The Gutmeter Framework

Before we talk about how we make decisions on a day to day basis, I want to define a framework based on which I make decisions. 

My objective is to be happy all the time for myself NO MATTER WHAT. Whatever decisions I take, don't care how but I have to be happy no matter what. For that I'm going to use basic calculus to define what my happiness is going to be like (people from non science background - don't worry. This is super basic. It'll not fly over your head) Happiness is a feeling. It's subjective and unique to each individual. 

Let's take a simple example and I would request you to take it as a simple experiment for yourself. Imagine I ask you - I have one glass of milk on one hand and a chocolate on the other hand, what do you want? You either have an instant answer in your gut - It might be Chocolate or Milk. or you end up saying you don't prefer either or you want both. Let's assume your gut says chocolate instantly b/w the 2 options I give you. Now, I tell you I have 2 chocolates on one hand and one chocolate on the other - which would you now choose. Assume you're fond of chocolates and instantly your gut chooses 2 chocolates. The operating word that i want you to focus on is instantly. The moment I ask you, you have an answer. And some people might think about it and decide. But for this simple example, assume you choose 2 chocolates. Now I give you the 2 chocolates, you eat it and after that you're happy - that's a feeling - consider it to be like a mathematical function unique to you. Now, for this example, let's visualize this better and define the characteristics of what I call the Happiness Function or Happiness index function (This is the name i came up with when I started my theory 10 years back hence I'll be using that). Happiness is the output of your decision to have 2 chocolate. So, the output function is the happiness index function. Below are the characteristics I've defined for this function.

Now that our output is defined, let's look at our input. If you observe in the examples, I've highlighted two key words. Gut and Instantly. Before you even got a chance to actively think about it, the gut made the decision. Sometimes, the gut would want to think about it more and then it comes to a decision. In this example, the decisions came from the gut instantly. So the input for my decision making in the example above come from my gut. Assume that I want to mathematically model it into a decision making framework which allows me to maximize my output - my happiness index function. In both the examples above, the options for the gut are yes, no and no decision. Let's mathematically model it using what I call a conditional binary function called the GUTMETER function. The reason why I say it's conditional is because it's not always a yes or no. There are times where the gut stays still and doesn't give an answer. I'll explain using certain real world examples.  But first let's visualize it. 

`                                                          GUTMETER FUNCTION

In math, there exists different kind of functions. There are continuous functions, binary function, step functions etc. For the purpose of mathematically modelling my decision making input, I just created what I called the Gutmeter function. (Why the word "meter" is added will be clear shortly).  In the examples gutmeter function captures all possibilities of all options that I will have. Usually decision making comes with a time constraint. You'll have to make a decision by a particular time. In the example, let's say I have 1 chocolate and a glass of milk and you have to decide in 5 seconds. At the end of 5 seconds, you either would have chocolate, milk or neither as the options assuming that having both is not an option. At the end of the time limit, the decision making would be instant where your gutmere will give clear answers b/w the 3 options. If it's either chocolate or milk, the options are clear.  But if it is neither and the time limit is up, you might as well toss as coin and make that decision. 

Let's take a slightly more complicated decision. Assume I'm chaining you physically to a place and you can't move. And I take both your parents or both your kids. And i tell you that you don't have an option. I'm going to shoot and kill one of them. You have to decide who I am going to kill. If you don't decide, I'm going to kill both of them. Now, some people might have abusive fathers or mothers and might have particular liking towards one of their parents. If someone put me in this position and I was told I have 10 seoonds to decide, I'll look at my gutmeter and at the end of 10 seconds, I wouldn't be able to decide. My gutmeter stays still. In the picture above of the gutmeter function, you can think of it like a compass with the needle giving you direction on what to decide. In this case, for me, my needle will stay still right in the center. And if I was told I had to decide else, both my parents will be killed, i might as well toss as coin and make the decision as it is that random for me. 

My point being the gutmeter input function (which is basically your gut) captures all possible decisions you can make in any situation and if more information is given to the gutmeter, the needle direction would naturally change.

