Wozniak’s Happiness Algorithm

Today, I skipped all of my classes to see Steve “The Woz” Wozniak speak.

Having seen my share of speakers before, I was expecting him to be very average, but didn’t want to miss out on the oppurtunity of seeing him.

To my surprise, his passion and energy were palpable.

One of the most important things he talked about was how to live a good life. This is a concept that many philosophers have explored. In particular, Aristotle called this concept arete.

According to Wozniak, happiness was the key to a good life. Happiness is better than success and achievement.

Now we are all wondering, how do we achieve happiness? Well, Steve Wozniak gave me an algorithm which I will now share with you.

Remember, that this algorithm was created by one of the most brilliant engineers to ever exist so try and follow along…

Happiness = Smiles — Frowns

*He later mentioned that necessities(housing, water, food), entertainment, and friends are all things that you need as well.

Out of the whole talk that he gave he spat out a lot of insight, but I thought that this was the most important. His emphasis on it led me to believe that he thinks that this is the most important thing as well.

Don’t look back.

Don’t argue.

You never have to convince anyone other than yourself.

-Steve Wozniak

Wozniak’s Happiness Algorithm was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.