Masamichi Souzou
When we design today, we isolate problems and then create solutions for them, and we then celebrate those solutions. But in reality we have no idea exactly what we've done, because in focusing on any particular problem we have really just ignored everything else.
When we really understand the implications of this idea, we soon realize that in our design of anything, we must consider everything. There is no part of the entire system that isn't affected by every other part of the entire system.
So what would it look like if we attempted to design with everything in mind? What would the design intent of everything be? What is the purpose of everything?
Optimizing for Happiness
I believe that the purpose of life is happiness, and that a desire for increased happiness is ultimately the reason we do anything. With this frame I began questioning the design and construction of every aspect of our modern life. I realized that much of our modern world and technology is actually antithetical to our happiness.
Experiments
For the past year I have been working to optimize my happiness. I started with a perspective of evolutionary happiness — that happiness is an evolved state of body and mind that indicates to us when our needs in terms of survival are being met. I began a series of elaborate self experiments to optimize my happiness, measuring it on a daily basis.
I optimized my air, water, sleep, food, movement, and material possessions. At the height of the experiments I was measuring about 26 different daily metrics. And the results were remarkable.
Insights
The experience completely changed the way I think about happiness. Might we experience a type of profound happiness through the optimization of our evolutionary basics? I've come to believe that the answer is yes.
This experience has been so profound that I've formed a company that will allow others to explore happiness in this way. I created Masamichi Souzou (正道想像, Japanese for "correct path", "imagine" or "create"), a company that works to optimize human happiness through the consideration of everything.