Category: Posts

Life is a Single Player Game

the view from above

Single player game   Life is a single player game. You’re born alone. You’re going to die alone. All of your interpretations are alone. All your memories are alone. You’re gone in three generations and no one cares. Before you showed up nobody cared. It’s all single player. Naval Ravikant   I stumbled upon this …

Continue reading

Social Media is Clutter

clutter

Clutter Clutter is everywhere in our lives, and getting rid of it increases our happiness. This is the third post in a loose collection of articles on decluttering. First I discussed my experiences with and benefits of what we all think of when we hear the word clutter:  getting rid of actual physical possessions. Next …

Continue reading

Falling into Happiness

falling into happiness

[Editor’s note: Today’s article is a guest post written by my brother, who is not only younger and better looking than me, but a pretty good writer as well. He has some great stories and an insightful philosophy on life. I’m delighted to share this one with you. Enjoy.-HP]   When you fall, I’ll be …

Continue reading

Should a Medical Resident Rent or Buy a House?

house

Renting versus Buying a Home: The Happy Philosopher’s Experience   This has been a busy week for guest posts on other blogs. Earlier this week I wrote a post over on 1500days about how to be the happiest person in the room. Today’s blog post is published over at PhysicianonFIRE.com. It’s about the decision process …

Continue reading

How to be the Happiest Person in the Room

happy

  This blog is about happiness and freedom, and most days I am the happiest person in the room. This was not always the case. For most of us happiness is just a random state that we sometimes find ourselves experiencing, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Happiness is a skill and has …

Continue reading

Physician Suicide and Identity

    Physician suicide and identity I was out of town, working for several days at a remote hospital. It was about an hour after I finished work. The day was typical, busy but manageable. I was in a very good place in my life. I was about 6 months into my part-time experiment, and …

Continue reading

Happy Philosopher’s Weekend Reading: Volume 8

  Weekend Reading: Volume 8 Hello philosophers. Welcome to the most sporadic and inconsistent weekly round-up on the internet. Happy Philosopher’s Weekend Reading is a collection of great material I’ve stumbled upon and feel compelled to share with you.   Unfortunately I have had other obligations that required a great deal of time this week …

Continue reading

Understanding the Relationship Between Utility, Happiness and Cost

happy utility broom

Utility, happiness and cost Today I want to introduce the concept of utility, and explore how it relates to the central theme of this blog: happiness. In my previous blog post on the marginal utility of money I proposed a money-happiness curve like this one. Generally as we spend additional money to become happier, there …

Continue reading

Do What You Want To

I didn’t feel like writing or editing anything fancy this week, but I wanted to give you something to consume heading into the weekend. This is one of my favorite videos that changed the way I think about career, happiness and general life philosophy.   When we boil down life to the basics, it is …

Continue reading

You Don’t Have to Hate Your Job to Want Financial Independence

If you don't hate your job you should still seek financial independence

  Financial freedom for everyone Financial independence is not just for people that hate their jobs. It is for everyone. Creating freedom in your life may seem more urgent when you feel trapped by a job you hate, but it is still a noble goal for those deeply satisfied with their work.   Predictions are …

Continue reading