The curse of Knowledge and the untold truth about happiness.

This is purely based on my opinion and observations. Do comment your thoughts.

A magician performs a trick, where the liquid in a bowl changes color. The crowd applauds, cheers and are excited, Enjoying the show.

Among the crowd, a chemist faking the excitement, trying to be joyous. But he just can’t see what the crowd sees. He can’t enjoy the show. He’s asking himself, why can’t I enjoy like the crowd.

If you are a person like our chemist, chances are your level of knowledge is above the average population. You’ll feel alienated in social activities that are considered as fun.

The world is advancing faster than ever. The more knowledgeable one is, the less happy life they are gonna get. Because our happiness standards are ancient. It’s like watching a magic show knowing all the secrets.

Of course we can have a comic con once in a while to feel normal. But the real problem underlies,

People would say, forget everything, have fun and enjoy. But the human brain is evolved to be curious about things. When one is exposed to something they’ve never encountered before, if it’s defying the knowledge they have, the brain is all for it.

We live in a technologically advanced world where the internet is a hive mind.

If happiness is all about wondering about the unknown and exploring the unexplored, we have billions of people contributing to the hive library , is humanity going to depression with lack of new knowledge?

After each discovery, invention and innovation, the existing knowledge is reconstructed, making it more complex for an average mind.

Are Genuine people the next fittest of natural selection, or are we going to split into 2 species where the smartest get so advanced that the average could never understand and enjoy.

Maybe the smartest will lead the world and the average will learn to adapt.

We are living in a world where a phd level topic a few decades ago becomes the basic knowledge in highschool.

So how do we get across this existential crisis?

Well we could solve this by introducing something that no matter how advanced or smart we are, could never solve. We could set some rules and framework that, violating them results in failing the solution.

Wait, we already have something like that, Religions. You could send a lifetime exploring and never find the answers.

Hold on, if finding the answers was not the goal, what was the goal?

Well like my initial statement, our brain is evolved to explore the unexplored, so the only way to live in a brain state where the suitable conditions for it are met, that makes us happy, an unsolvable problem was needed.

But like everything, it’ll come to an end in time. Something will replace the unsolvable with a new unsolvable.

So my question is, How do we stay alive and happy being outside this loop. Just by realising, trying to solve an unsolvable keeps you happy will question the purpose of the existence.

Especially in a world where solvers get rewarded.

A passive observation approach would make things simple and life easier. But simple itself is the complexification of the complex. Just like how Einstein makes his equation short and simple.

So instead of dumbing yourself down to enjoy an average life, you could dumb the knowledge down by simplying it to enjoy it in an average way.

Why try to solve the unsolvable when you could just take a solved complex idea and simplify it, make it even complex and again simplify it.

Well we call that innovation and optimisation, don’t we?

This satisfies the urge for a solution, but opens new ways of exploration with a promised solution that serves a purpose and offers rewards. The downside is that only one by being a genius could explore this life as solutions become knowledge after solving problems, hence being average, the only substitution is religious.

So the question arises, is science the new religion? Because it meets the need for the brain the religion offers, but it offers much more.

For the average, I’ll simplify the concept, once biological human immortality is commercially available, where we have cures for all known diseases, what’s the difference between religion and science?

For the brightest,

Would you prefer to think in the box of loop or outside the box exploring the solutions.