It’s tempting to think that simply working on your technology (either external or internal) will bring happiness, but it isn’t quite that simple. When you are looking at the problem, you have to work backwards a bit: What brings you happiness? Don’t cop out with some standard or generic answer: What makes you happy deep down?
In my own case, simply exploring and learning new things is a source of happiness, so my answer is basically “yes”. For others, it’s more a matter of finding the right tools and techniques to either do that which brings them happiness or to become the person that they wish to be/are deep down.
The problem of happiness and technology is the same problem that plagues any endeavor: Often the means are confused with the ends, or become more important than the ends.
A classic example of this is the famous (but inaccurate) story of the Fisher Space Pen. The story goes that NASA poured millions of dollars into the development of a space pen, while the cosmonauts of the USSR used pencils. While Fisher did develop the fabled space pen on its own and without NASA money, let’s delve into the urban legend for a bit.
In this mythical scenario, the NASA guys needed a writing implement suitable for zero-gravity use. That was the goal or the desired end result. Instead of considering how best to serve that purpose, or the most efficient way to reach that end, they (in the story) worked on the pen (the means) at an abysmal cost, while their counterparts did just fine with a more direct approach and focused their time and energy on more critical issues.
The moral of the story is clear: Don’t waste your time fussing with a particular method if another one will get you to your goal more efficiently. This does not guarantee happiness, however. Happiness is a complex issue, and it can be very readily argued that happiness is a prerequisite, not an end result. In my own experience it seems to be a mixture of both. The nature of happiness is too big for the scope of this article, but for the piece of it that comes from doing and being what we want, don’t mistake the method for the result.
(P.S. My apologies over the lack of podcast today. My voice has been no good. I’ll see if I can post tomorrow.)
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(Thanks to zappowbang for the image.)
