Nobel prize winner, George Bernard Shaw is considered as an influential playwright, critic, and political activist. Born on July 26, 1856, in Dublin, Ireland he Authored over sixty plays, including notable works like Man and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1913), and Saint Joan (1923). And here is another quote from him. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself”. However, for the purpose of this article, I chose the above quote. And here is another little thought experiment on it.
Land of happiness - Goldilocks
In the far corner of the world there is a land. A land isolated from the rest of the world. The land is above the clouds. Not too cold, not too warm, it has the right temperature, and climate throughout the year. The land has enough farmers, not too much, not too little, food throughout the year. The food in this land, is very tasty, nothing like ordinary in our world. These are the best of the best food from the whole world. The rivers of this land, always flowing with clear water as there was no soil erosion or pollution. People in this land know nothing about the outside world. Imagine everything you wish for in this life. And that is available in one form or the other in the land. It is just like Miss Goldilocks wished.
Now the question is are the people in this land happy? Feeling fulfilled?
Let's read the quote by Bernard Shaw again,
“There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it."
The first part of the quote is easy, of course it is pain, if we do not have what we desire. Ever since we were born in this world we craved for things. We craved for mothers' milk and warmth, even when we could not speak, we cried. Since then, the constant desire and fulfil cycle has been there without any break. From morning till night from night till morning, craving happens hour after hour. This is common, for all the dictators, all the teachers, all the thieves and all the animals, except for some wise men who are non-living. You would ask so what? that is life. What is the problem of having craving and satisfying these cravings. This is the second part of the quote is about. Because it doesn't stop there. Once we get what we desire, the mind craves more.
If you had a perfect vacation last year, you would want another one this year. If you are a millionaire, you would want to be a billionaire. If you won a silver medal last year in Olympics you would want a gold medal this year, and it is not over for the gold medalist as well, as he would need to break the world record. For the one who break the world record, would need to break it again, and if not would need to keep the ecstasy of the moment lasted throughout the rest of the life. But can he ever achieve this. Impossible. It seems mind deceives us somehow with a promise of an eternal happiness. And only very wise men/women would know the cheating game the mind plays. And try to escape the reality. There are two tragedies in life, one is to get what
Goldilocks philosophy
Let's get back to the land of happiness. Will Goldilocks in the land of happiness be happy? If you are finding it difficult to imagine an affluent country. And the people in this country never knew about other countries. They would never know that what they are experiencing is the best food, they would not know they are sitting on best chairs, they would not know, what they are sleeping is on best beds. But Goldilocks knew because she had this past experience on what is good for her. Anyone who has no prior experience in poor would not know that they are rich. And because of this, Suttle variations would appear as biggest. Just like a millisecond that the Olympic gold medalist crave for, they would find happiness as well as plenty of sadness. I am sure there would be enough tears and depressed people, for other reasons. Because after all Bernard Shaw is true, there are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it.
Perhaps, we do not need to strain our brains imagining a land of happiness. Maybe just a marriage would be enough to identify the wisdom in above quote. Two boys desire a blond girl, and one was fortunate enough to marry her. Who do you think is happy at the end of the day? Yes, perhaps for a day or a week the one who gets the girl would be happy, and then he would desire something else. It seems, the stupidity of the mind is never ending, in the exact moment you desire something. Even when you are reading the article I am sure, many times you changed your mind on value of the message. Hence, I would advise, try to see beyond the process and look at the inherent valuelessness of the process of consciousness.
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