In the chocolate vs milk example, assume you're someone health conscious and your gutmeter decides milk first. At that point, that's the right decision for you to make. Now, if I tell you that the milk contains 10 spoons of sugar. That is NEW ADDITIONAL information that suddenly comes to the brain, the left brain analyses it and instantly, the gutmeter dial could change to chococate, milk despire the extra sugar or neither. Again the decision was instant. Now if I didn't tell you about the extra sugar, you start drinking the milk and instantly, you realize that you've taken sugar. Can you blame your gutmeter for deciding to take milk in the first place. That additional information was just not available. But this becomes a massive experiential learning for your brain naturally because of which next time such a situation comes up, your gutmeter will be influenced to ask the question, "Is there extra sugar in the milk?" 

Coming back to my earlier point around conditioning, society has conditioned us to think that there is right and wrong, good and bad. In the above example, if i didn't have the extra information about the sugar, and I still had the milk with sugar, was it a wrong decision to drink the milk? Agreed you had some sugar go inside your body which you consider bad but from the next time onwards for all times you have milk, you'll be on guard better. So isn't that a good thing?

Let's take one more real life example before I attempt to un-shock you of a powerful negative societal conditioning.

Case Study: Marriage

Let's assume you want to get married, you tell your parents. Parents search for an alliance and find a possible match and show the photo of some person X. They tell you that you have 1 month time to make the decision. You can talk to X, do all your research etc. 

Let's see how the gutmeter operates. Initially, when you see the photo of X. you really like it, your brain processes that information and before even talking to the person, your gutmeter says yes instantly. But then your gutmeter compass starts oscillating feeling like you want more information about the person. So, your gutmeter gives you direction to find common friends, ask about the person and when all that new information is collected, they all give good feedback. After that assume your gutmeter has a much stronger feeling about X. Now, your gutmeter gives you direction to want to talk to X. You initiative conversation and you hit it off. At the end of 2 weeks, you feel you're already in love with this person X. At that point if your parents asked you you would say Yes for sure. But your gutmeter tells you that there's two more weeks. So let's try to collect more information so your brain can analyse and make a much more informed decision. Third week done, you're gutmeter is so very convinced now. At this point is when all of a sudden the girl's parents inform you via your parents that the girl has a mental health condition and is on medication. That's suddenly new information to your brain and your gutmeter compass starts oscillating all of a sudden and it immediately points to "No. I don't want to get involved with this X person" .. but you like X so much on the other side. So, Your gutmeter points you to again collect more information. Assume you collect information from X about the condition, medication, you talk to X's doctor and at the end of 1 month, you have to finally decide. Again,  your options at that point are yes, no, indecisive. If it's yes or no, it's very clear. If your gutmeter is still, you might as well toss a coin and decide. Else, you might try to buy more time to gather even more information. But at some point you need to decide and you finally decide to marry X. 

Now, assume you ger married and you had a brilliant honeymoon. You feel you're totally in love with X. At this point, if I ask you whether it was the right decision to get married, in all probability, you'll say "Yes. This is the best decision of my life". Fair. Good for you. Now let's complicate the situation. Honeymoon phase is over and you start living with X. Turns out X is super difficult to live (nothing to do with X's mental health condition). X is abusing you. Your life has become a mess now. Agreed you had done all the research prior to making the decision of getting married but you couldn't have possibly seen this coming because nobody was there to give you feedback on how living with X is like because X has also not lived with anyone. And now you're in a situation where X is destroying your life. At this point, if I ask you whether it was the right decision for you to get married to X, in all probability, you'll say "No. This was the worst decision of my life". Now, your gutmeter made you make the decision after 1 month of evaluation. Assume we want to know whether on an absolute scale this was the right decision for you to make.. I have 2 data points you've said that I want you to think of. After the honeymoon, you felt gutmeter's decision was the best decision. Once you started living with X, you felt it was the wrong decision. Which is right on an absolute scale? My take on that is there is no right or wrong decision. You can only make decisions based on the maximum amount of information you collect within your time constraints. On an absolute scale, expecting a decision to have outcomes exactly like you want is trying to be like a God like entity where you feel you will have control over every single unpredictable variable in the future such that your decision will be right. There absolutely nothing known as right or wrong on an absolute scale. 

However, that is not how society conditions and programs you from childhood. Society conditions you to largely think that there is good and bad decision. I for instance, am convinced that I cannot say that my marriage with my wife is a good or bad decision. 

