Two-Minute-Tuesday: Which vs That, Hedonic Adaptation and Beeple (again)
TMT#4
Which vs That
A positive consequence of writing this newsletter is that it forces me to improve my grammar. A grammar rule that usually trips me up is when to use which or that in a sentence. Over to the Economist Style Guide to set the record straight:
Which informs, that defines. This is the house that Jack built. But This house, which Jack built, is now falling down. Americans tend to be fussy about making a distinction between which and that. Good writers of British English are less fastidious. (“We have left undone those things which we ought to have done.”)
Still don’t get it? Click here for a comprehensive explanation.
Hedonic Adaptation
Author William Irvine introduced me to the concept of hedonic adaptation (also known as the hedonic treadmill). Wikipedia describes hedonic adaptation as:
“Humans generally maintain a constant level of happiness throughout their lives, despite (positive and negative) events that occur in their environment”.
In pursuing and obtaining a desired object/state, we are content for a while, but then we get used to it, and it no longer does the trick. This leaves you in the same position as you were previously, so you seek happiness in new desires. For example, you may want a bigger and better house than the one you live in now, but your former self from a few years ago would probably have loved to live in the same house. Essentially, there is always a gap between what you have and what you want, and this insatiable desire is incompatible with happiness.
As a remedy, Irvine recommends the Stoic practice of wanting the things you already have or loving the life you are already living. One way of doing this is through a trick called negative visualization. Pick one thing (e.g. object, job, relationship) that plays an important role in your life. Now form a mental image of your life without this object. Vividly visualize losing a loved one, losing your house, etc. and imagine what this would feel like? Paradoxically these gloomy thoughts improve happiness by changing your perspective on your circumstances.
What I’m listening to
A few weeks ago, I wrote about NFTs, and the topic seems to be everywhere now.
You’ll also recall that Christie’s auctioned Beeple’s digital artwork called “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” that sold for a whopping $69m, making it the third most expensive artwork ever sold. I recommend this interview with Beeple, who talks about what it’s like being an almost unknown digital artist and then becoming a multimillionaire and the hottest artist on the planet virtually overnight.
Beeple’s painting was paid for using Ethereum, a cryptocurrency. Here’s an update on how Bitcoin and Ethereum have been performing this year.
With the holidays over the weekend, I’ll be taking a break this coming Friday. However, I’ll be back in my usual routine next week. For those of you taking time off, have a fabulous break.