According to Perry
Our overdeveloped, grotesque insight reward seeking is likely maladaptive, and is probably not even doing our individual selves any good.I think that's about right. Putting a spin on the old saying about wealth, "if you're so smart, why aren't you happy?"
There is a strong bi-directional relationship between this seeing-through and depression. By being interested in insight rather than the day-to-day stuff people want to talk about, you can become socially isolated and depressed. Conversely, given that someone is socially isolated and depressed for other reasons, it might kick in depressive realism. Either way, what keeps the cycle going is probably the aforementioned "grotesque insight reward seeking."
So what does depression under insight do? Back to Perry:
Meaning is deconstructed in depression; social connection is weakened. Ideas and things that for normal individuals glow with significance appear to the depressed person as empty husks. The deceptive power of social and sacredness illusions is weakened for the depressed person (as are certain other healthy illusions, such as the illusion of control).Furthermore, the inverse is true:
self-deception is strongly related to happiness; the consolation of insight may not make up for the loss of sacredness in terms of individual happiness.This is where I see some hope for myself on the happiness front. I rarely lose the ability to perceive sacredness. I never lost it during my darkest times, where going on a walk into semi-nature was my mental salvation. It was actually later, when I went on my first sabbatical and ended up too socially isolated that I have a journal entry about going outside and feeling . . . nothing [1]. And that was a sufficient wake-up call to go back to work. It turns out, much to my disappointment, that I need contact with people other than my wife [2].
As I am trying to recover from my insight-addiction, I have started to use two phrases a lot in conversations with my wife: first "What would a happy person say/do right now?" and second is the lament "I can't not know . . ." because I know whatever it is that I know I know (and know I can't not know) is something a person happier than me wouldn't notice or would subsume into some kind of optimistic story (a technique I have only begun to experiment with; I'll try to report back later on my progress).
There are many things that I can't not know, but it does help to not dwell on them. I have learned to not rant. And most importantly, I have learned not organize my day around gathering more negativity.
Ran Prieur noted in 2017:
Over the last year I've sensed more toxicity when I go online. Maybe I just got better at noticing it, but that's why I'm trying to quit writing about what's wrong with the world. My working theory is, thinking about what's wrong with the world is linked to a general attitude, a subconscious habit of constantly scanning for wrongness, and it's like a dark universe that I'm trying to escape.This is not to say there isn't a place for darkness, but darkness should be used, either for productive actions or some act of creation -- even including a good conversation, provided the parties know when it is time to switch topics. (What a rare trait in America, anymore).
Insight is a lot like whisky and cola [3]. Each individual hit seems reasonable enough, but eventually it starts to blur your judgement toward your quantity consumed. . . and then you have other problems.
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[1] See Allie Brosh for what might be the greatest work on depression ever (cartoons are very much underrated at a medium). Part 1 and Part 2. I feel fortunate to have only been in the full "detached meaningless fog" at one point in my life.
[2] Humanity is still a passion best enjoyed with an eye on the minimum effective dose, and awareness of what can happen when I go over that dose. But it turns out that I could have never made it as a hermit.
[3] Perry uses another term having to do with being stimulated watching other people do . . . something. Starts with a "p." I like that metaphor too because it shows a lack of *ahem* real action or working with the complications of the real world. . . Porn. I mean insight porn.
