Computer science reveals 4 secrets that will make you happy

Computer science reveals 4 secrets that will make you happyComputer science reveals 4 secrets that will make you happyWhere do yougo for fruchtwein of yur answers these days? Google. And its no surprise that Googles a companyfullof engineers. Engineers solve problems. Thats what they do.And computer software engineers have developed methods - algorithms - to solve some of the most insanely complex problems out there. So what if we turned that cold, clinical science toward the warmest and most human of problems?Turns out you can get some amazing solutions. No, you dont need to understand calculus and you dont need a mind that can bend spoons. Were going to make it simple to applyadvanced computer science to the big decisions in life and the everyday struggles that plague us all.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraOkay, time to update the software in your brain. Lets get to itHow To Minimize Regret And MaximizeHappinessComputer scientists often use a framework called explore/exploit. Exploring is when you gather information and exploiting is when you put it to use.In life, exploration minimizes regret. Youget to try lots ofoptions. But ausbeuterei maximizes happiness. Youdo what youknow will work, and get results youknowyoull like.Exploring is fun. We all like novelty. But if younever do anything with what youlearn, youdont get very far.And exploiting what youve learned can provide big returns. But too much of that and younever learn anything new, and cant solve problems youve never seen before. So youneed a bit of both. Which creates a problemHow do you strike the right balance?No need to do heavy math. But the key thing you want to think about here istime. How much time do you have to exploit the results of your exploration?FromAlgorithms to Live By The Computer Science of Human DecisionsWhen balancing favorite experiences and new ones, nothing matters as mu ch as the interval over which we plan to enjoy them.So if youve just moved to a new city, try a different restaurant every night for a while. If youre about to move out of a city, stick to your favorites. And you can applythis principle to many different areas of life from jobs to meeting new people.Explore/Exploitalso helps explain some of the seemingly crazy behavior of human beings because, to a degree, its programmed into us.Alison Gopnik, aleading researcher on children, explains this is why kidshave such short attention spans and do so many crazy things - they need to explore this new world of ours.And it also explains why older people can be so set in their ways. Theyve had a long time to explore. They know what makes them happy. So they stick to it - and more often than not, it works.FromAlgorithms to Live By The Computer Science of Human Decisionsexploration necessarily leads to being let down on most occasions. Shifting the bulk of ones attention to ones favorite things should increase quality of life. And it seems like it does Carstensen has found that older people are generally more satisfied with their social networks, and often report levels of emotional well-being that are higher than those of younger adults.(To learn more tips on living an awesome life, check out my bookhere.)Alright, so the science of high tech can help you be happy. But can it help you get your act together?How To Organize Your OfficeComputer scientists would refer to this as a sorting problem. Thats what Google does - sorts of information.Trigger warning for neat freaks youre not going to like this. (And sloppy people - rejoice)Turns out that in manyareas of life, the time you spend searching beats constant attempts to sort. Keeping your books in that perfect order takes more time than having to do a little digging on the rare occasion when you need a specific one.So when it comes to organization, computer science says err on the side of messiness.FromAlgorithms to Live By The Computer Science of Human DecisionsThe basic principle is this the effort expended on sorting materials is just a preemptive strike against the effort itll take to search through them later. What the precise balance should depend on the exact parameters of the situation, but thinking about sorting as valuable only to support future search tells us something surprising Err on the side of messiness. Sorting something that you will never search is a complete waste searching something you never sorted is merely inefficient.Okay, but with the things you use frequently, you need to be able to find them. No argument here. Whats the best way to organize that stuff?Well, believe it or not, computer science and Martha Stewart agree. (Add that to the list of sentences you never thought youd hear.)One of the guiding principles Martha recommends is to think about, When was the belastung time I wore it or used it? If its not often, get rid of it, or stuff it in the garage. Things you use f requently deserve priority.And computer systems almost all use caching - giving frequently used data a special area of memory that makes itmore accessible.So stuff that gets used a lot needs to be nearby and easy to locate. Whats a pretty good system to implement this principle? Its one you already use but probably beat yourself up about piles.Dont feel guilty when you pile stuff up on your desk that you use frequently. Computer science says thats a very efficient system.FromAlgorithms to Live By The Computer Science of Human Decisionsthe big pile of papers on your desk, far from being a guilt-inducing fester of chaos, is actually one of the most well-designed and efficient structures available. What might appear to others to be an unorganized mess is, in fact, a self-organizing mess. Tossing things back on the top of the pile is the very best you can do, shy of knowing the future.