I can't claim to be a particularly energy-conscious human being. I drive my car infrequently and I try to buy local comestibles, but for purely selfish reasons. I sometimes leave the lights on, and yesterday I noticed that I turn on the faucet to rinse my toothbrush well before I've finished brushing. My point is that I don't think about saving energy a lot, but listen to this...
We humans do a lot of things in the world. Most of the things we do, we do in order to be happy (in a broad sense). Now, it's obvious that all of the things we do have an energy cost: they take time, and we have to eat; they often happen someplace else, so we have to get there; they frequently involve other people, so we have to coordinate and plan; sometimes there are materials involved that require energy to create and acquire. All of that time and movement and activity requires food and gas and electricity. Finally, we get there, do the thing, achieve some happiness (maybe), and start the whole cycle over again. It's continuous, and requires continuous input of energy.
What if we could just be happy all the time? Wouldn't that save us doing a lot of things? And thus a lot of energy?
Now, and I know this is starting to sound oversimple, but the fact is we can be happy all the time—or maybe not happy, but content. (I realized recently that I don't need to be happy to be okay. How liberating! Just the thought makes me happy—or content, or something.) And maybe not all the time, but definitely more of the time. Imagine a world where everyone was 20% happier. I believe that would be a massively more energy efficient world, if only due to a reduction in the amount that we bounce our collective knee while otherwise sitting still!
Maybe you're thinking, "Wait! I'm more energetic when I'm happy!" True, many people are more energetic when they're in a happy emotional state—excitement! ecstasy!—, but I believe that if you're happy, really and truly, you don't need a lot. If you need lots in order to be happy, chances are good you're looking for a distraction from something you'd rather not feel.
If you're still with me, even if just in theory, let's talk about how we can make this a reality, how we can become permanently happier or more content, even if just a little bit.
Here's a fact: your brain is constantly changing to get better at what you're doing right now. Think of your brain like you think of your muscles: you know that if you go to the gym and work out your abs, your abs get stronger. When you stop going, they get weaker. They get better at doing what you ask them to do over and over again. Your brain works in the same way, getting better at things you spend your time doing, and getting worse at things you don't. By things, I mean states of consciousness as well as skills. In other words, happiness is a skill that you can learn!
So, if we can learn to be happy more of the time by taking advantage of our brain's adaptive nature (e.g., by practicing meditation), then maybe we can spend less energy doing, and just be: happy, content, or whatever.
- Notes and resources to get started meditating
- Thoughts on the similarities between Burning Man and meditation
- Story of my transformation and insight: our consciousness has the power to shape itself
- Pathways to consciousness transformation: meditation, psychedelics, music, art, social connection, every passing moment
- The neuroscience of love and why I think it's the most powerful state of consciousness