# The 'theory' of how to make the most out of life **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2022, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-theory-of-how-to-make-the-most-out-of-life/965981 "2022-06-10T14:43:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![longtry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/839c29/32.png) [@longtry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longtry)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-theory-of-how-to-make-the-most-out-of-life/965981/1 "2022-06-10T14:43:27Z")
OK, I saw this ‘philosophy’ in a profile of a couchsurfing host that I didn’t stay with, and now that I can’t remember its name, I can’t find his account either. So I’m posting here to ask. The theory is like this. In life we can roughly divide all conscious human activities into 1) pleasure and 2) work/contribute. Aside from the few who manage to find their intersection, let’s assume that these 2 categories are mutual exclusive. Now, we could work all our days and suddenly one day we could die without knowing anything about pleasure (traveling, etc). But if we don’t contribute then our life is pretty meaningless. So the theory proposes to distribute these pleasure/work time wisely. I remember that he mentioned some mathematical formulae that help calculate whether we should work how many % at 40, 50, 70, etc. IIRC, the result was that we should work more when young, but not neglect this particular % time (days in a year) best dedicated to pleasure… As we get older than the risk of dying each year climb higher, we should allocate this more % on pleasure, and so on. I was fascinated with the theory and thought it makes lots of sense. Do you guys know something like that? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-theory-of-how-to-make-the-most-out-of-life/965981/2 "2022-06-10T14:49:42Z")
There is a definitely something to be said for not being the richest man in the graveyard and also that no-one ever lay on their deathbed wishing they’d spent more time in the office. But in order to have the means to enjoy your life also requires some form of paid-for work and also we have to be aware that the most free time in our lives tend to come at a point where we may be physically least able to exploit it. Good luck to any individual who manages to balance all those competing factors, I don’t believe there is an equation that will solve that problem. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-theory-of-how-to-make-the-most-out-of-life/965981/3 "2022-06-10T14:49:43Z")
Seems like it could be somethng from here, but I haven’t found a good search term yet. > **[Articles](https://markmanson.net/articles)** > > The complete archive of articles written by best-selling author, Mark Manson. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-theory-of-how-to-make-the-most-out-of-life/965981/4 "2022-06-10T14:50:00Z")
[Moderating] Just a reminder, the OP is asking for the name of this philosophy and/or its developer, not debating its merits. This is FQ. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-theory-of-how-to-make-the-most-out-of-life/965981/5 "2022-06-10T17:45:29Z")
It sounds like a particular interpretation of Epicureanism, or rather attempt at achieving its goals. Might that be the word you’re looking for? Alternatively, the word you’re looking for might be hedonism, but I think this focusses more on the immediate achievement of pleasure and doesn’t have that long-term view you describe. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-theory-of-how-to-make-the-most-out-of-life/965981/6 "2022-06-10T20:35:15Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > It sounds like a particular interpretation of Epicureanism, or rather attempt at achieving its goals. Might that be the word you’re looking for? It seems a good candidate at first, but I think it doesn’t quite match the idea of dividing activities into pleasure and work/contribution, or the idea of allocating one’s time to those two categories differently in youth and in old age: > **[Epicureanism | Philosophy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicureanism#Philosophy)** > > Epicurean physics held that the entire universe consisted of two things: matter and void. Matter is made up of atoms, which are tiny bodies that have only the unchanging qualities of shape, size, and weight. The Epicureans believed that atoms were unchanging because the world was ordered and that changes had to have specific and consistent sources, e.g. a plant species only grows from a seed of the same species, but that in order for the universe to persist, what it is ultimatel Epicurus holds th... ---
**Author:** ![longtry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/839c29/32.png) [@longtry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longtry)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2022, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-theory-of-how-to-make-the-most-out-of-life/965981/7 "2022-06-11T03:11:31Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Good luck to any individual who manages to balance all those competing factors, I don’t believe there is an equation that will solve that problem. While I kinda agree that the equations are results of mathematicians trying (a bit too) hard to solve life problems, they do bring up nice formulae that generalize the strategy so each of us can take as a framework. Example: the secretary problem. > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Seems like it could be somethng from here, but I haven’t found a good search term yet. That guy sure writes a lot. The constant self-ad and the paywall turned me off, though. > [@Schnitte](#): > > Alternatively, the word you’re looking for might be hedonism, but I think this focusses more on the immediate achievement of pleasure and doesn’t have that long-term view you describe. Yeah, the ‘theory’ I mentioned pays attention to death and sees it as an important determinant in our decision. > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > It seems a good candidate at first, but I think it doesn’t quite match the idea of dividing activities into pleasure and work/contribution, or the idea of allocating one’s time to those two categories differently in youth and in old age I concur. Epicureanism sounds fascinating to me, but within this topic: it doesn’t take into account the work/contr faction and strategy. It’s like a big way of life that sometimes deal with case-by-case tactics. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2022, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-theory-of-how-to-make-the-most-out-of-life/965981/8 "2022-06-11T03:25:14Z")
Perhaps have a look at Tim Urban’s thoughts at [Wait But Why - The Tail End](https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html). On a similar theme [Four Thousands Weeks by Oliver Burkeman](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/aug/16/four-thousand-weeks-time-and-how-to-use-it-by-oliver-burkeman-review) is very pleasant, thought provoking reading.