What is a good life?
A complementary starter set from the Lectica team
This MindLog starter set was inspired by the research of Dr. Cheryl Armon, whose 20-year study of people's thinking about the good life has informed our understanding of human values and desires for over 30 years.
Most people who have been lucky enough to participate in one or more good life interviews have reported being empowered by the experience. We think that mindlogging on this topic will have a similar effect—especially for those who arrange to complete this starter set alongside one or more friends or colleagues.
This starter set would also be a valuable addition to introductory philosophy courses, setting the stage for readings focused on questions about humanity, human society, and the good.
Prompt sequence and content
We've thought carefully about the sequence in which these prompts are ordered, but we don't want you to feel that you must respond to every prompt, adhere to this order, or work solely with the prompts presented here. If you have more to say on any aspect of the good life, feel free to insert a new prompt anywhere in the sequence. If a prompt does not seem relevant to you, feel free to skip it.
Micro-tasks
We have not suggested any micro-tasks, because we can't anticipate which aspects of each prompt will come alive for you. For ideas about how to set your own micro-tasks, see the micro-task info page.
Number | Prompt name | Prompt |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Values, Good life, life in general-vision-A | From your perspective, what is a good life? Describe the elements of a good life and why they are important. |
| 2 | Values, Good life, life in general-reality-A | To what extent are you living your vision of a good life? If you chose to pursue this vision, what changes would you need to make? Which of these would be within your control, and which would not? If you decided to take action toward a better life, where would you begin? |
| 3 | Values, Good life, friendship-vision | From your perspective, what is a good friendship? Describe the elements of a good relationship and why they are important. |
| 4 | Values, Good life, friendship-reality | To what extent do your current friendships match your vision of good friendship? Describe the ways in which they match and don't match. |
| 5 | Values, Good life, person-vision | From your perspective, what is a good person? Describe the elements of a good person and why they are important. |
| 6 | Values, Good life, person-reality | To what extent do your characteristics and behaviors fit with this notion of a good person? Describe the ways they match and don't match. |
| 7 | Values, Good life, person-outside perspective | Share your description of a good person with a trusted friend or mentor. Ask them how well your vision of a good person matches your characteristics and behaviors. |
| 8 | Values, Good life, work-vision | From your perspective, what is good work? Describe the elements of good work and why they are important. |
| 9 | Values, Good life, work-reality | From your perspective, what is good work? Describe the elements of good work and why they are important. |
| 10 | Values, Good life, work-reality | To what extent does your current work match your vision of good work? Describe the ways in which they match and don't match. |
| 11 | Values, Good life, parent-vision | From your perspective, what is a good parent? Describe the elements of good parenting and why they are important. |
| 12 | Values, Good life, parent-reality-A | To what extent does your current vision of good parenting match your the characteristics and behaviors of your own parents or guardians? Describe the ways in which they match and don't match. |
| 13 | Values, Good life, parent-reality-B | To what extent does your current vision of good parenting match your own parenting? Describe the ways in which they match and don't match. |
| 14 | Values, Good life, childhood-vision | From your perspective, what is a good childhood? Describe the elements of a good childhood and why they are important. |
| 15 | Values, Good life, childhood-reality | To what extent does your vision of a good childhood match your own childhood? Describe the ways in which they match and don't match. |
| 16 | Values, Good life, education-vision | From your perspective, what is a good education? Describe the elements of a good education and why they are important. |
| 17 | Values, Good life, education-reality | To what extent does your vision of a good education match your own educational experience? Describe the ways in which they match and don't match. |
| 18 | Values, Good life, society-vision | From your perspective, what is a good society? Describe the elements of a good society and why they are important. |
| 19 | Values, Good life, society-reality | To what extent does the society you live in match your vision of a good society? Describe the ways in which they match and don't match. |
| 20 | Values, Good life, marriage-vision | From your perspective, what is a good marriage/relationship? Describe the elements of a good marriage/relationship and why they are important. |
| 21 | Values, Good life, marriage-reality | To what extent does your current marriage/relationship match your vision of a good marriage/relationship? Describe the ways in which they match and don't match. |
| 22 | Values, Good life, life in general-vision-B | After examining the good life from many angles, how would you describe the good life? How is this description similar to and different from your original description? |
| 23 | Values, Good life, life in general-reality-B | During this process of examining the good life, has the fit between your idea of the good life and your actual life shifted in any way? If so, explain how and why. If not, explain why. |
| 24 | Values, spirituality, personal | What does spirituality mean to you? Is it an important part of a good life? In what ways? |
| 25 | Values, spirituality, religion | Are faith and/or religion involved in your conception of spirituality? If so, how and why? If not, how does spirituality differ from faith and/or religion? |
Where to go from here?
We hope that working with this starter set has given you a sense of how to develop your own prompts around questions and ideas you care about. The possibilities are endless. Wherever your interests lie, we recommend using MindLog as a vehicle for making connections between your existing experience, knowledge, and skills and the things you're currently learning and experiencing. We hope you enjoy the journey.