Тонкое искусство пофигизма
Chapter 4
Inthelongrun,completingamarathonmakesushappierthaneatingachocolatecake.Raisingachildmakesushappierthanbeatingavideogame.Startingasmallbusinesswithfriendswhilestrugglingtomakeendsmeetmakesushappierthanbuyinganewcomputer.Theseactivitiesarestressful,arduous,andoftenunpleasant.Theyalsorequirewithstandingproblemafterproblem.Yettheyaresomeofthemostmeaningfulmomentsandjoyousthingswe’lleverdo.Theyinvolvepain,struggle,evenangeranddespair—yetoncethey’reaccomplished,welookbackandgetallmisty-eyedtellingourgrandkidsaboutthem.
AsFreudoncesaid,“Oneday,inretrospect,theyearsofstrugglewillstrikeyouasthemostbeautiful.”
Thisiswhythesevalues—pleasure,materialsuccess,alwaysbeingright,stayingpositive—arepooridealsforaperson’slife.Someofthegreatestmomentsofone’slifearenotpleasant,notsuccessful,notknown,andnotpositive.
Thepointistonaildownsomegoodvaluesandmetrics,andpleasureandsuccesswillnaturallyemergeasaresult.Thesethingsaresideeffectsofgoodvalues.Bythemselves,theyareemptyhighs.
DefiningGoodandBadValues
Goodvaluesare1)reality-based,2)sociallyconstructive,and3)immediateandcontrollable.
Badvaluesare1)superstitious,2)sociallydestructive,and3)notimmediateorcontrollable.
