Can the cold logic of engineering be applied to the quest for happiness?
Mo Gawdat is Chief Business Officer at [X], an elite team of engineers that comprise Google's futuristic dream factory. Applying his superior skills of logic and problem solving to the issue of happiness, in 2011 he proposed an algorithm based on an understanding of how the brain takes in and processes joy and sadness. He essentially ‘solved’ for happy.
Thirteen years later, Mo's algorithm would be put to the ultimate test. After the sudden death of his son, Ali, Mo and his family turned to his equation--and it saved them from despair. In dealing with the horrible loss, Mo found his mission: he would pull off the type of ‘moonshot’ goal that he and his colleagues were always aiming for--he would share his equation with the world and help as many people as possible become happier.
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I understand you that happiness may be achieved by adjusting our inner attitudes towards our personal experiences - and I agree that this holds in our priviledged bubble - where our critical thinking is based on the enlightenment.
Happiness is not a modern invention, however, and definitely possible outside our bubble,
Outside the bubble, emotion, belief and thinking is not that distinct and the attitude change you mention towards happiness may depend more on meditation or prayer than on an engineer's analysis.
What is your experience with these more robust methods to achieve happiness?