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Comment by BiteCode_dev | Hacker News Reader

I wish it were true, but no.

Unless you are Jesus or Buddha, there are things that will very likely make you unhappy.

e.g: eating a lot of crappy food and spending a lot of time watching tv shows are one of them. It diminishes your health, put your dopamine system in shamble and bring no meaning in your life. It's very rare people are happy in those conditions.

Again there is nothing wrong about enjoying those activities and indulging in them. The point is it's unlikely you can fill your life with it and end up satisfied.

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I wish your comment were true, but no. I’m right and you’re wrong.

The happiness police has determined that you are the one who is unhappy.

It's one of the rare instance where biology, sociology, philosophy and religion kinda agree.

You can share your own opinion as usual, but it's going to be a hard sale.

It's not about forcing the idea on you, rather it's reporting what a lot of humanity have found to be true on the long run.

Is someone forcing anyone to sit down and do those things? Could they go for a walk instead?

That's what I meant about human being biased to that attitude.

We technically have a choice, but practically, our biology and social context make one path very attractive.

"Going for a walk" is great, when you can do it.

Based on my experiences when I visited the USA, with sidewalks in most of the states I visited suddenly stopping for no apparent reason forcing me to re-trace my steps and take a different route, or with many road crossings feeling so dangerous that I was seriously tempted to take a taxi even for really small distances[0]? There's plenty of places where the city designers make this unnecessarily hard.

One of the reasons I chose Berlin over San Francisco when I was deciding how to show the ultimate lawful middle finger to UK politics, was that I like walking.

[0] it's only the 0.4 miles from the The Cupertino Hotel to 1 Infinite Loop, but ten lanes on the North De Anza Boulevard and 2/3 on the on/off ramps connecting it with the Junipero Serra Freeway is terrifying.

Very true, especially in the specifics IMO. The friction getting to a park is non trivial in that area too.

I was staying in the Holiday Inn Express at Dubai airport the other day, which is less than 400m from the entrance to Terminal 3 at that same airport (and the metro station located there), making it a convenient hotel for my few days in Dubai.

What I hadn't noticed was that there is a major road inbetween, and that the walking time, according to Google Maps, is 92 minutes, covering a distance of 6.8km! So yeah, I took a taxi...

Agreed about Cupertino but San Francisco is very walkable!

I used to not have a tv by choice and go on walks all the time as I had nothing to do. I stopped doing it as it became weird and lonely past a certain point and age. There’s nothing quite like seeing people out in the world with purpose while shambling without even a real destination. Turns out humans are pretty good at avoiding unpleasant experiences and watch tv for a reason.

Opiate of the masses is descriptive. Lately it seems more like amphetamines though.

You began feeling uncomfortable going on a walk by yourself after a certain age?

I don't think that's a common experience. I'm in my 30's and love wandering aimlessly though a city or somewhere in nature. I doubt that will change as I continue to age.

TBH I'm mostly doing it to try and get back to shape. Too fat to run without stressig my joints, so walking/hiking is the next best part.

can feel a bit lonely seeing other groups pass by. But you see your app tell you you got 4 miles in and burned 800 calories and you realize that you're progressing.

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