Month: September 2019

How Can We Increase Joy?

Sometimes it feels like there is a decided lack of joy in the world today. Between an increasingly divided world and an ever-growing number of dangers, life can be sad.

And yet, there is joy to be had, even in the most dire of situations.

We need jubilation. It keeps us going when our emotional batteries are drained. It can remind us of the good things in life worth fighting for. Happiness makes learning easier, and it makes hard times more bearable.

Luckily, happiness is infectious. One person feeling joyfulness can share it with someone else, and it can bring a smile to both of their faces. A laugh shared is a laugh magnified. And sharing doesn’t in any way diminish the overall amount: joy is not zero-sum.

What is the best way to find delight, and then to share it with those around us? Can we make it ourselves? How can we increase joy?

Related questions: How can we maintain wonder? How can we appreciate life more? Is happiness the most important purpose of life? How can you take joy from joyless tasks?

Curiosity Or Certainty?

If you know something for certain, there is no reason to be curious. If you show some curiosity, that means there must be something more to learn.

Do you think you are more certain, or more curious? What about the rest of society?

Share why if you wish.

Curiosity Or Certainty?
Results

How Can We Encourage Collaboration?

There is something very primal about working together with others. Collaboration on a project can be rewarding in ways that working in isolation isn’t.

In the music industry, it is very common for musical artists to collaborate. Whether it is a musician playing on a track, two singers performing a duet, or a producer mixing an entire album, collaboration is frequent.

Unfortunately, in other walks of life working together is less common. There are many reasons why that may be. For instance, co-workers might be competing for the same promotion and so they have no motive to work together. Or it may not be obvious how two disparate jobs could collaborate on a single project.

But more often, the concept of a joint effort simply doesn’t occur to people. If you meet someone socially at a party, for example, you may not give any thought to their job or how you might collaborate together.

How might that change? Would if be possible to view another person, and the expertise they have, as an opportunity to make something that neither could make independently? How can we encourage collaboration?

Related questions: Where do shared ideas exist? What do we have in common? What makes a community? Alone or together?