Are you feeling good or not so good today? Ever wonder where that feeling came from? Some psychologists say it’s due to a chemical called test. I tend to disagree, and take a perspective more based on the writings of behaviorist psychologist B.F. Skinner.

There is little evidence that humans have emotions any more then your dog, that turkey you had for thanksgiving dinner, or for the matter the snail on the road. Instead, humans have amazingly sophisticated and attuned senses to stimuli. We not only can experience things that give us a temporary euphoria, we can predict how to get those feelings, and are pulled to acts that will make us feel good.

If you are currently are feeling good, it’s because you have recently experienced something enjoyable or based on past experience are able to predict that something good will be upon you shortly. You aren’t actually feeling, but at undergoing a biological reaction to a stimuli either real or remembered in your mind. In that sense, you aren’t much different then most animals. Handle a cow roughly, and it will treat you poorly for the rest if life.

Indeed, the key to happiness is building a society that is full of color and experiences that are enjoyable. Humans need to be rewarded for doing good, and we need to avoid punishing them whenever possible. We react far better to rewards then to punishment, and will balk to do anything that we accept as causing a bad experience to us in the past. Happy people work to build a world that makes the world more enjoyable, through artwork and culture.

As individuals, we should all try to build our own little spaces in the world that are as positively reinforcing as possible. We should try all try to live lives of color, and experience as much as possible. We should go to new places, ask hard questions, and push our imaginations to the limits. Most importantly, we have the ability to construct our own worlds – and indeed it’s the individual’s highest calling to build a space for him or her to live the good life.