denial ≠ happiness (H-theory)

Math is really something. And coming from a mostly right-brained wordperson that's a real statement. There was a time in my life when I didn't believe in math. I literally thought is was a poorly motivated way of understanding life, the universe, and everything because no equation is as expressive (or impressive) as any of the disciplines in the humanities. That's why they're called "the humanities," I would have said.

But math, I know now, is a language. You can do a great many things with it, but at the moment its uses are... not limited exactly... but highly specialized. Which is a shame, because it means that many people who spend their days using the language of mathematics have no way to express their interiority - that human phenomenon which is more than sum of its parts. Like a hidden dimension, or 'brane that unfolds through the confluence of human consciousness and the physical mind.

But I digress...

The title of this blog entry "denial ≠ happiness" is an equation, of sorts, that has been on my mind lately. Math is really, really good at pointing out relationships, and especially adept at defining terms in opposition. That denial does not equal happiness doesn't mean that you can't be in denial and still be happy: of course you can. But happiness is not equal to denial and is not the product of denial and is not the cosign or vector or root of denial.

So what is happiness? Can math tell us? Because writers have been batting this one about for millennia with no consensus. We can identify things that make us happy, and generally it's agreed that happiness comes from the fulfillment of what the heart wants. The altruism "the heart wants what the heart wants" strikes me as a fairly algebraic proposition: it's vague and doesn't really tell us anything new, but it reduces a complex question to a pithy, albeit highly variable statement.

Can we do better?

Engineers and mathematicians: this is a call. Write me some math. Give me an equation based on the following variables that expresses your take on happiness:

H = the Heart

h = happiness

W = Want

w = what

D = Denial

Feel free to add or change any variables you feel are appropriate to the parameters of the equation, but please identify them. Leave your equations in the comments of this blog post. I'll repost the highlights and credit your brilliance.