If anyone wishes to use this study as a catalyst to shift one’s attitude, then I highly recommend dropping the dopaminergic doomloop apps like Reddit/Bluesky/X/tiktok/IG.
Your life will be better for it. Snapchat can stay…for reasons.
Rage-engagement, something I never needed, and that I knew I needed out of my life, I just didn't know how much of a positive impact it would have to get off it. Sorry Zuck and Spez, but I know you'll be fine without a hatebuck or two.
>I highly suspect you are not an addiction specialist…
Which also means they're not selling addiction help (which profits when addicts remain so), nor is indoctrinated to the professional fads of that racket
Since someone else vocally disagreed, I'll just back this up. If you change your social situation (new job, new friends, etc...) then a lot of other changes seem to be easier, in my experience.
Everything I've learned from psychology (and by this I mean watching psychology lectures from Yale and Stanford on youtube and reading the associated textbooks) makes me confident that I will have a short and unhappy life.
Dr Bloom spoke about how your overall mood during college is a good predictor for how happy you'll be as a person throughout your life. He talked about the optimum time to get married is 26. He elucidated the idea of your prefrontal cortex solidifying around 25, making personality changes MUCH more difficult.
Dr Sopolsky spoke about biological markers that may affect human behavior - both inherited and environmentally influenced.
At 35 I am starting to suspect that I may be on the spectrum ( I kinda expected some adult to tell me this as a child, if it's true ).
The males on my fathers side (with the exception of my uncle) do not make it past 67.
My mothers side has inter-generational trauma that I know i've inherited avoidant behaviors that limit my social ability.
>Dr Bloom spoke about how your overall mood during college is a good predictor for how happy you'll be as a person throughout your life.
Welp, I guess I'm dead then.
>around 25, making personality changes MUCH more difficult
Maybe it's just me but my personality keeps changing every year or so, based on the positive and negative experiences and challenges from living abroad alone, having to always adapt to new stuff to stay mentally, financially and socially afloat.
I assume it's different if you spend your whole life in the same place you grew up in with the same people doing the same things. Maybe the brain checks out from the repetition.
>avoidant behaviors that limit my social ability
Move aboard to another country where you don't speak the language.
If it’s true then this is a propensity and not a rule.
My mood in college was suicidal. My mood by my 30s was better than most people I’ve ever met (sans hiccup from a year of no sleep with a newborn).
Looking back my horrible mood in college was probably caused by isolation, no sleep, high pressure course load, and too much alcohol. And I’ve noticed my mood drops dramatically when I get it in my head that I need to be more successful, at any point in my life.
It's probably you! My personality has been basically the same since I was 4. I also live abroad and have for the past 5 years, though, so I guess I just lucked out and got a personality that works well in most conditions and with most people.
> He elucidated the idea of your prefrontal cortex solidifying around 25, making personality changes MUCH more difficult.
It’s true that neuroplasticity tends to decline around this age, but there are several important caveats:
- Exercise, especially cardiovascular exercise, promotes the release of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which enhances neuroplasticity. Consistency matters, regular aerobic activity raises baseline BDNF levels, while sporadic exercise only causes short-term spikes. Studies even show that long-term cardiovascular exercise can alter brain structure.
- Belief in your ability to learn is associated with better learning outcomes and higher neuroplasticity markers. Whether this comes directly from belief or from the behaviors it encourages, it’s still practical advice. Don’t entertain thoughts that you can’t adapt or learn -- especially during exercise.
- Psychedelic experiences (with substances such as psilocybin, ketamine, or LSD) can open what’s called an “acute neuroplastic window”. During this time, brain network dynamics become more flexible and neuroplasticity increases. Surround yourself with the right people, ideas, books, during this period, and it can lead to dramatic positive change. But as this state can amplify both constructive and destructive influences, proceed with care and good research.
This is also my experience. I was miserable from 13 until 35yo. Then made big changes.
I think it is extremely dangerous to make that affirmations, that may take away any hope some depressed folk may have, being 25 and having a hard time.
The rationale about 25 years and the cortex should be much better explained, I think.
There's nothing wrong with being unhappy, IMO - you can still channel those emotions into something meaningful.
But if you do want to be happy, you can find stories, if you look hard and long enough, of "outliers". People who, against all odds, defied "statistics" and broke out of whatever expectations society and "facts" projected onto them.
I tried "everything" until age ~27 when I finally found one dial (very specific elimination diet) that made the rest of my body act mostly normally. Other changes were easier to make from that point onwards, altho there's a lot of damage to undo still. Diet is just one factor, for others it could be completely different.