This might sound like trivial gyaan to you. But the deep rooted impact of this is after your read this article and go back to your lives, this would stay theoretical and you might not be able to imbibe it into your personal lives deeply. The larger societal conditioning that has deeply adulterated your minds from which you need to logically unshock yourself is to look at the decisions objectively, collect as much information based on guidance provided by your gutmeter and finally make the decision by your gutmeter knowing very well that this cannot be defined as the right or wrong decision. 

So, that is one conditioning that I have logically unshocked myself from over years. Think of kids. Kids don't know what's right or wrong. They make mistakes based on their gutmeter's direction and experientially learn. Say touching fire is harmful is what humans have learnt experientially. But imposing that there is absolute right and wrong sort of prevents people from having an open world view. 

Living in the moment

So the above is one conditioning I got un-shocked myself from over the last 10 years. But the first major societal conditioning from which I freed myself logically is even more deep rooted. This is when I escaped from the negative infinite loop. 

Let's come back to the functions we defined. The output is a feeling - defined by the happiness index function and input is the decision making function which I call the gutmeter function. At some point in my life due to certain powerful experiences I went through, I gave myself a super tough seemingly impossible problem - How do you create a utopian society where everyone is happy all the time whatever that means. NO MATTER WHAT everyone has to be happy all the time. I looked at it as a fun consulting assignment problem where my client is the world - Humanity - The present and future. Client has come to you with the problem that they're not sure whether the resources (people) are living life the right way. There is stress in the society. Objective is to bring down the stress levels to 0 and disruptively boom the economy and make everyone happy in the process (in whatever subjective definition of happiness people have). I didn't know where to start solving this problem. Poverty? Unemployment. I was lost. I spent 4 sleepless day making pages of case analysis notes. Happiness index function and Gutmeter functio I've defined above is from that. I'll tell you my final solution.

7 Billion people must be happy NO MATTER WHAT which means when you break it down, I must be happy NO MATTER WHAT. So I decided look at my past and look at data points where I was absolutely happy and see whether there were any patterns in my decision making styles there.

That's when I mathematically modelled Happiness function Gutmeter. I took 30+ data points from my past and observed a pattern and all the points where I was becoming happy were points in future after i made the decision. For example, I had conducted a surprise party for my parents. 2 weeks before the party, my gutmeter gave my direction to conduct the party. And after the party, after seeing my parents' face, I felt happy. Likewise, for DISCRETE points in the future i turned out to be happy, I made a decision some time before that point from my gutmeter. This was a common pattern I observed. That the gutmeter was making the decisions. 

Now comes the part where I expect people to vehemently reject. Like I mentioned, I'm just the monkey who has grabbed the banana. I'm trying to tell you it's so easy to grab the banana. So, please don't be judgemental. 

My objective is not DISCRETE happiness. My Objective is CONTINOUS happiness because I want to be happy all the time NO MATTER WHAT. This means let's try to compress time to as minimalistic as possible. Mathematically, this is termed as dt>0 which means instead of looking at discrete points in the future where you want happiness. compress time to such a small micro-nano second level, where your this pattern of gutmeter giving you direction and you putting in your maximum effort to fulfil your gutmeters direction, knowing very well that there is nothing called absolutely right decisions (no good or bad). What I mean by this on the ground is your gutmeter as a compass guides you every nano-micro second and you should BLINDLY follow it NO MATTER WHAT. Before you naturally reject this (that's your conditioning at play), hear me out. 

For me, I consider my Gutmeter to be like a separate person. This person is like a compass that guides me every time second and only way you can be happy all the time is to blindly follow your gutmeter. Natural questions  that people have asked when I''ve told them about this is what if your gutmeter tells you to kill yourself, smoke cigarettes all day, hurt someone, shout at your boss etc. Agreed. Valid thoughts. I some of these thoughts hit you, I want you to reflect for some time. These thoughts that came into you are a function of your already adulterated program in the mind. So, how can you even be sure that that is the right way to think. The bridge of logic is a path to go back to that state of mind where such thoughts don't enter your program naturally. Do you see kids thinking about suicide or cigarettes naturally? Powerful negative societal conditioning is what make the minds of adults a complicated mess. 

