Were there a one-size-fits-all formula for human happiness, it would have long ago been disseminated or—more likely—commercialized. The absence of such a formula has posed to us the troublesome question of how we, as humble earthlings, can attain true spiritual and personal fulfillment without deluding ourselves; the climb has only been made steeper as we have become one of the first generations to intrinsically understand our sun and the universe as impermanent. The heavy burden of cognizing our swift and inevitable mortality is now ours. As scientific humanists, we ordinarily do not subscribe to specific and active Creators, and this leaves us with a deep, abyssal reality: that we will die into the unknown—the ununderstood. The first time that this is indeed perceived is the most genuinely and existentially frightening moment conceivable to the human mind. That there is a terminal end to this existence is gut-wrenching. It is mortifying. This comes as no surprise—we are engineered for survival—but that does not make it any less devastating. There certainly remains enough ambiguity in death for the fear of it not to be totalizing, of course. Consciousness is elusive, and that we should now sit as watchers in assorted physical brains is so bizarre and unasked-for that there is considerable room to believe that our experiences may be exceptional in an almost ‘divine’ sense. Still, as aforementioned, we subscribe to no consolatory, unsubstantiated explanations of our being. We are left facing a looming, impenetrable unknown. How can one possibly keep up spirits in the face of that?

I opine that there exists in the absence of a theologically ordained future—and, specifically, in scientific humanism—the opportunity for a supreme kind of spiritual gratitude, or, at least, a practice that uses the same psychological vehicles as gratitude. To truly comprehend the infinite, paralyzing smallness of man—to know that the universe is vast beyond knowing—and to try to fathom the astoundingly winding chain of events that led to our existence is to see how matchlessly rare and beautiful human existence is. That we are matter contemplating matter—that we are, as Carl Sagan said, “a way for the universe to know itself”—and that this phenomenon is exclusive to life on Earth is a demonstration of our tremendous rarity in the universe and suggests that we are worth much further exploration. It is my view that these realizations are more spiritually genuine than traditional religion will permit and that the word spiritual to describe feelings of cosmic humility and contemplation has been unduly appropriated to refer to worldly sensations and events undeserving of the word. To humbly acknowledge our rarity and fleetingness is, in my view, the first step on the path on an actually spiritual path to humanistic happiness. The direction that naturally follows is to take our tiny, infinitesimal lifespans and maximize them in every sense that we healthily may, mindful of our human companions in this life. Do not postpone fulfillment or altruism for a post-mortal future that you will never truly comprehend and which is not guaranteed to you; seize the humble years you have been afforded and maximize them. Never waste an hour on falsehoods or malice. You are surrounded by billions of thinking, cognizant beings who happen to—with tremendous improbability—exist at the same time as you. Take pity upon them, hear them and teach them, love them and empathize with them as if they were your younger or older self. Lift them up and strengthen them always. They are nearer to you than any other kind of matter in all the universe. Do it because you know deeply that it surmounts the most primitive, animal strains of matter within you and attains something better. Do it because man is only just at the advent of science—new revelations may point someday toward a truer purpose. Do it, if necessary, even out of selfishness—a world of uplifting humans will inevitably lift you up in turn.

To know and support our fellow humans—with whatever motivation—is the absolute foundation of humanistic thinking. After confronting death and comprehending, at the most elementary level, how brief our known existence will be, how can we not do otherwise? Why would we not cling to those around us, bettering what time they have and fulfilling our own? We are all of the same star-stuff and, vitally, are all traveling in the same direction. We will pass the end-veil in the same manner that tens of billions of us have before, and possibly hundreds of billions of other thinking things. It is only logical to join in solidarity with our colleagues in this pilgrimage and to work in synchrony to make more wonderful and more scintillating the existence which we now share and which our children will inherit. That is humanism; stripping ourselves of any undue assumptions and accepting the triumph of science is what merits the adjective scientific. So we go forward in scientific humanism. Still, to merely say that we ought to be gratefully humbled by the scale of the universe and our existence in relation to it is not enough to grant true happiness to most, even if it is a well-enough foundation. Ultimately, to rationally approach and produce happiness without delusion will need to be an individual pursuit necessitating ‘soul-searching’ at a personal level. One person could dismiss pessimism as emotional degeneracy and affirm life in the Nietzschean tradition: because if “we said yes to a single moment, then we have not only said yes to ourselves, but to the whole of existence. For nothing stands alone, either in ourselves or in things; and if our soul did but once vibrate and resound with a chord of happiness, then all of eternity was necessary to bring forth this one occurrence—and in this single moment when we said yes, all of eternity was embraced, redeemed, justified and affirmed.” Another could mindfully practice stimulating our human instinct for gratitude, writing out and emphasizing what one ought to be grateful for in a given week and healthily cultivating the perception of positivity in one’s own mind. Still another might accept a form of deism perfectly compatible with scientific humanism, believing speculatively in an omnipotent creator and preternatural afterlife but committing themselves to the values of secularism and free inquiry in this life. It is possible—and desirable, in our view—to seek out humanistic happiness and fulfillment without relying on hyper-specific pseudo-philosophical crutches, such as those offered by mainline religious institutions. To understand our tininess and apparent impermanence in the embrace of skepticism is to begin this more honest search.

Presuming one accepts the above as accurate—that the optimal way to proceed to personal and intellectual fulfillment is by shedding one’s presuppositions, coming to terms with the impermanence of life and finding beauty and love therein—one is still left with the question of why happiness ought to be sought in the first place. Why pursue humanism at all? Why seek intellectual liberation and fulfillment without the comforts of believing in objective purpose in morality? Indeed, I do not contend that an objective rationale exists for seeking fulfillment. However, we as scientific humanists are melioristic and personally desirous of a prosperous existence; thus, we realize that while we must dismantle notions of objective purpose and morality, we must construct a pragmatist substitute in its place so that we and others may maximize the potential of life. There may be no objective purpose—but there are undoubtedly subjective ones, and it seems altogether senseless to squander one’s ability to create purpose on hopelessness or dependence on theology. The greatest subjective purpose with regard to producing genuine happiness in oneself and one’s society and others has tended to be the humanists’; countries guided by irreligious, humanistic leaders, including the Nordic countries, Czechia, Estonia, and others, have consistently proven to rank highest in human happiness, freedom, economic and social justice, and education. One clearly stands to gain much by advocating for humanism within one’s community, and one is best able to do so once they have cultivated fulfillment within oneself. The meritorious goal of a scientific humanist, while subordinate to advocating for reasoned inquiry, is actualizing the Enlightenment values of liberty, science, individual autonomy, and benevolence in one’s own life and one’s immediate surroundings—and not being afraid to advocate for these in the struggle for progress and liberty.

As a last point: why is it optimal to seek happiness but not happiness in blissful ignorance? Why know? Why try to shed presuppositions or religious cosmological inclinations? I confess that my contention that secular humility, gratitude, and humanistic love can provide lasting happiness will only truly speak to those who both (1) wish deeply not to deceive themselves and who (2) recognize the subjective will within them to surmount their animal forms in favor of love, intellect and productivity. If one is sincerely willing to be fundamentally dishonest with oneself, giving into paleolithic instincts rather than transcendent thought, or if they cannot summon within them the will to triumph over their most primitive selves, then they are beyond the message of the essay for now. It is my hope that, in the interest of creating a kinder, clearer, more scientifically inclined world, those who would listen follow the light of science and human love ever in building a world better for one and all.