| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Chris Thomson" |
| Date: |
09 Dec 2004 05:53:24 AM |
| Object: |
The Not-So-Secret of Happiness |
Imagine:
Cold and exhausted, you're trying to navigate your way out of some big
ugly forest. 'Navigate' probably is the wrong word since you don't
know where anything is. You've never been on the inside of this forest
before, but due to an unfortunate sequence of events, this is where
you woke up one day, lost and alone.
It's been two full days since you last saw anything remotely edible
(and over the last week you've stretched your definition of edible
quite a lot), and the hunger pains are starting to become a
distraction.
You'd like to sleep but you keep hearing wolves in the distance,
sometimes they sound close. It's been raining for hours, and you were
already cold before it started. If you did go to sleep rather than
keep walking you'd probably freeze to death before the wolves could
get to you.
You are starting to expect that you will die in this forest, probably
in the next couple of days. If you do make it further, it will be
painful, not to mention lonely, and on a rather unpleasant diet. Not
only does nobody know you're here, everyone thinks you're somewhere
else. Your phone is out of battery power, but you suspect it wouldn't
work in this weather anyway.
Off to one side you notice a little overhanging rock, which looks like
it might provide a small degree of shelter, but then you realise you
passed this rock three days ago. You've gone nowhere in that time, but
your mind and your body are starting to deteriorate. You continue,
trip over, get up, and keep walking, watching the ground for anything
else that might trip you.
Now, as luck would have it, you happen across a map on the ground.
It's written in an ink that doesn't run in the water, on some kind of
material that's not broken by the rain. The map is clear. There's a
red dot in the centre, around which is drawn a cluster of rocks, a big
fat knobbly tree, a small creek to one side, and a little clearing to
the other. You look around and see these landmarks around you in the
same configuration - the red spot in the centre of the map is where
you are!
There's a dotted line leading from the centre. Judging by the scale,
if you follow a somewhat twisty path - which, but for the map, would
look like every other part of the forest every step of the way - you
will, after maybe half an hour, find yourself at an edge of the
forest. More importantly, according to the map you'll be at the edge
of a village, and one that you're well acquainted with.
You know that five minutes after you arrive, you'll be inside, in dry
clothes, feasting among friends, in front of a fire, with beer on tap,
and a soft bed just waiting for you. Now the cold isn't nearly so
cold, the rain isn't quite as wet. Your body is no longer aching as
badly and the distant wolves aren't really that scary. In fact,
curiously enough, you feel warm, confident and enthusiastic.
The only important difference between this scenario and real life is
that you have to draw your own maps.
The ability to construct and use plans is an evolutionary advantage,
and one that is common to all of your abstract mental faculties.
The liver does not ask "Why am I here?", the self-aware mind asks
that; because it's looking for a purpose, a direction. The self-aware
mind is a specific evolutionary adaption; the biological code for
which has prospered among our species, and only because of what it can
do for our genes. What can it do for our genes?
It doesn't need to know that it's helping the reproduction of our DNA,
anymore than the heart needs to know this in order to pump blood. In
fact, in the case of our mind, it can be a distraction. If we do have
this theoretical knowledge, though, it may provide useful leads for
discovering the specifics of what we need to be happy.
Where you are physically, is rarely the cause of happiness, and almost
never the cause of unhappiness. Don't worry about where you are, that
is useless, you're already here. Worry only about where you're going,
until you've got a satisfying plan. Then revise and refine from time
to time, to remain satisfied.
Our mind does not revolve around deciphering truth, it revolves around
the production of plans. The plan is the sun and truth is one of its
planets. It's the sun that keeps us warm. It's the sun that provides
the energy for life to persist and grow. Logic and creativity,
theorising about the laws of nature or the minds of other people; all
of these different mental faculties contribute to your plans. The
products of each ability are valued in themselves - and instinctively
so - but they are most valued and most pleasing, when included on a
map to somewhere good.
Don't look around you for the cause of your unhappiness, don't look at
your personality, don't look at your past, or your possessions. If
you've got a (relatively) normal human brain, then you need to look at
the maps you've drawn inside your mind. Look at your plans, and look
again.
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| User: "Chris Thomson" |
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| Title: Re: The Not-So-Secret of Happiness |
09 Dec 2004 04:11:27 PM |
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Chzwmn wrote:
[...]
Don't look around you for the cause of your unhappiness, don't
look at your personality, don't look at your past, or your
possessions. If you've got a (relatively) normal human brain,
then you need to look at the maps you've drawn inside your
mind. Look at your plans, and look again.
ok - now what?
That's up to you, I don't know. Maybe start with "How do I want to be
remembered by those that knew me?", or something.
All plans lead to an abyss.
I guess you try planning for the period before that.
.
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