(To learn how to stop being lazy and get more done, clickhere.)Alright, weve engineered happiness and organization. But what does computer science have to say about powering down your brain when its wasting too many cycles on worrying?How To Stop Overthinking ThingsYoure worrying about something.You need to make a decision. But youwant to consider more possibilities. You feel with enough time you can crack this.In computer modeling, they refer to the problem as overfitting. In trying to create the perfect model, they consider too many factors and end up making something that provides predictions that areworse, not better.FromAlgorithms to Live By The Computer Science of Human DecisionsSo one of the deepest truths of machine learning is that, in fact, its not always better to use a more complex model, one that takes a greater number of factors into account. And the issue is not just that the extra factors might offer diminishing returns- performing better than a simpler model, but not enough to justify the added complexity. Rather, they might make our predictions dramatically worse. More time thinking doesnt necessarily mean better results. Sometimes you get too far out in the weeds and just confuse yourself further. So whats the solution?Since underthinking and overthinking can both produce lousy results, boundaries are essential. When good information is scarce and you have a high degree of uncertainty, use early stopping.Set a time limit on how much youre going to think about a problem and when that expires, pull the trigger. Just make the best decision you can.FromAlgorithms to Live By The Computer Science of Human DecisionsIf you have high uncertainty and limited data, then do stop early by all means. If you dont have a clear read on how your work will be evaluated, and by whom, then its not worth the extra time to make it perfect with respect to your own (or anyone elses) idiosyncratic guess at what perfection might be. The greater the uncertainty, the bigger the gap between what you can measure and what matters, the more you should watch out for overfitt ing- that is, the more you should prefer simplicity, and the earlier you should stop. When youre truly in the dark, the best-laid plans will be the simplest.(To learn the five secrets to how mindfulness can make you happy, clickhere.)So you have the engineering solution to overthinking. But life isnt all in your head. How can thinking like a programmer lead to you finding an awesome place to live?How To LocateYour Dream HomeYou want the best. But you cant search forever. This problem appears in many, many areas of life. Sohow many options should you consider before choosing one?The problem is that the best doesnt usually have a label on it that you can trust. But computer scientists have thought abourthis one too its called an optimal stopping problem.So if youre looking for that perfect apartment, ask yourself how long youre willing to search. Now take 37% of that time to look at options (roughly a third - I said, Id make the math easy.) And forget every place you visited- excep t the best one.Then keep looking. The first apartmentthat beats that best one you found in your initial scouting, take it. Science says this will deliver the best results, given the length of your search.FromAlgorithms to Live By The Computer Science of Human DecisionsIf you want the best odds of getting the best apartment, spend 37% of your apartment hunt (eleven days, if youve given yourself a month for the search) noncommittally exploring options. Leave the checkbook at home youre just calibrating. But after that point, be prepared to immediately commit- deposit and all- to the very first place you see that beats whatever youve already seen. This is not merely an intuitively satisfying compromise between looking and leaping. It is the provably optimal solution.(To learn the four rituals neuroscience says will make you happy, clickhere.)Okay, lets round this up - and learn how what computer science says is the optimal way to find your soulmateSum UpHeres how computer science ca n solve the most human of problemsMinimize regret and maximize happinessHow much time willyou have to exploit? If its a lot, spend more time exploring. If time is short, emphasize exploiting.Organizing your officeErr on the side of messiness. Searching often beats sorting. But cache the stuff you frequently use with piles. (Apologies to Martha Stewart.)Prevent overthinkingUse early stopping. Set a time limit for deciding and pull the trigger.Find your dream homeLooknoncommittally for 37% of your search time. Remember the best and grab the first place that tops that one. (Also works for finding parking spots.)So how do you find your soulmate? Once again, thats an optimal stopping problemHow many people (roughly) are you willing to date? Whats 37% of that number? Go out on that many dates, and politely tell those people, No, thanks. But remember the best of the bunch. Then keep dating until you meet someone better than that best one. And thats the person you want to focus on. ButOuch. Sounds kinda cold, callous and terribly unromantic, doesnt it? Youre probably right. Computer science cant solveallof ourhuman problems - and nor should we expect it to. I certainly dont.My college girlfriend didnt know it, but she was probably using the optimal stopping algorithm. I was one of the first guys she met on campus. And let me tell you, its no fun beingin the initial 37% that gets the No, thanks.ButIm guessing I was the best of her37%. Andits safe to say subsequentdating didnt reveal a better candidateSo she circled back. And that was the best thing for both of us. The truly optimal algorithm.Computer science has some pretty good solutions we can learn from. But sometimes the math doesnt work. Sometimes you need to go with your gut. Or with your heart.Join over 290,000 readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds 10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people