Discussion about this post

User's avatar
StressFreeBill's avatar

Gary, thank you for writing this. I wasn't familiar with the habenula or its function, but in reading your article a thought came to mind that I can't help but think might deserve more reflection... I grew up in the Midwest during the 70s. We were taught from a young age self discipline, boundaries, to practice self-restraint, and to set goals and work hard to achieve them (i.e. "hard work pays off"). We were fully immersed and vested in a climate of competition - whether it was sports, academics, trying to make 'First Chair' in the trumpet section of the school band, or winning praise in a family of six kids. Whether that specific cultural environment was more regional, generational, or familial I cannot say, bust most I grew up with seemed to share the same experiences. Has this changed over the decades? Did the pop culture decades of 'Do what feels good,' moral relevance, and every kid gets a trophy contravene what common sense and wisdom had built into our culture? Has the declining size in families effected this? Perhaps we've taken a cultural left turn somewhere along the way?

Expand full comment
Jaime Jessop's avatar

"From the above, I propose the key to happiness is to take pleasure in the pursuit of happiness itself, and that a good life is when we live in alignment with minimizing the time in which our habenula is activated. Meditations which de-activate the habenula, re-framing our goals and purpose from trying to win the finite games to playing the infinite games to the best of our ability"

Interesting essay. In my own very limited experience, I can only refer to my twenty years spent rescuing dogs, which may seem an odd place to go but it's relevant. Dogs, unlike humans, live almost exclusively in the present moment. It is only traumatised dogs whose behaviour is governed by memories of the past in conjunction with the fearful anticipation of the immediate future. Once they can get over that - sadly, some cannot - then they start living in the present, for the present. Nothing else matters. That is why dogs are so happy and content most of the time, just enjoying life for what it is. They play the infinite game because, paradoxically, the present is not bounded, therefore, in isolation, it is effectively infinite. The present only becomes bounded when it is framed in the context of the past and the future. Humans are so good at making the present finite and thus degrading its infinite potential.

Expand full comment
38 more comments...

No posts