This is the 2-nd post out of the trilogy on: how knowing more can make us more happy & how to find the right balance (because knowing more can also make us very unhappy)
Is knowledge happiness? Of course it is, Researchers might say. All we do is dealing with knowledge. This is basically our source of happiness, the daily motivator and driver, the joy and glory. Well, that’s it then, the question is sorted out.
Wait, am I implying that Researchers are the happiest people on the planet because they want to know more things all the time? Probably not… if you ask a PhD student who is trying to finish editing his/her first-ever paper, for example, after seeing a very tired and dehydrated face, you would soon understand that happiness is not exactly his/her main concern.
How about yourself? When you learn more things from the news or from a course, do you suddenly become more happy? Could be. Probably the feeling of enlightenment and joy that you might do something with that knowledge in your daily life will take over you and make you feel extremely happy.
..but sometimes, the news can be very demotivating or even heartbreaking.. or if you study, until you actually get to learn that something that you really want to know, might take ages and you are becoming so frustrated or bored that when knowing it already makes you unhappy or indifferent. Or maybe you simply become disappointed in what you just have learned.
At the same time, not seeing things clearly – because of not knowing them – could make you unhappy. The conclusions is that knowing or knowing better can help you make better choices..but also can make you unhappy. So, is it better to know and stay unhappy then to not know and be happy?
How do we find the golden middle: to know and stay happy? Check my new post next Monday 😉
In the meanwhile, let’s hear some tips from a Researcher on TEDx:
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