Shallow Happiness

Opposite to Deep Happiness. Find more on my article about Finding Flow: Escaping Digital Distractions Through Deep Work and Slow Living (internal).

In the book Stolen Focus- Why You Can’t Pay Attention (Johann Hari) by Johann Hari, he talks about an experiment on rats or pigeons to do whatever you want them to do. Just reward them with food when they do something you want them to do

The same is done with Social Media and its Social Media Addiction. The app rewards us with likes and hearts when we publish something. We get Dopamine hits.

Interestingly different are artists making Art. These are not interested in the reward, the outcome. Instead it’s the way of creating it. Therefor after finish, artists starts a new art piece. They are motivated and carried on by the Flow.

To me, its the difference between Shallow Happiness and Deep Happiness. Deep Happiness is what I get from Writing.

Origin: Why are we here on Earth
References: Slow Productivity, Deep Work
Created 2025-02-14