Now that I'm somewhat long in the tooth and even when I was young in the teeth, it was noticeable that the seven cardinal sins led people I knew quite well to various amounts of grief. Being an atheist, I don't see them as anything to do with superstitions. They seem to be quite pragmatic views on what makes for a flourishing life. wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. None of them seem related to supernatural forces so don't have a supernatural aspect to them as far as I can see. I'm disinclined to agree that religions have a monopoly on thinking, morals, ethics, though they seem to want to hijack such ideas.
Yes, I have not read studies on happiness and weight of resources. When I was light on resources, I don't think I was particularly unhappy. In fact, on the contrary, as I recall I was about as happy as now. You have probably read such studies that happiness is somewhat a constant for people, with ups and downs around their individual norms. I'm fairly happy about my understanding of people and what makes them tick. In fact I have done quite well thanks to my understanding.
I suppose it's also possible you aren't human- so you'll never be able to understand the folks on this planet. Mqurice |
