By: Chris Wilson

Chris Wilson — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:19:45 +0000

Thanks for the kind words, Steve. Yes, it is by design that I have not addressed the spiritual side of things. This is for two reasons.
The first is simply the fact that my book (and this blog to a lesser extent) are aimed at fixing unhappiness more than they’re aimed at creating happiness. The ideas and methods I’m suggesting are what I have found to be the most bullet-proof way of alleviating long-term unhappiness and frustration in life. I have never seen them not work when people put them into practice.
I’m not saying there aren’t other ways. This is what works for me and it’s what I know, which leads me to the second reason spirituality is not addressed. There’s really no way to do it without driving a wedge between the real point of my work and a significant percentage of readers.
If I say you need to have a relationship with your Creator to be happy, the question as to who (or what) exactly I’m talking about comes up right away. Different people answer the question in different ways. I want to get these ideas across to the largest audience possible, so I decided to leave spirituality out all together.
Incidentally, I have Christian friends who have read they book and tell me that they categorically reject the basic premise – that our minds were designed by evolution to survive in a world that no longer exists – but that they agree with just about everything else in the book.
That tells me I made the right choice.

By: Steve Brockman

Steve Brockman — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:34:15 +0000

Chris:
Your book looks very interesting. Although I haven’t yet read it, I read your website and many of your blog posts to get a feel for your work.
To be honest with you, the absence of any reference to spirituality in your study of human happiness seems to be a significant omission. It has been my life experience that the happiest people are those who believe in and have a relationship with their Creator. Practically every topic you addressed in The Caveman Blog, from relationships, money, debt, prejudice, etc, is addressed in the Bible. From the non-believers’ perspective (probably the primary market for your book), I’m sure this irony would be explained away that religion was created by humans to explain/rationalize our existence. I, on the other hand, would take the opposite position that evolutionary science and modern day relativism attempts to undermine the Truth.
Having known you for almost 25 years, I want to tell you that I’m very impressed with your work and proud of your accomplishment in getting published. I can only imagine the hours of hard work and dedication you invested in this book. I hope your book does very well and that you continue your passionate pursuit of better understanding human nature.
Sincerely,
Steve

Comments on: Relationships 101 – Part 4 – Quantitative Concurrence

By: Chris Wilson

By: Steve Brockman