从心智中寻得平静Finding Peace from Mind
Naval：我们来谈谈平和，然后再谈真理，以及它们与幸福的关系。
当我说你想要幸福时，我真正想说的是你想要找到平和。我们说"内心的平和"（peace of mind），但我们真正想要的是摆脱内心的平和。
在极致的快乐时刻，内心会归于寂静
在你最快乐的时刻——无论是吸食毒品、达到性高潮、风筝冲浪时逼近自己的极限、与朋友开怀大笑，还是凝望令人惊叹的日落——你的内心会归于寂静。它平静下来，脑海中那个声音安静了。你体会到一种敬畏感，你也可以称之为美、极乐或喜悦。
我们都在追寻这个，都在追逐这个。说到底，我们真正寻找的是摆脱内心的平和。
不知从何时起，内心成了主人
我不是要把内心说成敌人。它是一个非常有用的工具。但不知从何时起，它变得无法控制。内心成了主人，而不是仆人。
我们的内心进化得多疑、恐惧、易怒。人类是地球上走过的最偏执、最易怒的生物。我们是顶级掠食者，靠杀死、征服或驯化这个星球上其他所有物种统治了食物链。我们靠恐惧、暴力，当然还有合作做到这一点。
大自然是残酷的。打开任何一部自然纪录片你都会看到：A 吃掉 B，B 吃掉 C，C 吃掉 D，D 吃掉 E。大自然血淋淋、爪牙毕露。我们源自暴力和鲜血。
我们的环境奖励悲观和偏执
现代社会安全得多，也平和得多。保持谨慎、留一点警惕、偶尔发发脾气仍然是有意义的——但不必像我们基因设定得那么夸张。把这些调低一点是可以的。
威胁程度并没有我们的基因以为的那么高。如果你在 1000 年前走在森林里，听到灌木丛里有东西沙沙作响，你保持警惕是对的。假设十次里有九次是灌木丛里的兔子，一次是老虎。乐观主义者十次里能抓到九次兔子，但第十次被老虎吃掉。悲观主义者每一次都能活下来。
我们进化而来的天性奖励悲观。但我们生活在安全得多的时代，所以我们必须想办法越过这种天性，朝着平和努力。
Naval: Let’s talk about peace, and then we’ll talk about truth and how they relate to happiness.
When I say you want to be happy, what I’m actually saying is you want to find peace. We say peace of mind, but what we really want is peace from mind.
The mind goes quiet during the moments of greatest pleasure
During your moments of greatest pleasure—whether you’re doing a drug, having an orgasm, finding your edge kite-surfing, laughing with a friend or looking at an incredible sunset—your mind goes quiet. It calms down, and that voice in your head goes silent. You achieve a sense of awe, which you might also call beauty, bliss or joy.
We all seek this. We all chase it. Deep down, what we’re actually looking for is peace from mind.
Somewhere along the way, the mind became a master
I’m not making the mind out to be an enemy. It’s a very useful tool. But somewhere along the way, it became uncontrollable. The mind became the master rather than a servant.
Our mind evolved to be paranoid, fearful and angry. Humans are the most paranoid and angry creatures to ever walk the earth. We are apex predators who dominated the food chain by killing, subjugating or domesticating every other species on this planet. We did it through fear, violence and, of course, cooperation.
Nature is brutal. Turn on any nature documentary and you’ll see: A eats B; B eats C; C eats D; D eats E. Nature is red in tooth and claw. We are derived from violence and blood.
Our environment rewards pessimism and paranoia
Modern society’s a lot safer and more peaceful. It still makes sense to be careful, maintain some paranoia and occasionally to get angry—but not as much as we’re hardwired to do. It’s okay to dial it down.
The threat level is not as high as our genes think. If you were walking through the woods 1,000 years ago and heard something rustling in the bushes, you’d be right to be paranoid. Let’s say nine out of 10 times it’s a rabbit in the bushes, and one out of 10 times it’s a tiger. The optimist would catch a rabbit nine out of 10 times and get eaten by a tiger the 10th. The pessimist survives every time.
Our evolved nature rewards pessimism. But we live in much safer times, so we must find ways past that and work towards peace.