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I dated a girl who became deeply involved with a self-help seminar retreat program. Very secretive, very expensive, and from what I gather they encouraged participants to cut loose friends/lovers/family who refused to embrace concepts or even enroll themselves. While I'm often inclined to view her program as a glorified cult, I do begrudgingly admit that given her sorted childhood and repressed emotional issues, she did need to seek out some kind of therapeutic solution, and for better or worse, this seminar program instilled in her a tremendous sense of well-being and happiness. Apart from the obvious concern over the longevity of this effect (not to mention the long-term financial implications of repeated seminars), my biggest philosophical problem with the whole situation was the program's fixation on happiness as the end goal. While it's difficult for me to articulate what it might be, I have long felt that there exist things more fulfilling and noble for humans to aspire towards than mere happiness. The self-help industry ferociously pushes the concept of happiness not as a means to some other goal, but as the end goal itself. I suspect that this is a destructive paradigm, because while I believe humans are biologically incapable of truly selfless behavior, to consciously value personal happiness above all else might reduce or eradicate one's capacity to empathize with others and discourage "sharing" their reserves of happiness. To put it another way, ritualistically seeking happiness runs the risk of serving as cynical justification for all sorts of immoral, anti-social, and greedy behavior. Phenylketonuric fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Aug 24, 2014 |
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Aug 24, 2014 21:34
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| # ¿ May 16, 2024 17:11 |
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