Constraints make decisions easy

In the last essay, we talked about how purpose constraints help us make decisions so easily. When I had the “EA constraint” (save as many lives as possible), it was very easy for me to decide what to do. Go to the US? Hell’s yeah. It makes more money.

A lack of said constraint, completely leaves me (and I assume others as well) baffled and incapable of making a decision. The solution space to life’s questions seem unbounded. Currently without any constraint, I am struggling to figure out if I should go the US or stay in the Netherlands.

No amount of pros and cons list seem to help. Pros being: I can make in 10 years what I can never dream to make in Netherlands… The cons being I will probably have “less time” to engage in my passions like climbing or music etc., (at least for the next 3 years until I establish myself)…

Despite these pros and cons I don’t know what to do. How do I even compare? And even if I manage to “somehow compare”, am I going to accept the results? My past indicates that there will never be a solid decision coming out of this. In the end you will just have to pick one and commit.

Entry Question: Is there a constraint (or a set of constraints) that I can apply to reduce the solution space to get to a resounding YES/NO? If so, where is that constraint? What does it look like? How do I find them?

Where is that constraint?

Note: Completely inspired by “Solution Inside your head”.

I am not interested in adding a “random constraint” like “marrying” or “having a kid” just so that I feel a purpose constraint and can make decisions easily. I would like something better than randomly choosing a constraint.

Perhaps, can someone wise give me the constraint? Let’s say an STM came to me and said “you should go the US and work hard”. He provides me the constraint. Will I abide by it?

Participating in this thought experiment, I find myself questioning how he knows this constraint, and I find myself eventually pondering again about all the pros and cons. (If I go to the US then another 3 years of grind is a must to begin with, I can be laid off at any time bla bla bla…)

The whole point of adding constraints is to have an easy way out, to make decisions easily. Engaging in further debate after the constraint, seems to defeat the purpose of using a constraint in the first place.

Hmmm. Class katadichadhey vetiya iruka dha. Ingayu velaya. Oh Karthareyyyy idharku oru theervu illaya

So, “random constraint” is out of question. Blindly accepting a constraint from a wise person is also out of question. But then, how did I get constraints in the past?

It’s inside the head

An STM told me about EA many years back. The arguments he made for EA were: “I owe it to people”; “If not me, who will do it”; “I need to be the batman that people deserve” etc.

Totally made sense. Wait what? How do I know that? How did it “make sense”. What am I doing here? X gave me some English words strung in a particular way and I accepted it? It seems as though I evaluated it and accepted it as a “proper” constraint.

Not only that, I am also capable of rejecting the constraints despite accepting them in the past. Last year after a really long discussion with an STM it happened that I rejected the “EA constraint”. I “carefully” judged the constraint in the new light provided to me and it was time to reject it.

I judge the constraint and I evaluate the constraint. Hell, I AM THE CONSTRAINT. THE CONSTRAINT IS IN MY HEAD.

Characteristics of this constraint

The constraints in the head need some type of unlocking. Until an STM told me about EA and the lifestyle, I didn’t know nothing about it. If not for him, I would have lead a completely different life with different constraints.

This means we don’t know all our constraints and can still discover new ones.

These constraints can change with time (meaning we can get the constraint wrong). Until last year the “ea constraint” was valid but today it’s not.

It is hard to come up with and apply constraints. I am here thinking about the constraints in my head and those that will help me make a decision about whether I should go to the US or not. Some constraints come up, such as “I need to live long and happy”. I am not debating it. I am happy I came up with it. I agree with it wholeheartedly. But it is not easy to evaluate which path leads to “long and happy”.

What next?

What to do? How to design our constraints, our decisions, our lives? Once we have constraints, how to actually take lots of action and feel excited about things?

Ideas before and after

“Constraint is inside your head” clicked a few days back. And I knew that would be the essay even before writing.

While writing I got the constraint: “I want to live long and happy”.