Dissonance And Happiness

All negative emotions stem from cognitive dissonance. Unhappiness comes from the difference between our perceptions of what we have and our perceptions of what we desire. Happiness can be created by minimising his difference.

Therefore, it is essential to both assess what we have and what we desire, and to set realistic goals. Knowledge of possible desires will result in unhappiness. It should also be noted that perceptions are not the same as reality and that perceptions of what we have and what we desire can be changed in an instant.

For progress to take place however it is essential that we desire what we do not have. Great ambition has the greatest possiblity of creating bounty but also the greatest possiblity of creating unhappiness. The unhappiness will decrease as goals are attained.

At the most base level then, the simple attainment of goals creates happiness, even arbitrary goals with unimportant results. To create a greater degree of happiness then one can set some easily attainable goals, and it is useful to set a wide range of goals of different degrees of ambition.

Mark Sheeky, 1 January 2011