Saturday, April 27, 2013

Happiness and The Power of Thoughts


This paper was the first one I wrote in my recent class Science and Spirituality. Herein, I was asked to discuss what love or happiness meant me and how I applied the concept(s) in my life. I never just answer a question; instead I draw upon and integrate many concepts to choreograph a dance of exquisite interrelatedness that usually adjuncts some important concept that occupies my cogitations.

In mid-December of 2012, I was conversing with friend when she asked me where my husband was.  I told her that he was across the state visiting his brother. My friend asked me why and if something was wrong because we do not travel to that side of the state in the winter unless we absolutely need to. In a rather emotionless voice, I stated that my husband and his mother were visiting his brother because the brother has terminal cancer. My friend’s mouth dropped open and in a shaky voice asked me, “is your husband upset or sad for his brother? Are you upset?” I said no, my husband was not upset or sad because his brother made his choice and I agreed with my husband. In an incredulous voice, she demanded to know why we were not sad and what I meant by choice.  I am offering this example in an attempt to explain my philosophy on happiness that I arrived at through both science and spirituality but not religion.

I never realized, until I had the above conversation, how intermeshed people’s ideas of happiness and personal culpability are with social ideology and religious customs. I believe that people are responsible for their happiness. I believe that happiness derives from what people choose to do with the circumstances in their lives. Circumstances, events, and knowledge are neutral; the individual gives meaning and that meaning determines one’s happiness. An individual is chronically unhappy when  they are fatalists and subscribe to a victim mentality believing that all things are external to the self. I think individuals will only discover happiness when they take responsibility for creating their lives and their circumstances and realize the benefit or learning experience in all circumstances or events . I also believe happiness occurs when people cease to judge and polarize events between good and bad.

Social ideology, at least American customs, are heavily influenced (Sharpe & Bryant, 2005) by early Christian philosophers such as Aquinas and Augustine. From my observations of people, I see a theme emerge that seems to parallel the Christian Bible. Many members of society believe that events happen on a polarized scale of good versus evil or bad. In addition, according to a self-serving bias, the negative events are always done to the individual as an indiscriminate and  pathologically negative force that derives pleasure from the individual’s suffering, while positive events always occur due to the individual’s merit or achievement. Another way of stating this dichotomy is that the individual feels entitled to good things as if they were rewards for righteous living but feels undeserving of the bad things as if he or she were unjustly punished. 

In my conversation with my friend who demanded an explanation of why I said choice, I stated that I do not believe cancer is an evil, indiscriminate killer; I believe that people create cancer in their bodies. I continued with the idea that people either choose to live a life of love, acceptance, and happiness or they choose a life of hatred, cynicism, and anger. In essence, I am suggesting that an individual’s mental happiness, or lack thereof, can alter the chemical structures of the body, including the DNA. Thus one’s happiness can  be a detriment or catalyst for diseases of the body such as cancer which occurs through a multiplication the cells; and since DNA is located in the cells, I believe the DNA was first altered. She argued that people do not choose their DNA to which I replied, “correct, but they can choose to alter it.”

Many researchers believe that 50-80% (Sharpe & Bryant, 2005) of one’s inherited genes account for his or her level of happiness in life with one’s circumstances determining the other portion. One’s immediate circumstances may temporarily inflate or deflate one’s happiness, but, in the long run, the individual will maintain a set level of happiness (2005). Genetics can account for one’s level of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine (2005) as well as how information is processed in the brain; i.e. what portion of the brain does the processing. This seems to back up my friend’s argument of fatalism or genetic destiny, however, further explanation through the combined fields of biology and psychology, a field known as biopsychology, I can back up most of my argument.

For example, one’s level of neurotransmitters are not fixed and neither are portions of the brain where information is processed (Garrett, 2011). Through neurogenesis, or the ability of the neurons, or neural cells that communicate information, the brain can change (2011) where and how information is processed. This often occurs in response to some trauma. This process of rebuilding and rewiring can and does happen in adults (2011); however, it is faster and more efficient in children. In adults, neurogenesis most often happens in response to learning (2011); in other words, the biology of the brain will change to accommodate new information because new information often requires a new skill set. This lends credence to statement that practice makes perfect. Neurogenesis does happen and the brain can change how processing and functioning occur. In addition, certain traumas or diseases can alter (2011) the levels of neurotransmitters; however, basic psychology explains how forms of thought patterning can effect this process. 

According to psychology, the brain processes information through schemas. A schema is a mental shortcut or flowchart of sorts to make rapid judgments (Myers, 2010) on incoming information. Think of it as in if-then statement, “if a then go to b, but if not a then go to c” sort of thing. Various forms of psychological therapy can alter (2010)  these schemas and rewire the decision-making process and thus alter the behavior. One example of a therapy that can do this is cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) which causes individuals to question their thoughts (2010) on a subject which effectively rewrites their schemas and thus alters their behavior. Since behavior is biologically based in neurotransmitter reactions and specific locations in the brain (Garrett, 2011), I believe that altering behavior also alters the biology of the brain and changes how information related to that behavior is physically processed. I believe that changing one’s schemas is a form of learning. Therefore, one’s thoughts will affect the biology of the brain through neurogenesis and neurotransmitter release; thus changing those thoughts will change one’s biology and alter neurotransmitter release.    

