Fetishizing Happiness

An awesome thought (with video) by Sean Carroll to kick off 2015:

“What I’m against is fetishizing happiness… we make a mistake, because we think that there is some way to be, some situation we can put ourselves in forever, and then that will be like heaven. But the nature of life itself is movement and change and evolution; there can’t be a perfect state of being… So what do we have instead? … It’s that story [that we tell about ourselves] that gives meaning and success to our lives; it’s not the attainment of any one state of being where we get there and we stop. It’s a story with a beginning, and a middle, and inevitably – according to the laws of physics – an end. And how well that story is, once you’re done telling it, is the measure of success of your life.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40eiycH077A#t=1697

The whole video is worth watching. I’ve linked to 28:17; some may find the earlier part controversial. It’s filled with lots of awesome science, humour, and insight though.