Religion, Positive Psychology and Circular Logic

Wells Gray, 2014

A picture just because:

Warning: A politically incorrect post 

In reading positive psychology, Seligman, and Sonja Lyubomirsky on Happiness, I have become aware of a circular logic in all of this, philosophy, religion, and in eating disorders. It seem to be a variation of similar circular logic effects. How is this possible? and is it real or am I just seeing an illusion? It it me that sees the circular logic, or is it just there. The whole concept need some cleaning and polishing first, so this is a first draft of a nebulous construct.

The steps of this circular logic looks something like this:
Mission, purpose, objective, goal
Belief that it is right to do right (Note, belief, not logic)
Positive Emotion,
Interest
Motivation
Meaning
Engagement
Commitment
Persistence, Enthusiasm
Action
If fate permits, Achievement
Satisfaction
Mental joy
and all this feed back into the positive emotion.
Repeated cycling cause habit.

The emphasis is different on each step for each subject in which we cycle. Some subjects have little input from some steps, hence the steps are invisible for that subject.

To demonstrate this cycle lets first look at the Stoic living by virtue is necessary and sufficient for happiness and a flourishing life, along with Musonius " nature has set us a goal of flourishing" We plug the forgoing in as a mission, and believe that it is an appropriate to do this. We then progress down, feeling a positive emotion, motivation, meaning, engagement, action, achievement, mental joy and all that feeds back into the positive emotion of know we were right and thus close the virtue circuit of doing the right thing for the right reasons. This is circular logic at it's finest. Success and piece of mind is assured, once we believe our actions are virtuous. There in lies the problem, we are defining or accepting what is virtuous without testing it. That is creating a smell, like week old fish in my mind.

Religion state what is good and should be done, yet does not provide the backup logic. It is an instruction to follow a plan of some long dead person. Stoicism and Buddhism, at least, provide some logic to verify the correct direction, by stating what our purpose is at least. We are then free to accept, withhold judgement, or decline there fundamental beliefs, one piece at a time. How can we say that it not our nature to flourish in life? The opposite is to die off. we can languish about for a while, but we have a basic instinct at a cellular level to reproduce and survive, aka flourish.

Now the problem I have with religion is obvious, it is not logical, but a non reasoning diction to do something that is not logical, by we a fooled into thinking it is right, as it has been dictated as so by some long dead. It is the whole belief system that is corrupted. Not of just Jew, Christian, Muslim, or the like, but all that depend on beliefs as a foundation of life. It is living based on belief rather than reason is the real problem.

Religion depends on the people believing what is written is right, which, based on the action of the people of religion, especially ISIS, ISIL, is not right. And yet, if they believe it is right, they are right, and are leading a good life. Any reasoning person would need to question their actions. The problem is belief base circular logic, not logic.

So is the food problem the same, overcoming a belief based food plan, rather than following a logic based one? And our inability to develop a new habit to replace the bad ingrained and societal pressured bad habit formed in childhood and practiced in adulthood of high carbohydrate diets. How does one replace a resistant to change habit? Against the current of family?

The world has more people in areas that it can support. One solution is to eat carbohydrates and die off early, while providing employment through the medical industry. Or eat carbohydrate and die off from probable glyphosate induced cancers or metabolic syndrome? Anyone for the China one child policy.