the happiest man in the world

pwd

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-happiest-man-in-the-world-433063.html

Not sure if controlling your brain to maintain a state of enforced happiness is that good an idea, or different in priniciple to recreational drug use. People feel other emotions than happiness for a reason etc. Does suppressing negative feelings equate with suppressing negative thoughts, and therefore the ability to think critically which is obviously very necesssary?
I think the ability to feel happy on demand is positive and useful if it is used as a way of taking a break, and as recreation. Trying to maintain that state the whole time regardless of the situation is very questionable though.

Earthhorse

Who says that he doesn't feel negative emotions or isn't capable of critical thinking?

Meditation, as I understand it, does not suggest you suppress negative thought or emotion but rather that you try not to indulge in it, for no reason, and try not to allow such thoughts to dominate you're thinking or arise in the first place - again, especially where there is no reason for them to. Suppressing negative thought and emotion would actually make someone miserable.

pwd

Well no one is saying it - I'm putting it forward as a question.

"The right-hand side [of the pre-frontal cortex], which handles negative thoughts, is suppressed."

It reminded me of reading about initiation into scientology, where they do seem to encourage people to suppress critical thinking and negative thoughts, seemingly with the aim of making them more easily manipulated.

I agree that it is useful to be able to prevent negative thoughts from dominating one's thinking, especially if there is no reason for them, and in that context meditation like this would certainly be a positive thing. However the man described in this article seems to be the opposite extreme, where positive thoughts have dominated his thinking (he's the "happiest man in the world"), which suggests to me a reduced capacity for critical thinking, or a real detachment from the world.

I'm no expert on meditation; I put this forward as a question to be asked, not as fact.

Earthhorse

pwd wrote: »

"The right-hand side [of the pre-frontal cortex], which handles negative thoughts, is suppressed."

I think the article has phrased that really badly actually; suppressed is the wrong word to use. Just because the right hand side doesn't light up doesn't mean it is suppressed. This would be akin to saying if you raise your left arm the right is suppressed. There's no suppression, or denial or any of that negative stuff going on.

pwd wrote: »

It reminded me of reading about initiation into scientology, where they do seem to encourage people to suppress critical thinking and negative thoughts, seemingly with the aim of making them more easily manipulated.

Okay, I can see where your comparison begins but there's nothing to suggest that that's what's going on here.

pwd wrote: »

However the man described in this article seems to be the opposite extreme, where positive thoughts have dominated his thinking (he's the "happiest man in the world"), which suggests to me a reduced capacity for critical thinking, or a real detachment from the world.

Well someone has to be the happiest man in the world. Why a domination of positive thoughts suggests to you a reduced capacity for critical thinking is not clear to me. Often some of the most critical thinkers of our times are positive thinkers too; they don't just describe problems, they come up with solutions too. Detachment can be a problem with meditation, I think, if people practise it incorrectly I think that can happen. But again there isn't any real evidence to suggest this is the case for this gentleman.

ChocolateSauce

I think before you can answer this question, you must define happiness.

Is it the absence of unhappiness?
Is it nothing more than chemicals in your brain, and if so is it inherently unwise to manipulate them?
If a person is always extremely happy, how you quantify becoming even happier?
Is happiness something effervescent?

I can't define happiness, even for myself. I do not think, however, it is wrong or unwise to try to always be happy. In terms of endorphins/dopamine, etc, I think there is nothing wrong with manipulating them to feel happy (this is the basis for anti-depressants). In principle I feel the same way about recreational drug use, but in practice to use these to feel happy is both unwise and dangerous as the ones with the greatest effects only work for short periods of time before resistance is developed, and heavy long term use is known to be very bad for health.

In terms of a positive outlook, which is just about what this article amounts to IMO, go nuts, but be realistic.