The Pursuit of Happiness

The pursuit of happiness is something of a universal human endeavour. As such, one could consider it odd that we are so divided about how to achieve happiness – after all, it is something we have been trying to reach as a society since time immemorial.  Unfortunately this view neglects the fact that the pursuit of happiness is such a significant motivator for people, that there are an enormous number of people and organisations out there trying to convince people that their method is the one, in order to gain influence, profit or status.  In this environment, it is difficult to filter the noise and disinformation from the genuine signal of how to live a happy life…

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One of the main criticisms of Consequentialism is that it leads to a state where anything not forbidden is mandatory.  In order to optimise future consequences, no choice has absolutely zero effect either way, which is what would be required for it to be merely permissible.  The seemingly innocuous question of “should I eat a sandwich for lunch?” becomes something with a morally absolute right and wrong answer. Even if the extent of forbiddenness or mandatoriness is variable by the severity of the consequences, we are left with a system in which any expression of free will is fundamentally negative.  An automaton that always picked the morally mandatory option would be a better person than anyone that ever chose differently. This outlook neglects uncertainty however – in an uncertain world, there is necessarily a grey area between things with obvious positive consequences and obvious negative consequences. In these situations, it is reasonable to consider the grey area to be permissible choices, as there is no way to determine which choice is better…

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