幸福不是科学或数学Happiness Is Not Science or Math
Naval： 幸福是一个含义极为丰富的词。对不同的人来说，它意味着完全不同的东西。每个人对于幸福是什么、如何才能获得幸福，都怀有强烈的先入之见。
幸福有很多种
我打算把幸福、快乐、平静、喜悦、极乐、满足、安康等概念混为一谈。这并非我刻意为之。
但同时，这不是数学。我们无法为这些词划出清晰的边界。它们在不同的语境、对不同的人来说，含义各不相同。所以请试着领会我话里的精神实质，而不是纠结于具体的字眼和细节。
有些人谈论幸福时，其实说的是快感或兴奋。他们可能会说："我吃了一顿美餐，所以我很幸福。"另一些人谈论幸福时，说的是整体的满足与安康状态。还有一些人指的是开悟，就像佛陀所达到的境界。
许多人持有这样的观点：幸福根本不存在，或者幸福是适得其反的——抑或痛苦正是源于追求幸福。这些想法自有其道理；我们稍后会深入探讨。
幸福更像诗歌，而非算法
我可能会说："获得幸福的方法是 X"，人们就会回应："等等，你刚才不是说幸福是痛苦的根源吗？"这不是数学。你无法把算法串联起来。
这更像诗歌。如果你读同一位诗人的五十首诗，试图用分析的方法把它们逐一对应，把一首诗里的词映射到另一首，看看是否讲得通，你会错失重点。不要执着于字词，甚至不要执着于句子。去体味整体的思路和意涵。
Naval: Happiness is an extremely loaded term. It means completely different things to different people. Everybody has strong preconceived notions of what happiness is and how they can attain it.
There are many types of happiness
I’m going to conflate happiness, pleasure, peace, joy, bliss, contentment, well-being and more. I don’t do it deliberately.
But at the same time, this is not math. We cannot clearly bound these words. They mean different things in different contexts to different people. So try and get into the spirit of what I’m saying, rather than getting hung up on specific words and details.
When some people talk about happiness, they’re really talking about pleasure or thrills. They might say, “I had a really good meal; therefore, I’m happy.” When other people are talking about happiness, they’re talking about a general state of contentment and well-being. Other people are referring to enlightenment, like a Buddha would have reached.
Many people take the point of view that there’s no such thing as happiness or that happiness is counterproductive—or that misery comes from pursuing happiness. There’s a lot of truth to these ideas; we’ll get into it.
Happiness is more like poetry than algorithms
I might say, “The way to be happy is X,” and people will respond, “Well, didn’t you just say happiness is a cause of misery?” This is not mathematics. You can’t link algorithms together.
This is more like poetry. If you read 50 poems by the same poet and try to map them out analytically and map words from one poem to another and see if it makes sense, you’ll miss the point. Don’t fixate on the words. Don’t even fixate on the sentences. Ponder the overall thought process and message.