A Jehovah's witness just rang my doorbell and read to me from her bible. She interpreted the passage from Matthew as saying that if we pursue happiness in anything that isn't spiritual it won't be fulfilling. I told her, "Thank you for that message of hope, but I am from a different school of thought. Have a nice day." She said have a nice day back, closed her bible on her bookmark and went away.
I'm sure I said it just because it's a common expression, but "different school of thought" really is the perfect phrase for what I meant. Thinking is fulfilling to me. Spirituality just kind of give me the creeps.
Sure, thinking doesn't always make me HAPPY. When I think about people it can make me angry, or sad. When I think about computer programming I get confused, and then when I get really confused I become incredibly sleepy. But when I think about things besides people and technology -- geology, hydrology, biology, physics, anything ruled by natural processes -- and learn new things about how the world interacts with itself, it very reliably makes me happy. There are a LOT of schools for natural and physical sciences and WAY more than one book. And they don't make you go out on a rainy Saturday with the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics to read integral tables to strangers. I hope it catches on.
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