My point is - I thought I would never be healthy. This stuff runs in my family too. But I just kept trying things. There's no other option.
You are a unique human being and soul who has something valuable to contribute to this world. Even if that's being unhappy.
Hope that doesn't sound condescending, it's something I tell myself too.
>Everything I've learned from psychology (and by this I mean watching psychology lectures from Yale and Stanford on youtube and reading the associated textbooks) makes me confident that I will have a short and unhappy life.
By making this prediction you already run afoul of the findings in the article!
>At 35 I am starting to suspect that I may be on the spectrum
I mean, the ample parentheticals in your comment are proof enough :)
> Dr Bloom spoke about how your overall mood during college is a good predictor for how happy you'll be as a person throughout your life. He talked about the optimum time to get married is 26. He elucidated the idea of your prefrontal cortex solidifying around 25, making personality changes MUCH more difficult.
Some of this sounds more like ideology and less science, especially when deterministic tendencies are getting mixed up when talking about psychology.
> Everything I've learned from psychology (and by this I mean watching psychology lectures from Yale and Stanford
Also interesting that sensationalized statements always end up coming from places like that, exclusively pertaining to the rotten individualist lifestyle in the United States.
> the idea of your prefrontal cortex solidifying around 25
...which is bunk; the studies that are cited as showing this actually showed changes in the prefrontal cortex up to the oldest people in their study, which was 25-year-olds.
Current research suggests that it continues changing throughout our lives.
It makes sense to me, as the article also points out, being more optimistic might indicate lower levels of stress. And (prolonged) stress has been known for a long time to be detrimental to health.
It wouldn't surprise me if healthy, privileged people with access to good healthcare are more optimistic than those with serious illness, no coverage and three shitty jobs.
Hard to be optimistic when you have cancer and can't afford treatment.
> These relations were independent of socioeconomic status, health conditions, depression, social integration, and health behaviors (e.g., smoking, diet, and alcohol use). Overall, findings suggest optimism may be an important psychosocial resource for extending life span in older adults.
A truly committed pessimist would accept this dark omen.
Anyway, this definition of optimism
> or the belief that the future will be favorable because one can control important outcomes
Isn't what one colloquially means by it.
Though it is eye catching that it will make a positive impact even if you don't, actually, control important outcomes, like by not smoking
> These relations were independent of socioeconomic status, health conditions, depression, social integration, and health behaviors (e.g., smoking, diet, and alcohol use). Overall, findings suggest optimism may be an important psychosocial resource for extending life span in older adults.
It might also be something like: people who experience relatively little psychological distress are optimistic, and also live longer.
We don't like to talk about it, but there is a biological component to how happy or anxious someone is. Not to say that everyone is doomed to be a certain way because of their genetics, but I've known people who are basically never sad, and it's not because they've found some kind of secret of happiness. I have a friend who has the temperament of a golden retriever.
Or less stressing about things and giving less fucks causes longevity.
Which makes even more sense, since stress affects all cause mortality and all kinds of outcomes, and even mere positive disposition towards a treatment is found to make a big difference in patients.
This seems like a rather obvious case of "correlation is not causation". Moreover, the vocabulary of optimism vs pessimism doesn't capture that one can work diligently to avoid pessimistic outcomes, so does that make one optimistic or pessimistic? After adjusting for the correlation, I suspect realists will have the highest longevity.
If anyone wishes to use this study as a catalyst to shift one’s attitude, then I highly recommend dropping the dopaminergic doomloop apps like Reddit/Bluesky/X/tiktok/IG.
Your life will be better for it. Snapchat can stay…for reasons.
+1, I’m off the apps and it’s been so liberating.
Rage-engagement, something I never needed, and that I knew I needed out of my life, I just didn't know how much of a positive impact it would have to get off it. Sorry Zuck and Spez, but I know you'll be fine without a hatebuck or two.
What are the reasons for Snapchat? :.
Ladies
If you're above 25 (if not 20), Snapchat should be the last place to search for ladies...
Does not compute
Social media like all addictions fulfill needs that you can't satisfy other ways in your current state. Mostly human contact and validation.
If you start getting out there and communicating with real people on intimate level - most addictions melt away by itself.
It makes more sense to focus on the root cause instead of fighting the symptoms.
I disagree. Looking inward at myself at outward at addicted friends and family it does not fill any need.
