Sunday, August 13, 2006

Rewriting the formula

Though rationally I knew otherwise, I've been fooling myself in thinking that in most cases...

event/activity = pleasure/enjoyment

...when in reality it's more like...

anticipation + event/activity + recollection = maximal pleasure/enjoyment

I think for most activities with a relatively long lead-time, like planning for a trip or vacation...

anticipation 35% + event itself 30% + recollection 35% = 100 maximal pleasure

Spontaneous activities, however, are different for me: anticipation time is short to non-existent as is its total pleasure percentage, but the during and post-activity rewards are great.

anticipation 0 + event 50% + recollection 50%

Training for the triathlon has helped me understand these three base components of the pleasure formula, but also that pleasure derived from long-awaited sporting activities is still more complex...

50%? training activity (anticipation 10 + activity 40 + post activity 50) + 50%? sporting event (anticipation 10 + activity x + post activity y)

This time next week I will have solved for x and y, and they will be directly impacted by whether or not I get into a bike crash. Meanwhile, I'm grateful I've finally figured out my own formula. And after all, isn't the last part of the formula why blogs exists for lots of us?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Neither desire nor fear for these transient things, my child. This anticipation is the root of all suffering. Let go and embrace the nothingness of existence and you shall attain true wisdom.

becca said...

Yes Buddha, you're right. But working on these silly formulas in my head helps me hate running a lot less. :}