...why we each have a unique baseline level of happiness and why some people tend to be naturally happier than others, and that's in no small part due to our individual genetic make-up. - Source hereFrom my perspective, it seems that there so many factors to so many parts of life (do you know how many theories there are about CFS/ME? It can be very befuddling!). If there is a tendency for some to be 'happier' than others, how we do we balance this with human choice or indeed religious belief? Is 'joy' unhampered by such precise ideas of happiness?
And the big old question - how much are we enslaved to our genetic make up? Can we act against our genes? Should we bother?
Biblically speaking what we are "in the flesh" is countered by who we are in the Spirit - not meant to be controlled by our "natural" cravings (I use quotation marks because such concepts are hard to translate). If the Christian life goes against our instincts (to some degree), does it go against our genetics, too? Can we be set free from our genes?
Just random, uninformed musings...!
Image from the Press Association (see source article)
2 comments:
I caught this article too and I do wonder if they will refute it soon. It does seem incredibly unfair. It almost feels like I am a different species. I objected very much to the idea that being happy is a decision, because frankly it doesn't work and people who pretend often end up much worse than before.
The other thing I notice is that the people who seem to be happier are often the ones who also seem shallower. Not always. But sometimes those happy shallow ones also seem incapable of empathy too.
Just my random musings too. If I thought there was really no hope of ever being consistently happy there is a real chance of suicide.
Viv
Feeling things deeply opens the path to all kinds of emotions in my experience. Deep thinking, too. Sometimes I wonder if it would be easier to be less 'deep' - but I cannot imagine myself without these things; they are part of who I am at every level.
There will always be theories on everything - and plenty who will disagree. I don't think there is ever one determining factor on everything - we are natural allsorts. Happiness is coming under the spotlight at the moment - but it seems by nature impossible really to define.
Feeling not very happy today myself!
Wishing you a moment of joy today - and may no one ever steal our hope :)
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