What it does is “hooks the attention” using outrage and a constant stream of dopamine hits.
“ If you start getting out there and communicating with real people on intimate level - most addictions melt away by itself.”
I highly suspect you are not an addiction specialist…
>I highly suspect you are not an addiction specialist…
Which also means they're not selling addiction help (which profits when addicts remain so), nor is indoctrinated to the professional fads of that racket
Since someone else vocally disagreed, I'll just back this up. If you change your social situation (new job, new friends, etc...) then a lot of other changes seem to be easier, in my experience.
Getting off those apps is a good first step towards getting out there and communicating with real people on an intimate level.
Everything I've learned from psychology (and by this I mean watching psychology lectures from Yale and Stanford on youtube and reading the associated textbooks) makes me confident that I will have a short and unhappy life.
Dr Bloom spoke about how your overall mood during college is a good predictor for how happy you'll be as a person throughout your life. He talked about the optimum time to get married is 26. He elucidated the idea of your prefrontal cortex solidifying around 25, making personality changes MUCH more difficult.
Dr Sopolsky spoke about biological markers that may affect human behavior - both inherited and environmentally influenced.
At 35 I am starting to suspect that I may be on the spectrum ( I kinda expected some adult to tell me this as a child, if it's true ).
The males on my fathers side (with the exception of my uncle) do not make it past 67.
My mothers side has inter-generational trauma that I know i've inherited avoidant behaviors that limit my social ability.
So great news.
>Dr Bloom spoke about how your overall mood during college is a good predictor for how happy you'll be as a person throughout your life.
Welp, I guess I'm dead then.
>around 25, making personality changes MUCH more difficult
Maybe it's just me but my personality keeps changing every year or so, based on the positive and negative experiences and challenges from living abroad alone, having to always adapt to new stuff to stay mentally, financially and socially afloat.
I assume it's different if you spend your whole life in the same place you grew up in with the same people doing the same things. Maybe the brain checks out from the repetition.
>avoidant behaviors that limit my social ability
Move aboard to another country where you don't speak the language.
If it’s true then this is a propensity and not a rule.
My mood in college was suicidal. My mood by my 30s was better than most people I’ve ever met (sans hiccup from a year of no sleep with a newborn).
Looking back my horrible mood in college was probably caused by isolation, no sleep, high pressure course load, and too much alcohol. And I’ve noticed my mood drops dramatically when I get it in my head that I need to be more successful, at any point in my life.
It's probably you! My personality has been basically the same since I was 4. I also live abroad and have for the past 5 years, though, so I guess I just lucked out and got a personality that works well in most conditions and with most people.
> He elucidated the idea of your prefrontal cortex solidifying around 25, making personality changes MUCH more difficult.
It’s true that neuroplasticity tends to decline around this age, but there are several important caveats:
- Exercise, especially cardiovascular exercise, promotes the release of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which enhances neuroplasticity. Consistency matters, regular aerobic activity raises baseline BDNF levels, while sporadic exercise only causes short-term spikes. Studies even show that long-term cardiovascular exercise can alter brain structure.
- Belief in your ability to learn is associated with better learning outcomes and higher neuroplasticity markers. Whether this comes directly from belief or from the behaviors it encourages, it’s still practical advice. Don’t entertain thoughts that you can’t adapt or learn -- especially during exercise.
- Psychedelic experiences (with substances such as psilocybin, ketamine, or LSD) can open what’s called an “acute neuroplastic window”. During this time, brain network dynamics become more flexible and neuroplasticity increases. Surround yourself with the right people, ideas, books, during this period, and it can lead to dramatic positive change. But as this state can amplify both constructive and destructive influences, proceed with care and good research.
67 is still almost 7 decades of life!
What’re you doing for fun?
I was miserable in college but I’ve made significant changes since that have made me way happier.
I think changes are possible at any stage of life. They just might require more commitment since we’re so spongy as kids.
This is also my experience. I was miserable from 13 until 35yo. Then made big changes.
I think it is extremely dangerous to make that affirmations, that may take away any hope some depressed folk may have, being 25 and having a hard time.
The rationale about 25 years and the cortex should be much better explained, I think.
Research focuses on trends. You are a sample of 1, however, so anything is possible. Create your own path!
Do none of those lectures mention interventions to affect those outcomes?
It may be that those things are all predictive on average, because most people don't take steps to change them.
There's nothing wrong with being unhappy, IMO - you can still channel those emotions into something meaningful.
