Derren Brown – Finding Happiness in the Modern World (Part 1)
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Derren Brown – Finding Happiness in the Modern World (Part 1)
Who Is Derren Brown?
Derren Brown is a rather famous television personality from the UK. He a magician, illusionist, and hypnotist. He is also a truly beautiful writer. As well as a consummate student of the human mind. He is a man with a passion for life and a love for humanity and philosophy. In his excellent book ‘Happy’ he maps out his ideas for how to live a happy life. For Derren Brown, the best way to be happy is to live a considered life.
A practical, workaday philosophy of life is an important tool in your happiness arsenal. The philosophy of life that Derren Brown is most influenced by is Stoicism. ‘Happy’ is an entertaining and compelling modern rendition of Stoicism. Along with other recently released books ‘How To Be a Stoic’, ‘The Obstacle Is The Way’, and ‘A Guide To The Good Life’ it forms an excellent canon of modern interpretations of the ancient Greco-Roman philosophy of Stoicism.
Two Selves
Happiness is not the same as pleasure. Pleasure is a short-term enjoyment. Happiness is a less intense, longer-term type of feeling. Happiness is closer to contentment than it is to ecstasy. Daniel Kahneman, in ‘Thinking, Fast Slow’ shows that there are two selves. The ‘Remembering Self’ and the ‘Experiencing Self’. Favour the ‘Remembering Self’ and achieve happiness. Favour the ‘Experiencing Self’ and feel ecstasy in the short-term. But this ecstacy is often followed by pain for the ‘Remembering Self’.
Often, what will make the longer term, ‘Remembering Self’ happy, is painful for the ‘Experiencing Self’. Not eating cake may be painful for the ‘Experiencing Self’. But the ‘Remembering Self’ will soon feel proud and content that you managed to avoid temptation and stick to your healthy diet.
In the same way, pleasing the ‘Experiencing Self’ often leads to pain for the ‘Remembering Self’. Cocaine feels good, but cocaine hangovers are often brutal, regretful, guilt-ridden hells for the ‘Remembering Self’.
Basic Premises
The two cornerstones ideas of Stoicism are:
“If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but your own judgment of them. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now.” It’s the basic first premise of Stoicism, as well as modern CBT and REBT. What judgments, stories, and inferences are you telling yourself about a thing…. it is they that are causing you your pain, not the thing itself.
When something is not under your control, accept it. Don’t need it to be otherwise. Under control – your own thoughts and actions. Not under your control – other people thoughts and actions, what other people think of you, how well other people do their job, the habits of others, how well people listen, how your partner behaves, and everything else!
Preferred Indifferents
According to Albert Ellis, founder of REBT, desires are healthy. Even strong desires are healthy. But ‘musts’ are unhealthy and will lead to mental disturbance. This notion is heavily influenced by the Stoic notion of preferred indifferents. It is fine to prefer that something that is outside your direct control should happen. It’s OK to prefer things are a certain way. But you should temper this preference with a healthy dose of indifference. Because when a thing is outside your control, it is only rational to remain somewhat, healthily, indifferent to it. If you furiously need something to happen, that you don’t have direct control over, there is always a strong chance it will not happen. So be ready for this. Learn to treat all things (apart from your thoughts and behavior) as preferred indifferents.
Practice Makes….. Good Enough
The way to improve our skills as a modern stoics is to practice regularly. Being content and happy, calm and considered, is a lifelong process. The work is never done. And perfection is impossible. You will always face trials. You will always think and behave imperfectly. You are a human. We do not seek perfection, we seek good enough.
This notion of imperfectability is very exciting because it means you can grow and improve forever. Derren Brown recommends learning to have rational dialogues with yourself. He suggests looking at your thoughts and behaviors with a cool, logical eye and being aware of how well you deal with life. This happens on an ongoing basis. The learning never ends. And you can grow and improve indefinitely. So, when it comes to your skill at applying practical philosophy to improve your life and happiness levels, the sky’s the limit!
