In my opinion for a person that has it “pretty good” objectively, the limiting factor on their happiness is what the Default Mode Network (DMN) is (or is not) doing.
I think that at least part of it, can be roughly equated with what we consider the ego to be. It involves a lot of thinking about the past, planning the future, thinking about other people—but always in a self-referential mode. If the person is stressed and unhappy then the DMN is spending a lot of time [1](and the brain a lot of energy) on
ruminating about past events
producing anxiety about future events
evaluating one’s relationships with others (how one was hurt by others, how one hurt others) and doing status comparison with other people (how one does not measure up for example)
What I think has the best potential of significantly increasing their happiness (actually the happiness of each human being) would be a transformative change in their relationship to themself. What we might call Self-Transcendence.
A couple of most promising interventions:
Psychedelics (5MeO-DMT[2], psilocybin[3]) which can very reliably produce a mystical-type experience. A majority of people in [3]cite this experience as one of the 5 most personally and spiritually meaningful experience in their life (and a significant portion as the single most meaningful). In a mystical experience, the person is able to dissasociate from what we could call their ‘ego’ and reevaluate their life. It’s also associated with a sense of oneness and connection (which occures naturally when the ego is downregulated and its barriers lowered)
A 10-day meditation retreat such as Vipassana can be incredibly valuable for the given time investment.
If you could get your hands on the most promising mindfulness enhancing brain stimulation technology developed at SEMA Lab (that I’m aware of) that could really change things for the better (here’s their promo video by the Guardian—with a very clickbaity title)
I think it’s important that none of us actually want the brain to be spending energy on this stuff. I am aware of gratitude journaling but not of “fear journaling”, “jealousy journaling”, “inadequacy journaling” etc.
It is rare, but does happen, that using psychedelic drugs can trigger a psychotic episode. Even though it is rare, this is a such a bad outcome that it’s worth taking into consideration.
My layperson’s understanding of the risks and tradeoffs right now is as follows: I think that used as a treatment for a concrete and difficult problem like PTSD, psychedelic drugs seem like immensely useful tools that should be used much more.
But for just general self-improvement or self-actualization, using psychedelic drugs feels to me like “picking up pennies in front of a steamroller”—it will be fairly good for most people most of the time, with a huge tail risk.
I don’t think it’s well understood when, why, or how often this happens. I wish it were better understood, as I suspect it’s specific people who are at risk and most people can use psychedelics safely. But from where I sit it seems like a -EV bet absent better information about your own brain.
In my opinion for a person that has it “pretty good” objectively, the limiting factor on their happiness is what the Default Mode Network (DMN) is (or is not) doing.
I think that at least part of it, can be roughly equated with what we consider the ego to be. It involves a lot of thinking about the past, planning the future, thinking about other people—but always in a self-referential mode. If the person is stressed and unhappy then the DMN is spending a lot of time [1](and the brain a lot of energy) on
ruminating about past events
producing anxiety about future events
evaluating one’s relationships with others (how one was hurt by others, how one hurt others) and doing status comparison with other people (how one does not measure up for example)
What I think has the best potential of significantly increasing their happiness (actually the happiness of each human being) would be a transformative change in their relationship to themself. What we might call Self-Transcendence.
A couple of most promising interventions:
Psychedelics (5MeO-DMT[2], psilocybin[3]) which can very reliably produce a mystical-type experience. A majority of people in [3]cite this experience as one of the 5 most personally and spiritually meaningful experience in their life (and a significant portion as the single most meaningful). In a mystical experience, the person is able to dissasociate from what we could call their ‘ego’ and reevaluate their life. It’s also associated with a sense of oneness and connection (which occures naturally when the ego is downregulated and its barriers lowered)
A 10-day meditation retreat such as Vipassana can be incredibly valuable for the given time investment.
If you could get your hands on the most promising mindfulness enhancing brain stimulation technology developed at SEMA Lab (that I’m aware of) that could really change things for the better (here’s their promo video by the Guardian—with a very clickbaity title)
I think it’s important that none of us actually want the brain to be spending energy on this stuff. I am aware of gratitude journaling but not of “fear journaling”, “jealousy journaling”, “inadequacy journaling” etc.
A single inhalation of vapor from dried toad secretion containing 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) in a naturalistic setting is related to sustained enhancement of satisfaction with life, mindfulness-related capacities, and a decrement of psychopathological symptoms
Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later
It is rare, but does happen, that using psychedelic drugs can trigger a psychotic episode. Even though it is rare, this is a such a bad outcome that it’s worth taking into consideration.
My layperson’s understanding of the risks and tradeoffs right now is as follows: I think that used as a treatment for a concrete and difficult problem like PTSD, psychedelic drugs seem like immensely useful tools that should be used much more.
But for just general self-improvement or self-actualization, using psychedelic drugs feels to me like “picking up pennies in front of a steamroller”—it will be fairly good for most people most of the time, with a huge tail risk.
I don’t think it’s well understood when, why, or how often this happens. I wish it were better understood, as I suspect it’s specific people who are at risk and most people can use psychedelics safely. But from where I sit it seems like a -EV bet absent better information about your own brain.