Mental Capital and the Set Point of Happiness

I was on the Backchat program at RTHK this morning.  The host mentioned that personality might determine a person's happiness.  Very true.  However, personality is not altogether inborn and immutable.  Personality is grounded on the accumulation of experiences and mental habits.  Accumulating positive mental capital through good mental habits is the pathway to happiness. 

Because mental capital does not change overnight, so it is fairly accurate to say that in the short run it is more or less fixed and that happiness would tend to gravitate toward the "set point" after temporary deviations.  But the "set point" will rise as mental capital accumulates and as a personality favorable to the cultivation of happiness forms.

How I wish...

How I wish one day each religion needs to be registered in each country so it becomes lawful.

To register the religion has to declare it respects religious tolerance and religious freedom.

So people are free to follow the faith or to quit.

Religions and sects that do not accept the principle of religious tolerance cannot be registered and will not be allowed to recruit members or tolerated.

Tolerance works both ways.

You have to respect others, so others can respect you.

Religious Freedom and the Free Spirit

Civilized societies all espouse religious freedom.  Unfortunately for mankind, some societies do not espouse religious freedom.  Adherents of some religions persecute members of other religions, which are not allowed to take converts from their religions, or rather, their own members are not allowed to convert to other religions. 

Despite their intolerance, they are allowed to thrive in societies that respect religious freedom.  Herein lies the great dilemma for civilized societies:  should they treat them the same as other more peaceful religions, or should they discriminate against them?  To be consistent and honest, they must not discriminate.  But then they will have to accept the one-sided growth of the intolerant religions.   

Humanism versus Spirituality?

There is this debate whether humanism is a better concept than spirituality.   Here is some discussion:

http://humanisthappiness.blogspot.hk/2011/04/humanity-vs-spirituality.html?showComment=1358668715598#c7915170119206970077

I personally do not believe it is appropriate to discuss the two concepts as one against the other.  Spirituality cannot be spirituality without humanism.  Yet humanism as usually understood is not the same as spirituality.   Unless humanism is redefined to include wisdom and faith, so that the humanist gives up his narrow ego and sees life in its entirety instead of in segments, and commands courage and faith that he will not back down in the face of threats or danger, he cannot be spiritual.

Greatest Love of All

The lyrics in Greatest Love of All sung by Whitney Houston is wonderful.  They remind us the value of the child's heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYzlVDlE72w

How true!

From Wikipedia:

 "The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed and originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest. The song was later popularized by Whitney Houston. Creed wrote the lyrics in the midst of her struggle with breast cancer. The words describe her feelings about coping with great challenges that one must face in life, being strong during those challenges whether you succeed or fail, and passing that strength on to children to carry with them into their adult lives. Creed eventually succumbed to the disease in April 1986 at the age of 36; at the time her song was an international hit by Whitney Houston.


Lyrics copied below:

I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be
Everybody searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs
A lonely place to be
So I learned to depend on me

[Chorus:]
I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadow
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all

I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be

[Chorus:]
I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadow
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all

And if by chance, that special place
That you've been dreaming of
Leads you to a lonely place
Find your strength in love

Trust and Building Social Capital

 

A conversation on Yammer:

 

DK Matai (Announcement) Asymmetric Nature of TrustTrust is fundamental: erosion of trust causes chaos. It may take years to build trust and seconds to lose it. Yet, how does one rebuild it?
What are your thoughts, observations and views? Please join the Socratic dialogue on ATCA 5000 at https://www.yammer.com/atca. We look forward to hearing from you! The ATCA Research & Analysis Wing and the mi2g Intelligence Unit can furnish further details upon request at the ATCA roundtable.

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 · 17 hours ago

Liked by Andrea Lynne Zimmerman and Douglas Kelley.

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  Lok Ho: Trust is the foundation of social capital. Without trust the community cannot stand together. To build trust we need to identify common core values and act consistently to uphold them.  If people share common values, then we will expect others to act consistently to uphold those values. We may not know what people would exactly do, but we trust that what they do nevertheless will be consistent with those values. However, if we have too specific expectations about what people should do, then we may not really trust them. Expectation is often the seed for blaming. Why you did not do something--you deserve blame. Trust is different. You might not do as I expect, but I trust that what you do is well intended.

A religion in Life

Lok Sang Ho shared a link.

19 seconds ago

George Bernard Shaw said that people without a religion are cowards. But religion can come to mean something to believe in. Without a strong belief, or without strong values, people cannot be courageous. But a strong belief in Life is much more important than a strong affiliation with a religious denomination.

Young Evangelicals and the 'Nones'

sojo.net

Young evangelicals are changing, and so is what it means to be an evangelical, or Christian at all, in our country today. And it is exactly the kind of Christianity that they are living out which might, just might, pique the interest of some of the “nones.”

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