Actually, let me present to you a logical argument that should make my point clear. I will first start out with introducing what I have to say and I will then present the argument to you along with an experiment below:
We currently believe that it is our value judgments and outlooks alone that allow us to see the value in our lives. I think this is a false myth. Many people wish to dismiss emotions as nothing more than emotions and say that it is instead the thought that counts. I think it is the other way around. I think it is instead the emotion that counts. This is a theory that I have learned from struggling with much emotional trauma, hopelessness, and misery in my life.
This is a world changing philosophy/theory of mine that would awaken humanity to their higher component (their emotions) and would encourage others to find cures for depression and other illnesses that take away our positive emotions. I am just saying it is a world changing theory just to get readers interested. It doesn't mean that it actually is. But who knows. It could be. You never know. I am going to present to you a logical argument that basically summarizes my whole theory. It is a logical argument that advocates hedonism as the only way to see value in our lives. Hedonism is the idea that pain=bad while pleasure=good.
My Hedonistic Logical Argument
1.) Wanting or liking something is the only way to see the good value and worth in said thing. Wanting or liking something such as an exciting new video game or movie is the only way to see good value in that movie or game. Having no wanting and liking towards it would mean that it wouldn't matter to you and, thus, you wouldn't be seeing any good value in it. Or, according to premise #2, you would be seeing bad value in it.
2.) Not wanting and liking something is the only way to see bad value in it. It would be a negative reaction such as not wanting anymore people around you. It would be a situation that would matter to you in a negative way and, thus, you would see bad value in it.
3.) Being in a completely apathetic state where you neither wanted, liked, nor did not want anything is the only way to see no value and worth in things. Nothing would matter to you at all and, thus, you would see no value in anything.
4.) Simply acknowledging that things have good and bad value in your life is not actually seeing the good and bad value that these things hold. If you were completely apathetic where nothing mattered to you at all and you just said something such as: "Meh, this is really good," then you wouldn't be seeing any good value in said thing. You would just be blurting out a thought in your mind or some spoken words.
5.) There is an objective form of wanting and liking. It would be our positive emotions. Here, I will quote this out to you:
We have found a special hedonic hotspot that is crucial for reward 'liking' and 'wanting' (and codes reward learning too). The opioid hedonic hotspot is shown in red above. It works together with another hedonic hotspot in the more famous nucleus accumbens to generate pleasure 'liking'.
6.) It would follow from premise #5 that our negative emotions would be an objective form of not wanting things (a negative response) while having neither positive nor negative emotions would be an objective form of things not mattering to you at all (a neutral response).
7.) Your level of wanting, liking, not wanting, and neither wanting nor not wanting dictates the level of good, bad, or neutral value you see. If you really wanted something, then you would be seeing much good value in said stimulus. If you really did not want something, then you would be seeing much bad value in said stimulus. If you were very apathetic and nothing mattered to you at all, then you would be seeing much neutral value in said stimulus.
8.) Moments where you want, like, not want, and are indifferent are moments where you see good value, bad value, or neutral value in certain stimuli.
9.) You can have mixed wanting and not wanting. For example, if you claimed that something you wanted you saw bad value in, then there would have to be an unwanting thought there. So, you would see both good and bad value in that thing. (Note: I talk more about this when I discuss the concept of mixed emotions very soon).
Even though thoughts of us wanting things make us feel positive emotions while unwanting thoughts make us feel negative emotions, if you did not feel mixed emotions during that scenario I have given of you seeing bad value in wanting something, then you could still be having mixed wanting and unwanting thoughts.
This is because when you have a wanting thought that makes you feel a positive emotion, the unwanting thought does not always make you feel a negative emotion to mix in with that positive emotion. You could, for example, have an angry thought at a friend that makes you feel angry which would be an unwanting thought. But, at the same time, you could still want that friend in your life. That is, you could have the thought that a certain attribute of this friend is bad and another thought of him/her being a good person anyway.
