Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The general decisioin of life: Taking it seriously or not?

There are so many things in life that if only done well can make life nicer. Whether improving one's seat near the computer, getting a quality mattress, exercising and so on.

Yet, I saw two kinds of people, those who are serious about life, i.e. doing the right things always. Those more technical oriented or obssessive. And those who do not care, take life easier.

When viewed from this angle, it is quite possible that not caring too much is a better choice, even if logically it leads to mistaken decisions (the price of heaviness + the cost of unnatural life management [i.e. one "does" things because a formal decisions, instead of the natural tendency to do what one things is better for him, which is a more normal and efficient way to self manage])

I do not know. It is probably a matter of degree (and context etc. as usual).

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello, but the thing is, many people don't even realize that they can improve their lives, they are immerse in many things (like living styles)and living with certain ideas not knowing they can improve, then after while they may say 'ohhh If I knew that I could do better since before' I was and I think I'm one of those, but now my mind is open to Ideas. I think the problem is prety much what Kahneman said (Framing). I'm bothered about my brother(30), he plays playstation too much, he doesn't like read, he doesn't have curiosity about life, he likes drinking beer alot, he works hard but I think you will never grow or improve your life easily behaving like that, am I wrong? I hope.But I cannot live like that.

Jazi Zilber said...

You are right. There are ways to omprove life that most are simply not aware of (if they would have been aware they would have pursued them).

Yet, the decision is not always local. It is not always a decision as we are affected by many things anyway. But it is sometimes the generla decision I am describing. Can also be other general questions about how to feel etc. etc. what emphases in life etc.

The best way is certainly to make life better in a fun and easy going way. It is not serious after all our life. Improvement can be taken as a game, something which we are not emotionally de[endent on.

thanks

spldbch said...

I'm a firm believer in not taking things too seriously. That being said, some things do need to be taken seriously. I think, like all things, finding a happy medium is best.

Anonymous said...

@spdlch, but then we have to use morality, and that means we have to be cautious of not take things too seriously. Kahneman says we think we two differents brains or hemispheres brains, sometimes we have to think and sometimes we just act automatically.(sistem 1 and sistem2)...Greetings from Mexico.

http://www.forensic-psych.com/articles/artPrincetonWeekly1.29.03.html

i.c.hir said...

obviously I'm for the "take it easy + laugh about yourself" side (if I'd take it seriously I'd not be around anymore)!

I believe a common misunderstanding is that there is no contradiction between "taking it easy" and processes like "thinking", "feeling deeply", "putting the whole energy into something", "being present", "concentrating"

if it works, they usually reinforce each other - but it's far from trivial to not let small + big issues interfere with what is "working"

Anonymous said...

Many things work theoretically but as allways experience is everything, if you have a child you would do the best for him (Like taking care from dead)here you would take things seriously otherwise taking life easier is like live out care.

i.c.hir said...

true: with my daughter I take things more seriously - with good intentions, but sometimes bad effect...

and a lot of friends tell me how they were suffering because their parents seriosly "wanted the best for them"

also true: if "taking it easy" evolves into not caring and lack of reliability that's not good for the people around you and, therefore, not for you (at least in the middle run)

Jazi Zilber said...

it is very bad to give kids the feeling that you take their siuation seriously.

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressed_emotion that paretns that take seriously the situation of emotionally ill kids + beleive "there is always something to be done" + do something, worsen their case and so on.
I beleive that whatever is true for hte ill has some grain of truth for the normal as well.

I beleive it is good to care with the right weight. I meamn some caring but not a too heavy one. prefferebly care in doing and not too much in thinking and feeling.