ABOUT ME

The unhappy person seeks the meaning of life. Those who are happy experience the meaning of life. (Gerbert Bakx)

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A few years ago I started a study of meaning and happiness. Not from a religious point of view, but more out of curiosity about the answer to the question I asked how it is possible that we have accumulated so much wealth but man does not seem to be happier.

I am originally a development and international economist and I was already amazed about this during my studies. I saw how people who, by our standards living in conditions of poverty, were not necessarily more unhappy. In our relentless urge for more, have we not lost something along the way and do we fall into a collective kind of alienation from ourselves and nature? I have lived in different countries and learned that while people behave differently, they are not really different.

On this website you can read about philosophical topics and thoughts that I encounter during my search for opinions and visions about meaning, happiness and well-being within philosophy and psychology. Already a few thousand years ago we asked ourselves the same questions and numerous scholars and wise people have left their thoughts on this and offer us a wealth of knowledge and insight. We do not have to come up with all that ourselves, it is available, and is just there for the taking.

They constantly make me think and in one way or another take me further to find the answer to the question of what happiness and meaning actually consist of or how happiness and meaning come about. That does not mean that I always agree with the people and their views, religions or opinions in the blogs.

In particular subjects from Stoic and Buddhist philosophy and the interfaces with Western psychology will be discussed, but I will not shy away from other directions.

I cordially invite anyone who believes they can make a meaningful contribution to this or who has meaningful additions. Let me know!

Have fun with this blog,

Metten