Pursuing a Quest?

Happiness and Unhappiness through Naysign and Nescience: comprehending the essence of sustainability? (Part #5)

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As suggested by the symbol of the Ouroboros, the above poem, and the quadrilemma, any understanding of the nature of any "pursuit" of happiness should not go unchallenged. Conventional understanding implies the pursuit of a visible, comprehensible but elusive target when it is not even clear that it is appropriate to understand that pursuit to be over a surface that could be mapped in three-dimensional space (as further discussed below in relation to a complex plane). There is even the possibility that such stalking of "reality" may be in some sense counter-productive, as with any woman of dignity (Beyond Harassment of Reality and Grasping Future Possibilities, 1996).

The term "quest" is more appropriate when much is in doubt -- as exemplified in the Arthurian tale of the vain pursuit of the Questing Beast. Of greater potential relevance is the very nature of any quest and the questions which impel it. Is there a higher order and function to questions in relation to the answers sought as discussed elsewhere (Engaging with Questions of Higher Order cognitive vigilance required for higher degrees of twistedness, 2004; Conformality of 7 WH-questions to 7 Elementary Catastrophes: an exploration of potential psychosocial implications, 2006). A four-fold pattern of relationships between questions and answers may be usefully mapped as segments of concentric circles distinguishing three levels in each case (Sustaining the Quest for Sustainable Answers, 2003):

• outer circle: the appreciation of questions and answers as encountered in daily life
• middle circle: the framing of the conclusion regarding the encounter with questions and answers in daily life (in the outer ring)
• inner circle: the existential understanding of the insights of the outer and middle rings..