What is good behavior?

A silly question perhaps, but do you think happiness is directly related to our behavior? We all know that effects come from causes and fruit comes from trees and you reap what you sow, but can such a fickle thing as happiness be tied down and understood at all by looking at what we are all actually doing (while being happy or unhappy)?

I'm in the process of trying to find out. I've been getting closer to it with the Morale-o-Meter for a while, but while it has been an interesting toy, I haven't yet come to understand any better how my sleeping, alcoholism, and caffeine addictions have impacted my morale over time. With a few free days, and a lot of frustration as I bang my head on my desk trying to figure out what the hell I'm actually trying to do, I've created a new system for recording and understanding my morale in relation to my behaviors. It's a bit crazy, but my primary goal is to figure this thing out, and for me the best way to try to figure it out is to build a crazy tool that only I'd ever be able to figure out how to use, and, unfortunately, I'm also probably the only person that can figure out what the hell all of the numbers coming out of it stand for. Here's my attempt to explain it.

I've grouped many of my behaviors under umbrella "beliefs" that they support... for example, the reason I want to try new restaurants and go to shows often is because I want to explore the city I live in, and because I think that by exploring the city I live in I will be a bit happier than I might otherwise be.

Then, for each behavior, I rank them within the belief umbrella that they're placed under. For example, I think going to shows is a bit more important than trying new restaurants, and by ranking them this way, going to a show will eventually be worth a little more than trying a new restaurant. Each behavior in the system has a point value relative to other behaviors in the system, which is determined simply by their ranking within a belief, and also the rank of the belief itself relative to other beliefs.

In addition, for each behavior, I set the boundaries for "good behavior", which for now are pretty much arbitrary and just something to start with. I've set the good behavior boundaries for going to new shows at 1-2 per week. If I go to 1 or 2 new shows per week, I get points. If I go to 0, or, say, 3 or more shows a week, I lose points. This goes the same for drinking too much (or too little), not getting enough sleep (or getting too much sleep), not watering my plants, not leaving the country, etc. In this way, it's pretty simple... sometimes I think it's a little too simple. Could this possibly have any value?

Now the crazy part. It's fun to create a point system for real life. But how do you know if it's a good point system? What fun is getting points simply for getting points? Since I'm determining the point system, I can't consider myself to be winning simply because I get a lot of points. So there has to be a way to measure whether or not the points are measuring the right things. And this is where the Morale-o-Meter comes in. Every day I rate my morale, or happiness, on a scale of 1-10. One way to find out if the point system is "accurate" is to see whether or not the points go up when my morale goes up, and the points go down with my morale goes down. If there is a direct relationship between the movement of my morale and the movement of my score, then I know the system is working, and I've not only found that there is a direct relationship between happiness and behavior, but I've also found which behaviors contribute most to the changes in my morale.

I'm guessing that to begin there will be no correlation between these two things. But at least I'll have the bio-feedback mechanism in place to begin to add behaviors, remove them, rank them differently, and try things out. Am I onto something or should I be taken to the looney bin?

Comments

[Jordan Rule]

> Am I onto something or should I be taken to the looney bin?

I'm going to go with looney bin on this one.

I will point out that there are already plenty of people trying to solve this problem. Pharmaceuticals is big business, and they know an awful lot about brain chemistry. I hear they make a killing off of this "Prozac" thing.

If you are going to continue to follow this rabbit, I'd suggest at least reading up on brain chemistry and bio-feedback mechanisms.

However, I find that when I get trapped into a "I must fix everything" mindset, reading Zen Budhism (Koans) helps me unwind the analytical knot I've tied myself into. When I say read, I mean READ, not glance at and try to solve. Take some time out on a Sunday afternoon.

American culture can become overly obcessed with problem solving. Just remember you are a human and not a happiness machine.

At the same time, I don't mean to be discouraging. Your trials are more poetic than effective, and I think you're well aware of this =o)
Jordan

[Jordan Rule]

Just saw this and thought it might apply, amazing how interconnected thoughts are in the blogosphere.

http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/downhillbattle
> Unfortunately for one, however, it is precisely this self-conscious monitoring that is the primary cause of poor dancing.

Consider, perhaps, that it is precisely the monitoring of happiness that is the primary cause of unhappiness.

As an alternate to Zen Koan's, listen to more Jazz (start with Miles) or hip-hop (start with Tribe or Common). All this punk shit up in Seattle is driving me insane (seems to be a common fate =o)

[Matthew]

I think this is a great idea.