But think about it deeply, none of your thoughts around suicide, cigarettes, drugs, hurting people logically counters the mathematical reality that you need to blindly follow your gutmeter to make yourself happy. Let me try to convey the power of that thought which is dt>0 or compressing time to such a small measure that it is as if you've outsourced decision making to the gutmeter. What this means in reality is before you have the time to think about what to do next, the gutmeter knows what is ideal for you to do in that context whether it is choosing chocolates over milk, marrying someone knowing very well that there is nothing known as right or wrong decisions. It's like I have outsourced decision making to this person who I call gutmeter who will guide me for the rest of my life and happiness index function is the natural output.

What is my point? Society has conditioned you so deeply to think of life as discrete points of achievements in life. School. College. Good job. Promotion. Marriage. Kids. etc.Society says plan for everything in life. My point is you should be super flexible when you set goals. Say in the example I mentioned earlier about marriage, assume during the course of the 1 month, you want to be happy all the time. You just need to blindly follow the gutmeter. At the point where you get extra information about the mental health condition of X, based on your preferences, your gutmeter will provide you direction and you just need to follow that blindly. The deep rooted conditioning of making you look at life discretely is the biggest harm society has done to you. Even if you read this, I don't expect you to look at life incrementally like I do. That requires blindly following your gutmeter which requires guts. But the experiential learning based on which you learn in the process makes you happy all the time. The dimension in which you view happiness is not good or bad. To explain it mathematically, assume that the happiness you feel when looking at the world discretely is on an XY plane. (one dimension). That has ups and down in the way you feel physically and mentally and there is good and bad. When you look at it continuously, the plane on which you experience the happiness is a X'Y' plane which is another dimension. The physical and mental feelings are very different. 

Let's take smoking for example. I used to be a chain smoker. I'm still a smoker. But have cut down drastically. When I started following the gutmeter blindly, whenever my gutmeter gave me a direction to smoke, I used to smoke blindly because mathematically, that was maximizing my happiness function. People around used to tell me that I shouldn't smoke. The more the people who tell me that with different justifications, the more inputs went into my mind which influenced my gutmeter. Slowly, experientially, my gutmeter has had a reduced urge to smoke and I can tangibly feel that my smoking is coming down. Important part to note that is that when I smoke I'm convinced that's the most logical thing to do because I believe my gutmeter to be always logical. You might say that smoking has health concerns and all that.. Well. Smoking increases productivity for me, Releases stress which I can use productively in work in help others. Imagine if a doctor who is really good uses smoking a stress relief which helps him saves lives. Suddenly, smoking doesn't seem so bad doesnt it? Point being there is no good or bad, right or wrong.

The bigger societal conditioning from which I broke free 10 years back is what the thought of dt>0 helped me - Life needs to be looked at incrementally. Not long term planning. LIVE IN THE MOMENT> FOLLOW YOUR GUTMETER BLINDLY> BE HAPPY ALL THE TIME

Does this mean that you should not think about the future and only think about the present?

No. It is completely fine to think about the past and the future in the present moment. At time t1, it is completely fine to think about a future moment or past moment and think more about it. But ACKNOWLEDGE that when you think of something at time t1 to do or achieve at time t2, the time difference t2-t1 might bring in information to your brain which influences your gutmeter to change the decision about what you want to do at time t2. This is spontaneity and living in the moment. This is how your future will get planned naturally when you live in the moment.

To summarize this post, we covered Gutmeter, Happiness Index function and d2 important negatively powerful societal notions that impact people on a daily basis

1. There is good and bad, right and wrong - that's an illogical notion that's built into our minds

2. You need to have discrete long terms goals which define your life. This changes your world view on how you should ideally be looking at happiness.

I also talked about dt>0 as what I believe the most powerful thought that's hit me, coz that helped me outsource all my future decisions to my gutmeter making me happy throughout.

In the post titled "Learned Helplessness in Everyday life", I discussed that we'll be covering 5 every examples and looking at how decision making can ba made using the gutmeter. In this article, I've covered Marriage and Smoking. Next up, we'll be looking at how conditioning is prevalent and affects us in even simple decisions like brushing your  teeth, sleeping at night and what is more interesting would be for a larger audience - how businesses should ideally be run. 

Practical Daily Examples