jkaufman comments on Happiness Logging: One Year In - Less Wrong

14 Post author: jkaufman 09 October 2014 07:24PM

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Comment author: ShardPhoenix 09 October 2014 09:47:56PM *  3 points [-]

Perhaps one way to improve the measurement would be to structure the question in terms of preference rather than direct measurement - something like "what is the least-good thing I'd rather be doing right now" (ie as a kind of upper bound to current happiness). But there's also an issue of energy level etc.

Comment author: jkaufman 10 October 2014 11:13:27AM *  2 points [-]

Perhaps one way to improve the measurement would be to structure the question in terms of preference rather than direct measurement

This is a really cool idea. But even preference has issues. For example, I like contra dance (a kind of social dancing) a lot, and have a good time when I go. The feel in the moment is one of my favorite things. If you asked me, "would you rather be contra dancing" I would usually say yes. But if you look at my behavior, I don't actually go that often anymore, even when I do have free time. How do you tell the difference between me irrationally underconsuming something I enjoy vs me overestimating how much I enjoy it in posed comparisions?

Comment author: jsalvatier 14 October 2014 11:37:11PM 0 points [-]

For certain formulations of this, that objection seems irrelevant. Imagine that instead of a 1-10 scale, you had a ranked list of activities (or sets of activities).