On how to live

About a month ago I presented my views on how biology can provide a purpose in life to my professor. I was mostly correct, but there was one flaw in my logic (genetic similarity does not count, but rather Hamilton's rule does) and so my personal philosophy for 6 years was proven wrong. Here is what's left.

First, I must not die. I must keep my body healthy.

Second, I must pass my genes. I don't care about what thinkers say life should be lived for. When they talk about God or soul, it's all vacuous nonsense to me. I believe in science and science tells me that I must ensure the future of the collection of genes that is I. Therefore, I must have children that will not live in poverty and that can raise children of their own that will not live in poverty. So, I must raise children, keep them healthy, and educate them to become responsible and capable parents.

My children are 50% identical to me, my grandchildren are 25% me and the generation after is 12.5% me. Therefore, I need to live in such a way that the world 2 or 3 generations after me will be a good place for the survival of five/ten/twenty individuals that are thusly related to me. I imagine, I should support my relatives, help them live and educate their children, and also not ruin the environment for them in any way that threatens their survival. Also, at the very least, I must not hinder progress in science and medicine. I must assist it, by giving some of my time and money, but not necessarily more than 5-10%, which is what my genetic descendents will require of me.

I think this way of life is more good than evil. As long as there is free trade in the world, the side effect of people pursuing happiness will be the improvement of the living condition and with it - the existence of our genomes.

After that, I am free to choose what to live for. A normal person will choose happiness and so do I. There are, however, two things that give me positive emotions. Let us call them "pleasant" and "profitable." The pleasant things, such as sex or entertainment, make me happy at the moment, but on the next day the memory of them usually doesn't make me happy again. I need to repeat what I did to bring happiness back. The profitable things, such as work and achieving things, don't make me happy at the moment. They are boring, but once I've finished them, they make me happy when I think of them. For example, studying for SAT's was not pleasant, but knowing that I have 2190 and 800 (regular one and world history respectively) makes me happy even today. Sometimes, you can have both, like when you are winning a tournament in something you enjoy.

Pleasant things make me really happy for a limited period of time, say a few hours or days. I may have played X or watched Y yesterday, but today I'll be bored and not pleased. Profitable things make me a little happy, and the memory of past successes elicits less enjoyment than entertaining. However, the trickle of happiness lasts for many years ahead.

Sad things I remember, but their sadness eventually wears away. Pleasant things I remember, too, but the pleasure they bring exists only in the moment.

Interestingly, from this follows that there is a certain amount of profitable things that once you do, will provide you with many trickles of happiness every day that can compensate for the hours of enjoyment. I can choose to cease all games, films and such, and go train and be an olympic-tier athlete, study chemistry/psychology/medicine and gain some really useful skills, and visit a historical site in a cultural pilgrimage of sorts. Then, after the years it will take me to accomplish this, even if I get a mundane job, I will be feeling as good about myself in the office as if I were entertaining.

What are these "profitable things" I am talking about? To give a fuzzy definition, they are achievements and accomplishments, but also building and securing. They are climbing Everest or helping build a library, or accumulating money for oneself for times of need. For me it's also knowing things and finding answers to questions. I hold them prima facie valid and true, but the specific things that I want to achieve are probably defined by my upbringing and education.

Now, most importantly, consider this. You are mortal. You will be on this world for 70-80 years or less and you can't change it. One day you will face death or maybe some crippling condition. I can say with certainty that at least yours truly, when on the deathbed or in the final seconds of consciousness in a car crash or chemo clinic or a rapidly descending airplane, will ask oneself whether s/he is happy with how life was lived. By my observations, when people approach death they wonder if there is some point in life and whether their years were well-lived. I will definitely spend the end of my life in fear if I knew that I had wasted the time available.

It is for these few moments of ultimate crisis that we must structure our lives, then. I know that I will look back and evaluate my life, using my logic and reason. Therefore, what will make me ready to die is the knowledge that 1. I have done my duty to my genes and 2. I have lived life happily. Happiness, I think, is in this case rooted in doing as many productive things as possible. Our memories will have lost most of the pleasure or pain that belong to the old events, such as death or sex. But the profitable things, the achievements we earn, will keep on glowing in the mind. The more profitable things I have done, the more houses I have built or firms I have guided to growth or trees I have planted, the better-lit will my mind be once the final moment comes when pleasure is no longer possible.

That moment will certainly come. Until genetics enhances us with ways to repair our telomeres, we are doomed to die. We face one last moment of evaluating the past and, it seems, the amount of profitable things and achievements will be the only thing that eases our passing with peace of mind and not fear and regret.

I think this logic is more good than bad, too. In the end of the day, even if your work and sacrifice put into building your life and family don't make you euphoric, you will still have a home and security. If, on the other hand, you live hedonistically, unless you live off another person your life will be pockmarked by worries, debts and obligations. I've spent a couple of years like that before high school and I know. Also, this probably means that the net amount of happiness in both these lifestyles is the same. Only in the more responsible and work-conscious lifestyle it's spread more evenly. Most importantly, the hedonistic life is worse for the future of your genes.

So yeah - take care of your genome and live a life of sustainable happiness.