Тонкое искусство пофигизма

           Ifyougettheotherstuffright(theothervaluesandmetrics),thenpleasurewillnaturallyoccurasaby-product.

           2.MaterialSuccess.Manypeoplemeasuretheirself-worthbasedonhowmuchmoneytheymakeorwhatkindofcartheydriveorwhethertheirfrontlawnisgreenerandprettierthanthenext-doorneighbor’s.

           Researchshowsthatonceoneisabletoprovideforbasicphysicalneeds(food,shelter,andsoon),thecorrelationbetweenhappinessandworldlysuccessquicklyapproacheszero.Soifyou’restarvingandlivingonthestreetinthemiddleofIndia,anextratenthousanddollarsayearwouldaffectyourhappinessalot.Butifyou’resittingprettyinthemiddleclassinadevelopedcountry,anextratenthousanddollarsperyearwon’taffectanythingmuch—meaningthatyou’rekillingyourselfworkingovertimeandweekendsforbasicallynothing.

           Theotherissuewithovervaluingmaterialsuccessisthedangerofprioritizingitoverothervalues,suchashonesty,nonviolence,andcompassion.Whenpeoplemeasurethemselvesnotbytheirbehavior,butbythestatussymbolsthey’reabletocollect,thennotonlyaretheyshallow,butthey’reprobablyassholesaswell.

           3.AlwaysBeingRight.Ourbrainsareinefficientmachines.Weconsistentlymakepoorassumptions,misjudgeprobabilities,misrememberfacts,giveintocognitivebiases,andmakedecisionsbasedonouremotionalwhims.