Reminds me of Ayn Rand's 'happiness is the attainment of ones values' definition.

Also the definition in 'Mega Tip 1' here:

http://www.neo-tech.com/megatips/

I find the Neo-Tech site kinda creepy. But it certainly fits in with the experiment.

[daniel]

> Am I onto something or should I be taken to the looney bin?

I vote for onto something. I assume this is all in ruby via RoR? You have achieved some mythical level with all this integration and statistical whateverthefuck...as always I want to play with this system meself, but understand if it is defacto closed ("a crazy tool that only I'd ever be able to figure out how to use")...etc etc gush gush...

[Foster]

Umm... based on the info you have recorded maybe look into Alcoholics Anonymous

[o]

I have to admit that I see a lot of the things you produce as having questionable value, though I'll also admit that I'm a mean old curmudgeon who hates the "blogosphere" and pointless self-congratulating social networks. But I really like this particular idea. I don't know whether it will work for you, or in general, but something about it definitely pleases me. Good luck!

[branden]

Practicing restraint in any context can be beneficial whether it be in the use of drugs or alchohol, spending habits, sleeping, analyzing yourself, speaking your mind, etc.
But as I'm sure you've figured out, it can also feel incredibly good to completely indulge yourself. I've found that I am most content when I practice restraint no matter what the situation, but I wouldn't be able to practice restraint if I didn't first push my limits and overindulge myself. For much of my life I have felt confused, twisted, and guilt ridden for my own self destructive behaviors. But what I've realized is that by acting purely on the pleasure principle I am doing myself much more harm than good. That immediate rush of satisfaction is almost always followed by grief or regret when done excessively. But I've also realized that I am able to better appreciate the good things in life by experiencing some of the worst. Life is just as much about maintaining balance as it is about experiencing extremes. The higher you get, the harder the fall. But the reverse is also true. The sweetest fruit tastes much sweeter if you've eaten the most bitter. Don't be afraid of feeling pain because it will teach you to appreciate pleasure. Learn to let go of everything you know and believe, and it will reaffirm your faith in those same ideals. Everything will come full circle, just be thankful that you get to experience it at all.

[branden]

Practicing restraint in any context can be beneficial whether it be in the use of drugs or alchohol, spending habits, sleeping, analyzing yourself, speaking your mind, etc.
But as I'm sure you've figured out, it can also feel incredibly good to completely indulge yourself. I've found that I am most content when I practice restraint no matter what the situation, but I wouldn't be able to do so if I didn't first push my limits and overindulge myself. For much of my life I have felt confused, twisted, and guilt ridden for my own self destructive behaviors. But what I've realized is that by acting purely on the pleasure principle I am doing myself much more harm than good. That immediate rush of satisfaction is almost always followed by grief or regret when done excessively. But I've also realized that I am able to better appreciate the good things in life by experiencing some of the worst. Life is just as much about maintaining balance as it is about experiencing extremes. The higher you get, the harder the fall. But the reverse is also true. The sweetest fruit tastes much sweeter if you've eaten the most bitter. Don't be afraid of feeling pain because it will teach you to appreciate pleasure. Learn to let go of everything you know and believe, and it will reaffirm your faith in those same ideals. Everything will come full circle, just be thankful that you get to experience it at all.

[lily]

this was good

[lily]

Practicing restraint in any context can be beneficial whether it be in the use of drugs or alchohol, spending habits, sleeping, analyzing yourself, speaking your mind, etc.
But as I'm sure you've figured out, it can also feel incredibly good to completely indulge yourself. I've found that I am most content when I practice restraint no matter what the situation, but I wouldn't be able to do so if I didn't first push my limits and overindulge myself. For much of my life I have felt confused, twisted, and guilt ridden for my own self destructive behaviors. But what I've realized is that by acting purely on the pleasure principle I am doing myself much more harm than good. That immediate rush of satisfaction is almost always followed by grief or regret when done excessively. But I've also realized that I am able to better appreciate the good things in life by experiencing some of the worst. Life is just as much about maintaining balance as it is about experiencing extremes. The higher you get, the harder the fall. But the reverse is also true. The sweetest fruit tastes much sweeter if you've eaten the most bitter. Don't be afraid of feeling pain because it will teach you to appreciate pleasure. Learn to let go of everything you know and believe, and it will reaffirm your faith in those same ideals. Everything will come full circle, just be thankful that you get to experience it at all.

[sergio]

What are you talking about all you write is a stupid thing that is all shet, fuck off