According to modern psychology, what gives me happiness is the pursuit of pleasure. What? I was like, where is my history of crazy parties, epic list of sexual partners and the odd visit to rehab? I’ve not even had a mid-life crisis, for God’s sake.
So, how did I get to this crazy idea that pleasure-seeking underpins my happiness? And how does something so off-target even help any of us?
Your Idol of Happiness
How do you find out what underpins your happiness? The idea is that everyone selects a single idol they worship, believing it will bring them satisfaction and fulfilment. This is known as the Four Idols framework
The four idols are: -
Money
Power
Pleasure
Fame.
To get to your primary idol, you do the following: -
Identify the zero-value idol that you can just lose without thought
Identify the one nice-to-have that you could drop
Then engage in a Royal Rumble face-off of the final two
First, it was inevitable that I would cut Fame or Power. I chose to cut Power, as that doesn’t feel like me at all.
Second was harder, as it didn’t feel like Fame or Pleasure were my idols, so maybe it was Money? But I know I’ve actively not pursued a life focused on earning as much money as I can. I don’t even mean in some crazy millionaire sense, just in terms of maximising my wage-based earning potential. So that felt wrong as well. I decided to drop Fame. Okay, in the dim distant past I was recognised in Disney World due to my YouTube Channel, which was strange, so I ain’t seeking to be recognised on the street any time soon.
This left me with Money and Pleasure, and I certainly knew that, of those two, Money was sort of an enabler rather than something I pursued as a major driver, so I was left with Pleasure. At that point I just sat with it a bit confused.
Either this theory and process is groundless, or what I think of when I see the words money, power, pleasure and fame are completely wrong?
Origin of the Idols
In good old medieval Europe, Saint Thomas Aquinas established the Summa Theologica - basically, the things man substitutes for God. What can I say, Christian thought dominated almost everything, so wealth, pleasure, power and fame are viewed as substitutes for the divine, and this is why you’re miserable.
Money: Chasing material wealth, which only traps you in fear of losing it.
Pleasure: Seeking temporary sensory comfort requiring ever-larger doses that never truly satisfy.
Power: Trying to control your environment and others, which breeds constant paranoia and restlessness.
Fame: Relying on human approval for validation, making your worth a slave to the fleeting opinions of others.
It’s easy to discount this theory of Christian yore, but two things. Most of us accept that these things won’t lead to happiness in their negative forms, even outside of the Christian framing. It’s probably one of the challenges I was having. But here is the second thing: what if power, money, fame and pleasure have been re-interpreted not as things that distract you from the divine but as positive things that can act as a foundation for your happiness?
Does this explain why I’ve not ended up in rehab, or is it still confusing?
Modern Age Idols
The truth is, I shouldn’t have jumped into the process without really digging into how the words were being defined. What can I say? I was excited, and I jumped in immediately after hearing about it on a podcast. I’m human.
Modern thinking is more positive and diagnostic. They are drives to be understood.
Money: The desire to accumulate resources and to secure your future against an unpredictable world.
Pleasure: The instinct to minimise pain and enjoy sensory comfort to protect your daily peace of mind.
Power: The need for personal autonomy and agency, ensuring you have the freedom to direct your own life.
Fame: The deeply human need for social connection and community respect, validating your place in the tribe.
Now, I don’t know about any of you, but this starts to make more sense and totally reshapes the process. While I was making decisions under less-than-clear definitions, I think I got the right answer. I’d rank my priorities under the modern definitions as: -
Pleasure
Money
Power
Fame
Pleasure re-lensed as a way to ensure comfort and protect your peace makes perfect sense. It also explains why I’m very unlikely to go on a drug-fueled bender as long as an addiction to Mudslides when on cruises doesn’t count.
I do value money, but as a way to provide stability rather than trying to get as much as I can. Money is like my deflector shield for my peace and contentment.
The last two are close. There isn’t much in it, to be fair. I do see autonomy, agency, and respect for my opinions as important. The fact that I spend time producing YouTube videos and writing these articles has some of those elements, right? I’m prepared to admit that. So it got third place.
Pleasure makes perfect sense, as all the others are foundations for it rather than the top of the tree.
The Epicurean Twist
We’re going back in time again. Way before the Middle Ages and back 2,300 years, to ancient Greece.
Epicurus founded Epicureanism, a philosophy centred on achieving a tranquil, happy life. His definition of pleasure was focused on the absence of pain rather than indulgence or giving the latest hallucinogenic plant a go. It was all about living simply, cultivating close friendships, analysing fears rationally (especially the fear of death and gods), and moderating desires.
The poor guy just wanted to live simply on the outskirts of Athens away from the chaos of public life.
Now, Epicurean tends to mean someone who is a connoisseur of luxury, a “foodie,” or has gourmet tastes. Needless to say, I find the first definition more appealing than the second.
What Is Your Idol?
So, here is the question: if you were to go through this process yourself, what would your idol be? How has this made you reflect on your life?
It may surprise you.