13 Juin 2008
Posted in Artikelen - Algemeen

(this article is under development, and you are invited to comment)

Introduction

Suffering, the avoiding thereof, and the pursuit of happiness, is a leading theme in modern, western society.

It is given an explicit place for example in the US Declaration of Independence as one of the three unalienable Rights.

There may be a nuance of difference between the US and the European interpretation of happiness. In the entire Dutch Constitution for example the word happiness ("geluk") cannot be found! But generally in modern society the pursuit of happiness is almost a fundamentalist "right". I use the term fundamentalist because criticising or even scrutinising this "right" leads to interesting reactions I regard as symptoms of fundamentalist thinking: the dampening of the rational faculty, gut-reactions like "they should KILL people criticising my right to happiness!", and the complete lack of ability to understand the responses of others and the exclusive focus on ones own responses.

First I think it important to realise that the "meaning" of the term happiness has (among others) cultural, political, and psychological aspects. To be aware of these different aspects is important if we want to keep the discussion clear.

Second, I will try to reason about possible consequences of the fundamentalist way we treat the subject of happiness, in topical issues like embryo selection, euthanasia and genetic manipulation.

Third, I will try to link the almost panicky way this subject is dealt with in modern society with another difficult subject, namely the ego or the illusion of independent existence, which is hoped to be the main theme of this article.

To be human is a special privilege - and a blessing in disguise. Our ability to reflect has an implication we find very hard to deal with: the potential for being hypnotised into the illusion of independent existence.

Reflection, the mirror-like quality of life in general and our faculty of thought in particular, is the main theme of this website. I hope to illustrate in everything I write the many aspects of this reflective quality, the reflection of the sun in the waves so to say.

Language, writing, the printing press and the modern computer are regarded by me as ever increasing levels of reflection (see De ICT Revolutie). We can think about ourselves, but more importantly: we can regards ourselves while doing so, ad infinitum. Reflection has a fractal aspect.

Life itself has this reflective property on the most primitive levels, and modern research is increasingly showing that simple models are not sufficient.