The Smarter You Are the Sadder You Become? NOT!

The popular myth that “the smarter you are the sadder you become” is wrong, or at least it is misleading. It is true that the more we know the more we realize how bad the world really is. 

smarter you are the sadder you become

I mean, just look around: 

And this is just today’s news. I mean, do you even remember yesterday’s problems? And what about tomorrow? I’m sure something completely new will come out, which will shock and repulse us on a completely new level.

Facing this reality, it seems that it is better to be ignorant, as “ignorance is bliss,” as another popular saying goes.

In this way, the more we look at the world, the more we find, and the more depressed we become. This is logical and on this the premise on which the “the smarter you are the sadder you become” statement is built. 

“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know” – Ernest Hemingway

“The more you know, the sadder you get” – Stephen Colbert

“Sadness is caused by intelligence, the more you understand certain things, the more you wish you didn’t understand them” – Charles Bukowski

“Ignorance is bliss” – Thomas Gray

However, what this saying fails to address is what we can do to address all these problems. I mean, we can’t solve all human problems overnight and we aren’t trying to. Even in a utopian society, there will be problems (which is another reason we can be depressed), but here is the bright side.

We can be happy regardless of what is happening in the world. We can be happy regardless of who we are, when, or where we are from, which is the slogan of this blog. And this is the only sustainable way to be happy. It even addresses many problems that exist in society today. 

For one, happy people behave in a more ethical, sustainable, and altruistic fashion. They are no longer part of the problem and become part of the solution. This says that one person can make a difference and we need more people to exit the cycle of pain that exists in a society today (are you ready to do so?)

As such, we can become smarter and happier, not because we become ignorant of the many problems in the world, but because we learn how to deal with them in a complete and sustainable fashion. 

Moreover, ignorance does not completely shield us from unhappiness, if anything it shields us from potential solutions to the problem of unhappiness. I’d even say that it’s better to be a starter as at least it gives us a fighting chance at finding a solution to sadness. 

Indeed, my whole coaching surrounds this topic, which is why I tell you with confidence that you can become smarter and happier at the same time. You just need access to the right information, which is available in abundance at Optimal Happiness.

Roman Russo

Roman Russo

Roman Russo is the visionary founder, senior happiness coach, and Chief Happiness Officer of Optimal Happiness. He has written the revolutionary Optimal Happiness: The Fastest and Surest Way to Reach Your Happiest Potential, a must-read book about achieving our happiest potential. After researching this field for over eight years, Roman is confident that anyone can become happy and invites us to undertake this transformation. Are you ready to start living the life you always meant to live?

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“The problem is that of optimization,” states Roman Russo, author of Optimal Happiness: The Fastest & Surest Way To Reach Your Happiest Potential. Most people will tell you how to be less unhappy or more happy, but no one is speaking about how to be the happiest we can be. And this is the difference that makes all the difference. By not looking at our happiest potential, we fall short of achieving it. After all, we all have hundreds of ideas on how to be happier or less sad, but most people still feel like they are not living their best lives. As such, Optimal Happiness explores the question of how to be the happiest we can be, regardless of who we are, where we are from, and what our life circumstances are. It proposes a complete formula for happiness and explains how to optimize the formula so we can be happy today and forever, breaking down what it really takes to become one of the happiest people alive (spoiler: it isn’t what most people think it is).

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