But if you do want to be happy, you can find stories, if you look hard and long enough, of "outliers". People who, against all odds, defied "statistics" and broke out of whatever expectations society and "facts" projected onto them.
I tried "everything" until age ~27 when I finally found one dial (very specific elimination diet) that made the rest of my body act mostly normally. Other changes were easier to make from that point onwards, altho there's a lot of damage to undo still. Diet is just one factor, for others it could be completely different.
My point is - I thought I would never be healthy. This stuff runs in my family too. But I just kept trying things. There's no other option.
You are a unique human being and soul who has something valuable to contribute to this world. Even if that's being unhappy.
Hope that doesn't sound condescending, it's something I tell myself too.
>Everything I've learned from psychology (and by this I mean watching psychology lectures from Yale and Stanford on youtube and reading the associated textbooks) makes me confident that I will have a short and unhappy life.
By making this prediction you already run afoul of the findings in the article!
>At 35 I am starting to suspect that I may be on the spectrum
I mean, the ample parentheticals in your comment are proof enough :)
> Dr Bloom spoke about how your overall mood during college is a good predictor for how happy you'll be as a person throughout your life. He talked about the optimum time to get married is 26. He elucidated the idea of your prefrontal cortex solidifying around 25, making personality changes MUCH more difficult.
Some of this sounds more like ideology and less science, especially when deterministic tendencies are getting mixed up when talking about psychology.
> Everything I've learned from psychology (and by this I mean watching psychology lectures from Yale and Stanford
Also interesting that sensationalized statements always end up coming from places like that, exclusively pertaining to the rotten individualist lifestyle in the United States.
> the idea of your prefrontal cortex solidifying around 25
...which is bunk; the studies that are cited as showing this actually showed changes in the prefrontal cortex up to the oldest people in their study, which was 25-year-olds.
Current research suggests that it continues changing throughout our lives.
is it? thats good to know - the lecture series I watched was recorded in 2008
It makes sense to me, as the article also points out, being more optimistic might indicate lower levels of stress. And (prolonged) stress has been known for a long time to be detrimental to health.
X -> Optimism, Optimism -> Longevity
Can't wait for a research which reveals the X.
Well I'm screwed
It wouldn't surprise me if healthy, privileged people with access to good healthcare are more optimistic than those with serious illness, no coverage and three shitty jobs.
Hard to be optimistic when you have cancer and can't afford treatment.
> These relations were independent of socioeconomic status, health conditions, depression, social integration, and health behaviors (e.g., smoking, diet, and alcohol use). Overall, findings suggest optimism may be an important psychosocial resource for extending life span in older adults.
Yeah I also feel introducing some social class - income level variable would help clear things up.
Pessimists are going to read this and call BS
A truly committed pessimist would accept this dark omen.
Anyway, this definition of optimism
> or the belief that the future will be favorable because one can control important outcomes
Isn't what one colloquially means by it.
Though it is eye catching that it will make a positive impact even if you don't, actually, control important outcomes, like by not smoking
> These relations were independent of socioeconomic status, health conditions, depression, social integration, and health behaviors (e.g., smoking, diet, and alcohol use). Overall, findings suggest optimism may be an important psychosocial resource for extending life span in older adults.
>A truly committed pessimist would accept this dark omen
Nah, that would be a fatalist
Surely there's some overlap?
Don't know many optimistic fatalists.
fatalist thinks whatever is to come will come and accepts whatever comes
pessimmist thinks the worse will come - and is grumpy about it
Life is goooooood, man.
Great, another thing to worry about.
So exceptional longevity causes optimism? That would make sense at least.
It might also be something like: people who experience relatively little psychological distress are optimistic, and also live longer.
We don't like to talk about it, but there is a biological component to how happy or anxious someone is. Not to say that everyone is doomed to be a certain way because of their genetics, but I've known people who are basically never sad, and it's not because they've found some kind of secret of happiness. I have a friend who has the temperament of a golden retriever.
Or less stressing about things and giving less fucks causes longevity.
Which makes even more sense, since stress affects all cause mortality and all kinds of outcomes, and even mere positive disposition towards a treatment is found to make a big difference in patients.
This seems like a rather obvious case of "correlation is not causation". Moreover, the vocabulary of optimism vs pessimism doesn't capture that one can work diligently to avoid pessimistic outcomes, so does that make one optimistic or pessimistic? After adjusting for the correlation, I suspect realists will have the highest longevity.
[dead]
Yep, immortal billioners is exactly what our society needs right now.
Gahd damn billioners