Hi everyone 👋

Every once in a while I come across a quote that resonates with me a lot.

Recently that happened again with this one:

“The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius

Isn’t it incredible that a Roman Emperor had time to write down such wise things 2000 years ago?

Anyways, let me look at this quote from 3 different perspectives in this newsletter:

Perspective 1: Abraham Maslow

I think it makes sense to look at Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with this quote in mind. That hierarchy looks like this:

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The idea of the hierarchy is that always the lowest thing is most relevant, until that need is taken care of, at which point the next level becomes relevant.

In todays world more humans than ever have their physiological and safety needs satisfied. In western Europe, and especially in Switzerland, it is basically impossible to not have those needs fulfilled.

What’s left are belongingness & love, esteem, and self-actualization. These are all just psychological. In other words, these are just determined by our thoughts - which is exactly what Marcus Aurelius said in his quote.

So then what about money?

As I just mentioned, money not relevant for Physiological and safety in Switzerland. These are already guaranteed for free by our society. (if you have a lot of money you might even be less safe because you become better known and a more interesting target for criminals and deranged people)

Belongingness & Love? I didn’t measure it but I would guess that there might even be a negative correlation with money here. Thats because many people with a lot of money tend to be busy and not take care as much of personal relations. Also money is in some situations a substitute for personal connections and interactions. If you can just buy everything you won’t ask your family and friends for help as much.

Esteem Needs? Here money must shine, right? Actually yes. But only if you want it to. As Marcus Aurelius says, it’s all just in ones head. If money, big houses, expensive cars, luxury watches etc. are the relevant dimension of comparison, of course money is crucial. But everyone of us is free to chose what is relevant to us. And I believe it is better if we make these choices ourselves and just follow social norms (e.g., compete and run after money).

One good story that shows this is the interaction between Alexander and Diogenes. In case you don’t know it I put a summary of the story at the end of this email.

Perspective 2: Daniel Kahneman

One of my favorite books of all time is ‘Thinking fast and slow’ by Daniel Kahneman. He introduces the notion of two different ways of thinking. System 1 (intuitive thinking) and system 2 (analytical thinking).

If we oversimplify intuitive thinking as mainly trying to maximize dopamine, we can say that it follows a pattern of homeostasis. That means over a certain duration it does not much matter what we do because positive and negative elements more or less balance out.

For example, lets say you eat a bar of chocolate every day. After you do that for 1 month, this is just the new ‘normal’. If you instead eat an apple every day for a month, this is also ‘normal’. Even though the chocolate is much more tempting for most people in the short term, in the long term the dopamine just balances out.

So if system 1 (intuitive thinking) balances out no matter what we do, all that is left to focus on is system 2 (analytical thinking). In other words “The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts.” - just as Marcus Aurelius said it.

Perspective 3: Yuval Noah Harari

According to Yuval Noah Harari “Homo Sapiens is a story telling animal. We think about the world, about our lives in stories.” https://youtu.be/HYqonHGLhGo?si=ddP0WXRD6w6ZRcND&t=244

1000 years ago in Europe, many people would care most about living a religious life so they don’t need to suffer an eternity in hell after they die. This idea is just irrelevant in Switzerland today.

500 years ago someones wealth might be determined by the number of slaves or serfs they controlled. An idea that most people today think is abhorrent.

There is no ‘absolute truth’, we are just all making up our own stories to justify what we are doing and why we are doing it. And again the result is: “The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts.”

Conclusion

Alright, and with that we looked at this really interesting quote from 3 different perspectives that I find all very interesting.

For me one takeaway is that it might be worth spending more time about what I am thinking, not just what I am doing.

Of course it is true that thought and action mutually influence each other and thus we can control action to control our thoughts. But it is equally true that thoughts impact actions, so trying to control our thoughts directly might be a valuable approach as well.

Alright that’s it again for this week. Have a great time everyone! 😊

Gregor

Appendix: Alexander and Diogenes:

Alexander, the young Macedonian king and conqueror, had heard of Diogenes, the Cynic philosopher known for his ascetic lifestyle and rejection of societal norms. Diogenes lived in extreme simplicity—some say in a large ceramic jar or tub in Corinth—and was famous for his sharp wit and disdain for authority. Intrigued, Alexander sought him out during a visit to Corinth around 336 BC.

When Alexander found Diogenes, the philosopher was supposedly basking in the sun. Alexander, standing over him with his entourage, asked Diogenes if there was anything he, the most powerful man in the world, could do for him. Diogenes, unfazed by Alexander’s grandeur, reportedly replied, “Yes, stand out of my sunlight.”

Alexander’s soldiers laughed, expecting the king to be offended by this insolence. Instead, Alexander was impressed by Diogenes’ boldness and independence. He reportedly said something like, “If I were not Alexander, I would wish to be Diogenes,” to which Diogenes quipped back, “If I were not Diogenes, I would still wish to be Diogenes.” This exchange encapsulates Alexander’s admiration for Diogenes’ self-sufficiency and the philosopher’s unwavering commitment to his principles.