Joy and Joy

Few things in life are universal. Outside of basic survival necessities, there is only one thing that humans universally strive for, and that is joy. We all want to experience unrelenting, pure, deep joy, a rush of orgasmic energy that runs from inside our hearts all the way to just past the reach of our fingertips. We want to experience a high to inspire us to climb to the highest peak available to us, and shout about how unbelievably wonderful every little thing is, so that everyone in the goddamn world can hear us. The desire to feel this is the one thing that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom, in fact, you could say that this desire is the single defining quality of humanity. We seek life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

A philandering conman once formed a faith around the concept that "men are that they might have joy." Of course, he was using it to gain money, power, and women, but the idea rang true with his followers. As well it should, joy is a compelling thing, but people are capable of doing some terrible things to get or give it.

In his book, The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins made the claim that religion is the source of all war. Which is close, the problem is religion is not the disease, it is the symptom. Joy is the disease. It is that which every religion promises to its dedicated followers, happiness by the bowel-full. And because we all essentially love each other, that which impedes the perceived source of happiness is something to be hated. Even though this certainly very accurately describes religion, the various faiths do not own a monopoly on the tactics of joy warfare.

In fact, we experience it every day. It annoys us when people take a separate path from us in the pursuit of that which makes them happy. Even the small things. Admit it, when someone doesn't like your favorite movie, it disappoints you on a minuscule level. When someone says they listen to a musician you can't stand, you silently wonder if they should seek professional help. And when someone says that the scientific research of Norman Borlaug is unethical, you want to punch their fucking lights out. Is it at all surprising, then, that people are willing to kill or even be killed themselves for an ideology?

People will always find some new thing to go to war over, whether it be political ideology, racial differences, land ownership, or they just plain don't like each other. And I'll bet you think I'm going to point out the excellent two part South Park arc "Go, God, Go" here, and in fact you're right. However, I'm not going to side with it. There just isn't any way real, true scientists could get worked up enough to kill each other over any disagreement. This is because if the scientific method is adhered to, the results are indisputable. The only thing that can be considered questionable are the methods used. Yet there is a certain subtle joy associated with science. There is great pleasure to be had in understanding the atom and its properties. The forces which govern the way our little planet hurtles through space are frankly quite astounding. And Bernoulli's principle has an undeniable elegance in its simple elements that produce amazing results.

Religion, politics, and other ideologies are attractive because they make the blood run hot. They are absolute and infallible. They can be very rewarding, but they also serve to divide and isolate us. Science, however, runs cold. Its answers are less attractive because they're incomplete, and they always will be. The scientific community is the first to admit that mistakes are made. But at the heart of it, it can provide that same type of joy and meaning, perhaps even more meaningfully, and more importantly, it unites us. Science, like justice, is blind, it doesn't favor anyone or anything. It is not afraid to offend, but at the same time it doesn't go out of its way to. I really do think the world would be a better place if less people went around embracing tautologies, and instead gave logic a try. Yes, what we really need more of, is science.