I kinda went on a little research spree on economics this afternoon but at one point I figured it’s probably good to know if it’s possible for, say, at least 98% of people on earth to live a happy fulfilled life at all.
I know there’s plenty of people who’d be more than happy to have literally nothing more than a house, food and water, but that still leaves a whole lot of people who want other things in life.
Do we have any metrics or data on wether the earth can sustain roughly 8 billion humans?
But if that’s what you enjoyed then that is what you’d do and it would make you happy. If it didn’t make you happy you wouldn’t do it. So maybe that’s how your life after work would start, but if you became restless and stopped enjoying it you have your background in contracting and you’d probably take on some more enjoyable creative aspect of that role.
In the end your life doesn’t only have meaning if it’s defined by a job title, it’s defined by how you live it. It doesn’t even need to have “meaning” outside of your own enjoyment of life.
I disagree. It might be enjoyable in the moment, but looking back, it wouldn’t be something I’m glad I did. Happiness is a fleeting emotion - what most people actually want is a deeper sense of contentment. And I don’t think chasing hedonistic pleasures gives us that.
I don’t look back fondly on the countless hours I’ve wasted staring at screens, but I do cherish the memories of doing difficult, effortful things - even the ones that weren’t all that enjoyable in the moment - because they left me feeling satisfied and proud afterward.
That’s not really how people work though. There’s a ton of other motivations than happiness.
Shit man, I don’t even know what would make me happy.