Why Are We So Miserable When We're So Affluent and 'Free'?

Continuing with the discussion on meaning, Dr Iain McGilchrist considers the impact religion and our social connections have on our health, happiness, and fulfillment.

Watch more from this series on The Master and His Emissary here:

[austinthornton]

Perhaps the conundrum of the health effects of religion is that it is perceived that in the west we have construed religion as a static set of beliefs, a creed that one subscribes to, a church that one is a member of, and we assess religious belief according to its value as a statement of facts about the world; that it was made in a week; only had two original people; or produced a book dictated by God to a divine secretary.

Whereas humans and indeed all life, are essentially systems for the production and the direction of energy towards a purpose. But humans uniquely, can analyse and dissect purpose on “rational” grounds with the result that human life comes to be seen as merely instrumental. And this places us in a circular argument, since instruments always have a purpose. An instrument with no purpose is one that culture has abandoned to the scrap heap. No wonder we are afraid that artificial intelligence will take over the world.

Therefore in the west, it is precisely the acceptance of the irrational in religious experience which continues to form a basis for meaning. And it is the disenchantment with the irrational which characterises western society, that disables such religious experience for the majority.

As someone very interested in eastern approaches, I don’t see so much of that problem there. Compassion and relatedness are at the heart of the Buddhist world view and don’t require adherence to irrational beliefs - notwithstanding that the cosmology of traditional Buddhism contains much mythology. Hence the rise of western Buddhism and the attempts to demythologise it.

Daoism, after Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, explain the mental health benefits of being in nature, they arise from the experience of connectedness, and forgetting the constructed (artificial, fragile and neurotic) self. Similarly, one never feels better than emerging from a lengthy meditation retreat where one has tried simply to be present, forgetting the personality.

Eastern approaches seem to form a better philosophical basis for developing strong communities, notwithstanding that Asian countries at least to a degree, seem to be abandoning these traditions in favour of western thinking. But I don’t know how deep that change really goes. Perhaps their mental health data would be a good pointer.

[skylinefever]

I wonder how many people can actually get religion. Pastor Paul Vanderklay argued that maybe atheists exists because some are are to emissary to get religion.

[jackmartinleith]

Affluent? On the Isle of Skye perhaps.