Therefore,
Conclusion: It is only our positive moods/emotions that allow us to see the positive qualities of life such as good value, worth, joy, love, beauty, etc., our negative moods/emotions that allow us to see the negative qualities of life such as bad value, suffering, misery, hate, torment, etc. Having neither positive nor negative moods/emotions would be a state of mind where nothing mattered to you at all and, thus, you would not be seeing any good or bad value in your life. Your level of positive and negative emotions dictates the level of good or bad value you see in your life. From this, I can gather that our emotions are like the sense of sight. They allow us to see the good and bad value in things just as how our sight allows us to see objects.
Having no sight would mean that no way of thinking or value judgment can allow you to see objects just as how no way of thinking, belief, outlook, or value judgment can allow us to see any good or bad value in our lives without our emotions. Therefore, seeing the value in our lives is not a matter of value judgment at all since it is not a thought form of awareness (perception) at all. It is instead purely an emotional awareness. This means that our emotions do not have some sort of mind control effect and make us perceive, through our thinking, the value in our lives. It is purely the emotions themselves that make us perceive value in our lives. Our positive emotions are like a divine and sacred sense. They are like a divine light energy or force that is intrinsic goodness itself flowing through our very conscious being.
Our negative emotions would be like a horrible and negative spiritual dark energy flowing through our conscious being.Since I have presented to you this logical argument, it has now become quite obvious that we absolutely need our positive emotions to make our entire lives and atmosphere something perceived as profoundly beautiful, joyful, and good. Our positive emotions are like the divine and sacred light energy and water for a sacred plant. The plant needs this light energy and water to grow and thrive. Without them, then the plant will only wither away. In that same sense, we are like these sacred plants and we need the sacred light and water (our positive moods/emotions) for our conscious perception of good values and qualities to grow and thrive. Our positive emotions are simply a transcending and profoundly beautiful source of energy and growth for our consciousness.
Lastly, depressed and miserable inspirational figures such as Abraham Lincoln weren't really seeing any good value and worth in their lives at all if they had no positive emotions. If they had a little bit of positive emotions, then they would only be perceiving a slim amount of good value in their lives. Therefore, these inspirational figures are conveying a false message when they say things such as that depression and misery are good, they inspire us, allow us to see greater good value in our lives, etc. Inspiration is a positive quality and can only be perceived by our positive emotions.
So, it is not the depression and misery itself that allows us to see greater good value in our lives. It is instead the positive emotions that inspire us and make us see greater good values in our lives. These inspirational figures are, in a way, blind fools who think they see the truth when they can't. I am the only one who knows the real truth and it could change the world. So many people drag their lives on and on in unhappy lifestyles and this needs to be changed. People need to be awakened to the fact that an unhappy lifestyle is nothing at all. It is a no quality standard of living and people need to be awakened to the real good quality standard of living that my theory has proven.
I don't care how offensive and insulting my theory is. The truth needs to be shared to the world regardless of how offensive it is. I am fed up with those types of people who only throw out and dismiss my positive emotions as trivial things that only a spoiled child would crave and all the emotional trauma I've been through as no form of real suffering in my life. This only serves to dismiss all the real suffering I've been through as being "all in my head" since, according to these people, it is nothing more than our value judgments and ways of thinking that either allow us to be in a state of joy or suffering. I think that is complete nonsense.
Experiment
Now that I have presented this logical argument to you, I will now present to you the experiment that can be performed to prove that wanting things is the only way we can see the good value in things. Take note that I am leaving out liking to make things easier, more convenient, and just for the sake of this experiment. If there were an item that a person said he did not want, but had to obtain anyway since he saw much good value in it, then how would this person respond once you take that item away from him? I am quite sure he would want that item. There is just no way he would be completely indifferent towards the situation of that item being taken away from him.
As long as he is seeing much good value in that item, then this means the item is very important to him and, thus, he would want the item if you were to take it away from him. This experiment should discover evidence for my theory and make my theory known to the world. Here is another experiment. Take, for example, someone who says he doesn't want to go to work, but that he has to since it is important. This person would be seeing much good value in going to work. If you were to block his path, then I bet this person would become frustrated. He really wants to go to work and you would be in his way.