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a theory of happiness is a theory of everything

a theory of happiness is a theory of everything
digital c-type print, 75 x 75 cm
2008

there are many aspects to our pursuit of happiness, layers of varying levels of abstraction; taken together we might create a composite view of happiness, to show that there is not a single definition or theory. is happiness in theories that seek to describe everything? perhaps even a theory of everything wouldn’t describe happiness.

the process (trying to be happy) and the result (being happy) co-exist, happiness as an end point is fleeting and perhaps too late – it’s gone and been replaced by other feelings. instead the process of trying to attain the ‘happy state’ is actually part of the happiness. if happiness is not an end point then it is empty, an absence of other things-which-are-not-happiness.

sometimes happiness arises spontaneously, but is this really possible, and if it is, then should we expect all our emotions to be similarly spontaneous? (in which case our emotional lives are perhaps more random and chaotic than we would like to think)

if there is a cause to happiness, something emotional or physical, then understanding the cause might itself define happiness. what would we do with such knowledge? would we use it to produce factories of happiness, to replicate and increase the quality of happiness amongst ourselves? might we use it to cultivate more happiness or would it make us treasure more simply those fleeting pure moments?

perhaps we are happy besides ourselves, and when we try to pin-point the moments, they will become diffuse and we will loose the moment. perhaps happiness is freedom, something that cannot be isolated or formulated.

as there are many ways to pursue happiness, there are also many definitions of happiness. each definition is expressed in it’s own language and using it’s own internal logic:

images (colour of happiness)
words (poetry of happiness)
sounds (music of happiness)
chemicals, drugs (chemistry of happiness)
our physical body and it’s mechanisms – the relationship between our physical and mental states (physiology of happiness)
the structures and physics that describe us at fundamenal levels (quantum theory of happiness)
the pursuit of happiness through religion and metaphysical thought (theory of ultimate happiness – nirvana)

so there are several layers of meaning, of varying levels of abstraction. taken together we might create a composite view of happiness, to show that there is not a single definition or theory, but that there are many aspects to our pursuit of happiness.

some of these are dysfunctional and lead to the opposite of happiness
some are well meaning but lead to confusion and doubt
some are coldly analytical but perhaps contain some seeds of truth
some are analytical but have a warmth, an empathy, which guides their logic
some are intuitive, subconscious, perhaps without rational form and structure

the first layer is emptiness, the foundation upon which all our theories are built – the fundamental source, and from this primeval state we create our theories of happiness, and live the pursuit, in layers upon layers.

quantum (detail 1)

a theory of happiness is a theory of everything (quantum mechanics detail)
2008