Depression as purely a chemical imbalance is the wrong level of explanation

Naval Ravikant: "It's very popular these days to say, okay, why is so-and-so depressed? Whether you're depressed because of a chemical imbalance in their brain. So we're gonna go ahead and give them a pill.

Well, everything is a chemical imbalance in your brain. Even my consciousness is a chemical imbalance in my brain. My attitude, my mood, my speaking to you is a chemical imbalance in your brain.

So this is one of those explanations that at the wrong level. It explains everything going on my brain, so it actually explains nothing.
It's like saying, you know, why are we talking right now on this call?

Well, it's because of particle pollution since the big bang caused an effect. And here we are. Well, that explains everything. So it explains nothing. So instead we have to look at explanation at the right level. And, you know, if, if I'm depressed, it might be because things aren't going my way, it might be a habit that I adopted when I was young.

And yes, there definitely, there are genetic predilections and chemical imbalances that predispose me to it. And maybe I take the pill or I take the medicine to make myself a little happier and less depressed so I can function while I solve my underlying problems.

But approaching it as purely a chemical imbalance is the wrong level of explanation. So I try to explain this to my kids. So for example, if they get angry or if they get unhappy, I try not to use words like I'm gonna say like, why are you angry? Like, why are you unhappy? Or don't be angry.

Instead I'll say like, why are you making yourself unhappy? Because ultimately every feeling you have inside of you, you are causing it to yourself at some deep level.

And I think being able to take agency for that and realize that is important. And of course, I have to live that the only way I can raise my children is by being an example for them. And everything I say, they're going to ignore it and do the opposite anyway, especially when they go to college, because at that point they're trying to, uh, get in with their peers.

The whole point of young adulthood is to break away from your parents, not make their same mistakes, not do the things that they did and to establish your independence and the way you do that is by completely ignoring them or doing the opposite of what they want you to do."