Kahneman’s evidence shows that we suck at remembering and predicting our own well-being. We as a culture still ignore this empirical evidence, recommending to live our lives so as to avoid deathbed regrets. Deathbed regrets are like Hollywood films: they stir passions for a couple hours, but are poorly connected to reality. They are not good criteria for a well-lived life.
Nick Winter, The Motivation Hacker, 2013, chap. 10
Why did I wander here and there and yonder,
Wasting precious time for no reason or rhyme?
Isn’t it a pity? Isn’t it a crime?
My journey’s ended, everything is splendid;
Meeting you today
Has given me a wonderful idea – here I stay.It’s a funny thing –
I look at you, I get a thrill I never knew.
Isn’t it a pity we never met before?Here we are at last –
It’s like a dream, the two of us a perfect team.
Isn’t it a pity we never met before?Imagine all the lonely years we’ve wasted
You with the neighbors, I at silly labors –
What joys untasted,
You reading Heine, me somewhere in China.Let’s forget the past;
Let’s both agree that I’m for you and you’re for me
And it’s such a pity we never, never met before.Imagine all the lonely year’s we’ve wasted,
Fishing for salmon, losing at backgammon.
What joys untasted,
My nights were sour spent with Schopenhauer.Let’s forget the past;
Let’s both agree that I’m for you and you’re for me
And it’s such a pity we never, never met before.
Ira Gershwin, ‘Isn’t it a Pity’, 1993