm wrong about this.

The happiness would be linked to the process and anticipation, not to
the final result. If I work really hard I can perhaps achieve a lot,
which would make me happy, but against that is the fact that the hard
work is difficult and after a point, unpleasant. If I could, I would
make the hard work more pleasant than, say, sitting around browsing
the Internet. There is no reason why either intensity of happiness or
happiness per unit time should depend on the difficult of the
activity.


-- 
Stathis Papaioannou