A this point, science can no longer support my argument and I turn to my spirituality. I define spirituality and religion as different because I believe religion denotes that one follows specific dogmas, doctrines, methods, customs, ideologies, etc. in an attempt to aggrandize, idolize, or elevate a God-like entity or creator above the self. A spiritual person flows with life and changes as he or she needs to; he or she is not bound by dogma or customs, but rather experiences affinity with a greater power through expressions of self-mastery rather than self-subservience. I am not bound to any specific subset of religion, therefore, I am free to pick and choose what I believe to be the choice morsels in each belief and make them into one philosophy that serves me and my spiritual growth. Many yoga masters have proven that in altered states of consciousness, that they can change body functioning such as slowing breathing and heart rate to imperceptible levels. Many New Age philosophies discuss the power of thought to change one’s life and physical circumstances. Even some Christians believe that fervent prayer and belief can alter the physical condition of the body by bringing someone back to life or eliminating a disease. Because I believe in the power of the self through acceptance of responsibility, I accept a New Age adaptation of this idea that fervent belief can change circumstances through the assistance of the divine. New Agers believe that each individual is a part of the divine or God, therefore, they work in harmony with God and the God-self to affect change. Another form of evidence is a cross between New Age and science by author Masaru Emoto (2001), in his book The Hidden Messages in Water. He produces evidence that positive or negative thoughts (2001) directed at a container of water will affect the crystal structure of the water when it freezes. The crystals of the water that received positive thoughts were larger and stronger while the crystals of the recipients of negative thought patters were weak and ill-formed (2001). I could list many more examples, because I have studied many, which have contributed to my belief that I can change my biology, but this is sufficient.

Therefore, based on biopsychology, psychology, and my spiritual beliefs taken from many sources, I have formulated the opinion that the individual human creates his or her physical circumstances. Science and religion do agree that happiness is a state of mind; however, they disagree as to its source. I posit that there is even a difference between spirituality and religion as to the source of happiness. Science suggests that happiness is merely a response of neurotransmitters, genetics, and biological processing that causes happiness or a lack thereof. Religions suggest that happiness is a response to living a higher purpose in subservience to other people or to God; but the self-awareness takes away from happiness. My spirituality suggests that happiness is a result of my actions and my beliefs and whether I choose to be encumbered with dogma or embrace my divinity and partner with the greater divine so that I may affect the physical condition of my body. According to my belief, then cancer is something the individual causes. In the case of my brother-in-law, he is a very angry and cynical individual. To him happiness is in the pursuit of material  wealth and scientific reasoning; but, not all scientific reasoning is valid and he eschews many findings to the realms of pseudoscience. He has no love and acceptance for other individuals unless he feels they follow his intellectual beliefs. He is not open to alternatives and is very set in his ways.

To this my friend argued, “fine, I can see that he might be an angry individual, but what about a child or a happy person? How do you explain their cancers if you posit that it is the happiness of the individual?” I told her that we humans are not privy to the spiritual journey and decisions of the individual. Even if he or she says that they want to live, they may have come into this world deciding to take on that role of cancer to assist others in their development or to learn a spiritual lesson that he or she felt was needed; but they may not be consciously aware of their own spiritual planning. The realms of the spirit are not up for consideration by the mortal mind. Needless to say, she did not agree with me and promptly told me that I was a narcissistic, egoistic, uncaring, pagan and heathen because I did not give this dying individual the courtesy to feel sorry for him or put aside my petty beliefs to make his last hours on this earth happier.

I found this individual’s beliefs about self-responsibility to be misplaced and thus I felt a bit sad for her. I realize that many of her beliefs derive from what society and the media has told her. She believes, for example, that happiness comes from physical beauty, material wealth, fashionable clothing and accessories, and social status.  Furthermore, she defines happiness as the influx of income and medical insurance; when she recently lost her job, she lost her status, insurance, income, and ability to afford her lavish lifestyle. She recently turned 30 and began to realize that there is more to life and happiness than the pursuit of material wealth and physical beauty; however, she still has a long road to traverse. She is not happy right now and life is giving her a chance to determine the true meaning of happiness. Will she discover that happiness comes from within or will she continue this path of believing that happiness is only found in the external circumstances and fortunes from a whimsical divine being? As of this writing, I believe my theory about abdication of self-responsibility as a harbinger of disease in the body to apply to someone outside of myself; she is manifesting disease in her body and lives in utter fear of her own mortality. She does not want to change and believes that she is right while everyone else is wrong. That is not a path to happiness.  

Reference

Emoto, M. (2001). The hidden messages in water. New York, NY: Atria Books.  

Garrett, B. (2011). Brain and behavior: An introduction to Biological Psychology (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.

Myers, D.G. (2010). Exploring psychology in modules (8th ed.). New York: Worth Publishing.

Sharpe, K. J., & Bryant, R. I. (2005). Has science displaced the soul? Debating love and happiness. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

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